A Guide of Common Core Shifts for Students and Parents

Why is Georgia Making the change to CCGPS? About the Common Core State Standards The Common Core State Standards provide an opportunity for the children in Georgia to as prepared as children across our nation to enter the world of college and careers. A state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) with assistance of Achieve, ACT, and College Board Co-chaired by former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue Developed by standards experts and educators Supported by rigorous international benchmarked standards Received multiple rounds of feedback from states and national organizations representing educators {e.g., International Reading Association (IRA), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)} . Content Specialists for ELA and Math from the GaDOE were involved in providing feedback on the Common Core State Standards. Georgia's State Board of Education adopted the English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Literacy for Science, History/Social Studies, and Technical Subjects CCGPS on July 8, 2010. At this time, there is no shift to national standards for science and social studies. 45 State and 3 territories have formally adopted the CCSS.

What are the Common Core State Standards? Academic Performance Standards provide clear, consistent expectations about what knowledge, skills, and practice students should have and learn at each grade level. These expectations help guide teachers and parents on what they need to do to help student graduate from high school prepared to enter college and/or career. The CCSS guide both curriculum (the subject matter taught at each grade level) and assessments (test that determine the level of learning a student has achieved).

Why are the Common Core State Standards Important to the Nation? Different standards create confusing expectations across the sates. Global competitive edge is lagging among student in the US. Workforce skills do not match 21st century workplace demands.

What should parents expect? Three Shifts in English Language Arts/Literacy Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language.

ELA/Literacy Shift 1: Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction Student must… Parents can… Read more non-fiction Know the ways non-fiction can be organized Enjoy and discuss the details of non-fiction Supply more non-fictions text Read non-fiction texts aloud or with your child/teen Enjoy non-fiction text in front of your child/teen www.engageny.org

ELA/Literacy Shift 2: Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational. Students must… Parents can… Learn more Science and Social Studies through reading Use “primary source” documents Learn more by using texts Find evidence to support their arguments Form judgments Make arguments in writing using evidence Compare multiple texts in writing Provide series of texts on topics of interest Encourage researching Find books that explain Discuss non-fiction texts and the ideas within the text Talk about texts Demand evidence in every day discussion/disagreement Encourage writing at home www.engageny.org

ELA/Literacy Shift 3: Regular practice with complex text and its academic language. Students must… Parents can… Read material at comfort level AND work with more challenging text Break down text to understand Handle frustration with text and keep reading Learn words that they can use in college and career Compare stories using text elements Provide more challenging texts AND provide text they WANT to read and can read comfortably Know what is grade level appropriate Read challenging text with them Read multiple books about the same topic Ask why and how questions www.engageny.org

The more we read, the more we can read! By age 3, children from affluent families have heard 30 million more words than children from parents living in poverty. (Hart and Risley, 1995). Children who have larger vocabularies and greater understanding of spoken language do better in school (Whitehurst and Lonigan). If children aren’t reading on grade level by third grade, they are four times more likely to leave high school without a diploma (Hernandez, 2011). www.engageny.org

What should parents expect? Three Shifts in Mathematics Focus: Strongly where the standards focus Coherence: Think across grades and link to major topics within grades Rigor: In major topics pursue: conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application with equal intensity. www.engageny.org

Mathematics Shift 1: Focus: Strongly where the standards focus Student must… Parents can… Spend more time on fewer concepts Know what the priority work is for your child at their grade level Spend time with your child on priority work Learn the math your child needs to know www.engageny.org

Mathematics Shift 2: Coherence: Think across grades and link to major topics within grades Students must… Parents can… Understand why the math works. Keep building on learning year after year Notice whether your child really knows why the answer is what it is –have your child work out the problem Know what your child struggled with last year and how that will affect their learning Advocate for your child and ensure extra support is give to close gaps in knowledge www.engageny.org

Mathematics Shift 3: Rigor: In major topics pursue: conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application with equal intensity. Students must… Parents can… Spend time practicing lots of problems on the same concept Push children to know/memorize basic math facts Know all of the fluencies your child should have at the different grade levels www.engageny.org

Key Fluencies Grade Required Fluency K Add/subtract within 5 1st 2nd Add/subtract within 20 (addition/subtraction facts) Add/subtract within 100 3rd Multiply/divide within 100 (multiplication/division facts) Add/subtract within 1,000 4th Add/subtract within 1,000,000 5th Multi-digit multiplication Multi-digit division 6th Multi-digit decimal operations 7th Solve px + q=r, p(x + q)=r 8th Solve simple 2 x 2 systems by inspection

Current Sample Test Item 5th Grade Math Samantha is making an Apple Crumb Pie using the ingredients below. Apple Crumb Pie How much total sugar must Samantha use to make the pie crumb and filling? a. 7/12 cup b. 2/6 cup c. 3/4 cup d. 2/3 cup Crumb Filling 3/4 cup flour 4 cups sliced apples 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup raisins

Example Common Core Performance Task: 5th Grade Math Stuffed with Pizza John and Daniel are stuffed with pizza. John ate one-fourth of a cheese pizza, three-eighths of a pepperoni pizza, and one-half of a mushroom pizza. Daniel ate five-eights of a cheese pizza, and the other half of the mushroom pizza. All of the pizzas were the same size. John says he ate more pizza than Daniel because Daniel did not eat any pepperoni pizza. Daniel says they each ate the same amount of pizza. Who is correct? Show all of your mathematical thinking.

Example Annotated Student Work By drawing a diagram, the student is able to make sense of the problem. The student knows to find equivalent fractions to help solve the problem. The student models with mathematics. The diagram is accurate, labeled and a key is provided.

Additional Common Core Resources www.georgiastandards.org www.pta.org/4446.htm www.corestandards.org www.engageny.org