TEACHING TOWARD THE THIRD ‘C’: DEVELOPING COMMON CORE-ALIGNED UNITS THAT PREPARE STUDENTS FOR COLLEGE, CAREER, AND CITIZENSHIP Nicole Mirra, Ph.D.

Civically Engaged ELA Curriculum Social Justice Common Core Literacy

Think/Write/Pair/Share  What literacy skills do you think your students need in order to be engaged, thoughtful citizens?  Example: Ability to recognize how language is manipulated for political purposes

Heterogeneous Grouping

Tracing the Anchor Standards  Your group will be assigned one of the following categories: Reading, Writing, Listening/Speaking, or Language  Collectively, you will choose ONE of the anchor standards in your category  Examine the language for that anchor standard across grades 6-12

Tracing the Anchor Standards  On a piece of chart paper, visually represent how the standard changes from grades 6 to 12  Brainstorm some activities that would meet the standard AND encourage students to use civic engagement skills

Gallery Walk/Share-Out  As you visit each poster, write comments, questions, or ideas on post-its and stick them on!  After we have rotated, one member of the original group will sum up what was said.

My Project: Civic Inquiry

What Makes It Literacy?  Reading: Tie-ins to literary and informational texts  Writing: Incorporation of different writing styles for different audiences  Speaking/Listening: Interviewing/surveying  Language: Using technology and presenting to various audiences

What Makes It Civic?  Research is about real-world topics that matter to students  Students dialogue with community members  Authentic audience for presentation  Action steps

Your Project  Use the unit template to backwards plan based on a unit you want to tweak for the upcoming school year or a new unit you want to try

Wrap-Up: Most Important Point  What is one major take-away that you are going to bring back to your classroom practice from today’s workshop?

Thank you!  Contact me with any ideas/questions at