Posted by Marsha on March 8, 2012
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) require teachers to deepen students’ understanding of complex text. To help teachers meet the rigorous expectations set forth by the CCSS, we’ve created discussion stems to guide teachers’ questioning and help students build strong content knowledge, comprehend as well as critique, and demonstrate independence. These discussion stems help teachers scaffold difficult text and guide students to a deeper understanding of the text.
Two Levels of Discussion Stems
The discussion stems feature two levels of questioning. The first level, Start the conversation with…, are designed to be conversation/discussion starters. These stems can be used in whole or small groups.
The second level, Continue with a turn and talk to your partner…, are designed to increase independence as a reader and deepen students’ understanding of the text. These stems are to be used with partners or small collaborative groups. Students can also be asked to respond in writing. All discussion stems require students to support their answers/opinions with text based evidence. When students are discussing questions with partners, they must use text based evidence to support their opinions, answers, questions, etc.
Performance tasks are tasks that require students to apply the standard to text(s). The discussion stems help teachers deepen students’ understanding of the text so that they can complete the performance tasks. Performance task stems are included in our book.
Kindergarten and First Grade discussion stems for reading literature and reading informational text will be available to purchase from our website by the end March; second grade before the end of the 2012 school year; 3-5th grade shortly thereafter.
Posted by Kira on March 1, 2012
I sometimes think that “teacher talk” is funny. Hysterical, in fact. Especially when a little phrase like “common core” can make a room full of people suffer hysterics. I say, teachers, teach! If you are a great teacher, you are already doing it. You just have to learn the new teach-lingo and make sure you understand how to apply it to (more…)
Posted by Barb on February 23, 2012
I honestly believe that it’s in a teacher’s DNA to help their students. The problem is that we, as teachers help our students too much. Our students know this and can often out wait us, knowing that we will eventually either answer our own question or lead them right to the wanted response. This needs to change, especially with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, which requires students to critically think about what they are reading and writing.
Classroom teachers often posed a question to the class, and then give students less than one second to answer. The result of the teacher’s impatience (more…)
Posted by Marsha on February 15, 2012
- They are not a federal program; nor did the stem from a government initiative like NCLB. They are the result of governors from across the country and groups of corporate leaders who were concerned about the alarming numbers of high school students graduating from public school unprepared for college or a career path. http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards
- They were developed by National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and content experts. Teachers were a critical voice in the development of the standards. The National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), among other organizations were instrumental in bringing together teachers to provide specific, constructive feedback on the standards.
- The Standards define what all students are expected to know and be able to do, not how teachers should teach. (more…)
Posted by Kira on February 8, 2012
I was looking at education trends…also checking out the Apple website today, coveting an iPad. Then I found a quote that pretty much summed it up…”2011 will be the year of the tablet, but schools won’t know what to do with them.”
I think tablets are great- our own Barb has an iPad and it helps her with her work, her overall portability, hey there’s even a Common Core Standards App that makes looking them up very (more…)
Posted by Barb on February 2, 2012
We are a verbal society; so much so that we tend to take the development of oral language for granted. In fact, it is not surprising to observe that the emphasis on developing oral language has been taken a back seat by teachers and parents over the last several years. Think about it…today’s children are “talked to” all the time and they receive a good portion of information through media which includes sound and images. While they are bombarded with information, they tend to be on the receiving end and, consequently, are not provided with enough opportunities that allow them to create and convey their own thoughts. (more…)
Common Core Discussion Stems Coming soon!
