Gone, But Not Forgotten...

I have been absent from blogging for quite a while as I have tried to get acclimated to a new classroom, in a new school, in a new district! I am in the process of creating modules that use a modified version of PARCC's 4th Grade ELA Model Content Framework. Wish me luck!

One of the themes I am using is Nature's Fury (Extreme Weather). To support this theme, I will be using Eye of the Storm: Chasing Storms with Warren Faidley by Stephen Kramer. I have checked out the eBook from Open Library. I am embedding the mini-book player here and hopefully it will work (just in case the website is blocked by this district's strict web filters).

Inside the CCSS Literature Standards

Chapter 4 of Pathways to the Common Core goes deeper into the actual implementation than any other resource I've seen. Rather than a bird's eye view, this chapter takes you directly into the standards, inviting you to read and engage in a close reading of the texts (ala ELA Anchor Standard 1) of E. B. White's Charlotte Web and Cynthia Rylant's Poppleton, then walks you through implementing ELA Anchor Standards 2 - 9, just as students would.

This book is definitely worth the purchase. I will return to it repeatedly after I'm done.

~TF

Golden or Oldies? Pathways - Chapter One

Tonight I started reading Pathways to the Common Core by Calkins, Ehrenworth, and Lehman. I got in late and had decided I would begin tomorrow. I'm glad I didn't wait.

What a fabulous read! In fact, I had to make myself put it down to write this post! I read chapter one and a sneak peak of chapter two - it's that good! The first chapter read like a novel to me because the style is very fluid. I will reread chapter one tomorrow and make notes and add chapter two - a reference for those reading along with me (Thanks, Elisabeth! Christie, I invite you to read along as well).

If you've already read the book, do you read the Common Core State Standards as an old curmudgeon or as if they are golden?