\ Common Core State Standards: Reading and Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies Grade 6 – Grade 8 Greece Central School District - Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

What are the Common Core Standards? The goal of the CCSS is the prepare students to be college and career ready. These standards are research based, align with college and career expectations, are rigorous, and meet international standards. There are four major strands that span K-12 education: –Reading –Writing –Speaking and Listening –Language Development

A Focus on Humanities In social studies classrooms, the essence of the Common Core State Standards is a focus in humanities – connecting social studies skills and content with English/Language Arts curriculum. For our social studies lessons, units and classrooms, the reading and writing strands are central to instruction and student learning. Information contained here will focus on the standards for reading and writing, in grades 6-8 for social studies.

Common Core Standards in Social Studies - Reading There are four standards for the Common Core Reading strand: Key Ideas and Details: Read the text closely to make inferences, and to cite specific textual evidence to support conclusions. Craft and Structure: Interpret text to determine technical, connotative and figurative meaning; assess how point of view shapes content and style. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Integrate and evaluate content visually and quantitatively; delineate and evaluate claims in a text; compare how different texts address similar themes. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity: A progression of complexity in text and theme in order to build independence and proficiency.

CCSS: Reading in Grades 6-8 Key Ideas/Craft and Structure Key Ideas: –Cite specific textual evidence for analysis of both primary and secondary sources. –Identify key steps in a text’s description of social studies related concepts (ex. How a bill becomes a law; the phases of revolution.) –Provide summaries from primary and secondary sources that are distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. Craft and Structure: –Determine the meaning and purpose of words and phrases used in text as related to social studies content. –Describe how a text presents information – sequentially, comparatively, topically, chronologically, casually. –Identify aspects of a text that give evidence to the author’s point of view – language, including or omitting facts, opinions of events or characters.

CCSS: Reading in Grades 6-8 Integration of Knowledge/Range of Reading Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: –Integrate visual information such as graphs, charts, cartoons, data, maps and photographs with other information in print. –Distinguish between fact and opinion in text. –Compare and contrast the differences between a primary source and a secondary source on the same topic. Range of Reading and Text Complexity: –By the end of grade 8, students should be able to read and comprehend history/social studies primary and secondary source texts that include the grades 6-8 complexity band vocabulary. Examples include most district textbooks (secondary sources).

CCSS and Text Complexity Bands Common Core State Standards have selected various texts as examples for each grade level. These exemplars are given a text complexity band – based on qualitative and quantitative measures of text difficulty. Increasing complexity of text and task K-12 helps students prepare for college and careers. The lexile scores of most textbooks, scientific journals, newspapers and magazines all increased or remained steady from In , only 53% of students achieved appropriate reading benchmark scores or higher. Workplace reading regularly exceeds the grade 12 complexity band. In college, students are expected to read complex text independently and are held more accountable to those readings than students in high schools.

CCSS and Text Complexity Bands Text Complexity Grade Band Old Lexile RangeLexile Ranges Aligned to Common Core K-1N/A CCR

CCSS and Text Complexity Bands Grades 6-8 Examples of Grades 6-8 Text Complexity Readings: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Douglass Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Douglass The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain The Diary of Anne Frank: A Play - Goodrich and Hackett The Diary of Anne Frank: A Play - Goodrich and Hackett Paul Revere’s Ride - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Paul Revere’s Ride - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I, Too, Sing America - Langston Hughes I, Too, Sing America - Langston Hughes Letter on Thomas Jefferson - John Adams Letter on Thomas Jefferson - John Adams Preamble and First Amendment to the US Constitution Preamble and First Amendment to the US Constitution A Short Walk through the Pyramids and through the World of A Short Walk through the Pyramids and through the World of Art - Phillip Isaacson Art - Phillip Isaacson Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott - Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott - Russell Freedman Russell Freedman The Great Fire - Jim Murphy The Great Fire - Jim Murphy

Literacy in Social Studies - Writing There are four standards for the Common Core Writing strand: Text Types and Purposes: Write arguments to support claims using relevant and substantive evidence from text; write narratives to develop real or imagined events with rich detail and structure. Production and Distribution of Writing: Production of writing pieces, including revision, editing and publication and the use of technology to interact and collaborate with others. Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Students conduct both short-term and long-term research, gather evidence from informational and literary texts to support research while assessing the credibility of sources. Range of Writing: Students learn to write for different audiences, purposes and tasks.

CCSS: Writing in Grades 6-8 Text Types/Production of Writing Text Types and Purposes: –Introduce claims about a topic and distinguish one claim from another in different texts. –Use words, phrases and sentences to create cohesion in writing, and to clarify pieces of evidence that support claims. –Establish and maintain a formal style of writing. –Develop a topic in writing with relevant facts, details, quotations and examples. Production and Distribution of Writing: –Produce clear writing pieces that are organized for the purpose of specific audiences, peers, and tasks. –Plan, revise, edit, rewrite, or try a new approach to writing with both teacher and peer support and guidance. –Use technology (internet, computers, multimedia) to produce and publish writing.

CCSS: Writing in Grades 6-8 Research/Range of Writing Research to Build and Present Knowledge: –Conduct short research projects to answer a question drawing on several sources or texts. –Learn to use search terms efficiently, assess credibility of online sources and text, and quote/paraphrase the data and conclusions of those sources and texts to support claims. –Learn standard formats for citations (in-text and works cited page) –Draw evidence from additional, student selected texts, to support analysis, reflect on evidence, and enhance research. Range of Writing: –Write over extended time frames (time for revision, editing, and reflection), as well as over shorter time frames in order to expand understanding and development of discipline-specific tasks.

Resources for the Common Core State Standards – Common Core State Standards Initiative Website. Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy - A Video Overview Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy - A Video Overview