Leveraging the Common Core State Standards to Support Young Children’s Learning Dr. Lisa S. Goldstein Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

Welcome! Today’s plan…

Getting to know the CCSS Common Core State Standards –English Language Arts (& Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects) –Mathematics Common Core State Standards –Adopted by 45.5 states Common Core State Standards –Meant to comprise 85% of the curriculum

CCSS Adopters PLUS: District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands, Dept of Defense schools

Why do we need the CCSS? Establish and maintain greater consistency and continuity across states Clear goal: all students will graduate from HS college and career ready Benchmarked against the curricula of countries that have highest rates of literacy and numeracy Increased rigor

How are they different from the HCPSIII? Fewer Higher Clearer

Are the CCSS good for young kids in preK and primary grades? Yes! And no… It depends –How the CCSS are framed and interpreted –How K-12 educators implement the CCSS

CCSS are DAP-compatible Implementation of the CCSS should not create a rush for “academic shovedown” –No long lists of content and skills to teach –No emphasis on testing testing testing The CCSS are compatible with DAP –We could use the implementation of the CCSS in K-12 to create space for DAP in preK and primary grade classrooms

CCSS-DAP Alignment Areas 1. Explicit attention to role of development in learning 2. Holistic perspective 3. Support children’s language development 4. Focus on children’s thinking 5. See children as capable, active learners 6. Teaching as guidance, not telling 7. Instructional decisions belong to teachers- use DAP to enhance learning

1. Pay explicit attention to the role of development in learning Reflect respect for the developmental realities and needs of young learners This perspective appears in different ways in the CCSS-Math and the CCSS- ELA

Explicit attention to the role development plays in learning CCSS- Mathematics Young kids need more Repeated exposure to new concepts Focus on the most powerful knowledge

Explicit attention to the role development plays in learning CCSS-English Language Arts Certain anchor standards aren’t present in the kindergarten list

Holistic, integrated perspective Integration across academic disciplines is expected Use of multiple forms of representation; children have flexibility in showing what they know and can do Similar habits of mind are presented in the CCSS-ELA and the CCSS- Math Leads to more coherent learning experiences

Emphasis on language development Support English language development for all children in all content areas –Expressing ideas and opinions –Presenting evidence to support ideas –Communicating clearly –Using rich and precise language –Developing academic vocabulary Deliberate English language development is not reserved for ELLs

Focus on student thinking and metacognition Students are guided toward deep understanding of concepts Not just mastery of procedures or memorization of information Explicit efforts to develop students’ awareness of themselves as learners, thinkers, and problem solvers

See young children as capable, active, sense-making learners Student-directed investigations and presentation of findings begin in kindergarten –Provide evidence to support statements –Discuss rationale and reasoning Standards demand higher order thinking Students pose questions, solve problems

Understanding of teaching Teaching should involve –More asking, listening, observing, reflecting Less telling and talking –Giving students opportunities to develop confidence in their own capabilities –Fostering independence, perseverance –Guiding students as needed Use lots of engaging, age-appropriate strategies to build students’ connections with the content

Acknowledge teachers’ expertise Acknowledge teachers’ right to use their expertise to make principled, informed, intentional instructional decisions –Specify what students should learn, but not how it should be taught –CCSS was designed to be 85% of the curriculum in a given grade- room for additions and customization –Teacher discretion is expected and desired…..

An example from the CCSS-ELA “The use of play with young children is not specified by the standards, but it is welcome as a valuable activity it its own right and as a way to help students meet the expectations in this document.” (p.9)

How to teach the CCSS content to young learners? You DO NOT need to make your young students do “grown-up” work –Sit at desks doing drill and kill worksheets –Focus only on academic skill development –Eliminate pretend play, art, dress-up, blocks, hands-on activities, field trips

Use DAP to teach the CCSS Use your professional expertise –Knowledge of your kids –Knowledge of the community –Knowledge of child development Create age-appropriate learning experiences that enable students to learn the content through fun, engaging, meaningful experiences

Recap: CCSS-DAP Alignment Areas Explicit attention to role of development in learning Holistic perspective Support language development Focus on children’s thinking Children are capable, active learners Teaching as guidance, not telling Instructional decisions belong to teachers- use DAP to enhance learning

Small Group Discussion Prompts 1. How much did you know about the CCSS before today? 2. What did you think about the CCSS before today? 3. How have your knowledge or feelings about the CCSS changed?

CCSS Work Session #1 Work in grade level teams using your CCSS-Mathematics document Consider and discuss the CCSS-M in light of the issues on our CCSS-DAP Alignment Areas slide Make note of ways in which you believe the CCSS-M is well-aligned with DAP and not well-aligned with DAP We will share out in _____ minutes

CCSS-DAP Alignment Areas Explicit attention to role of development in learning Holistic perspective Support language development Focus on children’s thinking Children are capable, active learners Teaching as guidance, not telling Instructional decisions belong to teachers- use DAP to enhance learning

CCSS-DAP Alignment Areas Explicit attention to role of development in learning Holistic perspective Support language development Focus on children’s thinking Children are capable, active learners Teaching as guidance, not telling Instructional decisions belong to teachers- use DAP to enhance learning DEBRIEF

Digging into the CCSS How are the CCSS different from the Hawaii Content & Performance Standards? What will this mean for me in real life? What adjustments will I have to make to my teaching practice and my curriculum?

Shifts: Implementing the Common Core State Standards ELA Shifts Complexity –Academic language –Rich vocabulary Evidence –Support opinions with examples from text or other source Knowledge –Build content knowledge using non-fiction texts Math Shifts Focus –Emphasize key knowledge/skills Coherence –Content builds across grade levels –Links within grade levels Rigor –Conceptual understanding –Procedural skill/fluency –Application to real-world problems

Simplifying the Shifts Integrate the ELA and Math shifts Align with preK-grade 3 practices And the result is:  Richness  Reasoning  Rationales Beef up your curriculum and teaching practices to emphasize these elements

Richness Offer students both depth and breadth Provide lots of instructional variety –Write and read all literary genres –Full range of mathematical experiences Help students articulate their ideas using specific, precise language Use and teach discipline-specific vocabulary and academic language Build content knowledge and vocab by reading and discussing non-fiction texts

Elbow partners: Richness Turn to an elbow partner and discuss 1. An example of “richness” already present in your classroom and practice 2. How you could tweak your plans for Monday to increase the richness of the experiences you offer your students

Richness? Questions? Comments? Anyone want to share a tweak you could use to heighten the richness of one of your lessons in the coming week?

Reasoning Model and encourage critical thinking Help students develop strategies for recognizing and solving problems Expect students to explain their process and thinking to the class –“Work alouds” Push students to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts, not just their ability to answer a question

Elbow partners: Reasoning Turn to a your other elbow partner and discuss 1. How teachers can access students’ reasoning 2. What new vocabulary students will need to learn to be able to explain their reasoning to a teacher and/or to a peer

Reasoning? Questions? Comments? Anyone want to share some of the new, reasoning-related vocabulary you plan to teach to your students in the coming week?

Rationales Help students become aware of and articulate the reasons for their actions and decisions Expect students to refer to evidence from a text to support their opinion Ask students questions like –How did you make that choice? –What other possibilities did you consider? –How did you decide which was the best? –Are you sure? Why are you sure?

Elbow partners: Rationales Turn to someone you haven’t elbowed with and discuss 1. What’s the difference between reasoning and rationale? 2. How can teachers push students to engage in more rigorous thinking without seeming mean or harsh?

Rationales? Questions? Comments? Anyone want to offer some positive, productive ways to push students to articulate their thinking processes?

CCSS Work Session #2 Work in grade level teams using your CCSS-Language Arts document Consider and discuss your plans for teaching the CCSS-LA in terms of –Richness –Reasoning –Rationales We will share out in _____ minutes

CCSS-LA Work Session Debrief Ideas for increased richness? Ideas for tapping into student reasoning? Ideas for getting students accustomed to providing rationales?

Questions? Comments?

Concluding Q&A Q: Are the Common Core State Standards great? Are they “meh?” Are they awful? A: It doesn’t matter. The CCSS are already here (in 45.5 states).

Our most pressing task? Determine how teachers can use the implementation of the CCSS as a way to strengthen and enrich the learning opportunities made available to young children in our classrooms.

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