Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards : A Critical Inquiry Approach for 6-12 Classrooms

Timely, thoughtful, and comprehensive, this text directly supports pre-service and in-service teachers in developing curriculum and instruction that both addresses and exceeds the requirements of the Common Core State Standards. Adopting a critical inquiry approach, it demonstrates how the Standards highest and best intentions for student success can be implemented from a critical, culturally relevant perspective firmly grounded in current literacy learning theory and research. It provides specific examples of teachers using the critical inquiry curriculum framework of identifying problems and issues, adopting alternative perspectives, and entertaining change in their classrooms to illustrate how the limitations of the Standards can not only be addressed but also surpassed through engaging instruction. The Second Edition provides new material on adopting a critical inquiry approach to enhance student engagement and critical thinking planning instruction to effectively implement the CCSS in the classroom fostering critical response to literature and informational texts using YA literature and literature by authors of color integrating drama activities in the literature and speaking/listening instruction teaching information, explanatory, argumentative, and narrative writing working with ELL students to address the language standards using digital tools and apps to respond to and create digital texts employing formative assessment to provide supportive feedback preparing students for the PARCC and Smarter Balanced assessments using the book s wiki site http: //englishccss.pbworks.com for further resources " Timely, thoughtful, and comprehensive, this text directly supports pre-service and in-service teachers in developing curriculum and instruction that both addresses and exceeds the requirements of the Common Core State Standards. Adopting a critical inquiry approach, it demonstrates how the Standards'highest and best intentions for student success can be implemented from a critical, culturally relevant perspective firmly grounded in current literacy learning theory and research. It provides specific examples of teachers using the critical inquiry curriculum framework of identifying problems and issues, adopting alternative perspectives, and entertaining change in their classrooms to illustrate how the Standards can not only be addressed but also surpassed through engaging instruction. The Second Edition provides new material on adopting a critical inquiry approach to enhance student engagement and critical thinking planning instruction to effectively implement the CCSS in the classroom fostering critical response to literary and informational texts using YA literature and literature by authors of color integrating drama activities into literature and speaking/listening instruction teaching informational, explanatory, argumentative, and narrative writing working with ELL students to address the language Standards using digital tools and apps to respond to and create digital texts employing formative assessment to provide supportive feedback preparing students for the PARCC and Smarter Balanced assessments using the book's wiki site http://englishccss.pbworks.com for further resources Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Preface 7 Overview 8 Acknowledgments 9 Section I Theoretical Frameworks/Foundations of English Language Arts Instruction 10 1 Adopting a Critical Inquiry Approach for Implementing the Common Core 11 2 Adopting a Critical Inquiry Approach in an English Curriculum Framework 40 3 Planning Effective English Language Arts Instruction to Exceed the Common Core State Standards 68 Section II Implementing and Exceeding the Common Core State Standards 104 4 Reading Nonfiction 105 5 Reading Literary Texts 136 6 Writing Nonfiction 169 7 Writing and Enacting Narratives, Drama, and Poetry 197 8 Implementing the Digital/Media Literacy Standards 216 9 Implementing the Speaking and Listening Standards 237 10 Implementing the Language Standards 260 Section III Evaluation, Assessment, and Reflection 284 11 Assessing Students’ Learning 285 12 Fostering Teacher Reflection and Professional Development 314 Index 329