Common Core

AssessmentMelissa DevlinAugust 4, 2014

Objectives for the day: Consider the changes in rigor required of

the Pennsylvania Core/Six Shifts in

Instructional practice.

Identify the assessment demands of

Pennsylvania Core.

Determine implications for your classroom.

Today’s materials:

wyomissingareapd-ela.wikispaces.com

(Copyright, 2012 Dave Stuart, Jr.)

Agenda12:00-1:15 Demands of the Core/Instructional

Shifts

1:15-1:45 Rigor in the Classroom

1:45-2:00 Break

2:00-3:00 Putting It All Together: Frameworks and Assessments

What is the Common Core/Pennsylvania Core all about?The Common Core State Standards for English Language

Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and

Technical Subjects (“the standards”) represent the next

generation of K–12 standards designed to prepare all

students for success in college, career, and life by the

time they graduate from high school.

(www.corestandards.org)

Why do we have new standards?

Six Shifts in Practice: Gallery Walk Read the Six Shifts: Mark up the text with

comments, questions, connections. Choose one that you want to discuss more.

Form groups based on the shift you selected. Within your group, discuss the shift. Then

look at the supporting document that details student and teacher actions.

Create a poster that represents your thinking and the key ideas that are relevant for the group.

Six Shifts in Practice: Gallery Walk (cont’d) Take a “Gallery Walk” with post-it notes

in hand to examine each of the posters. Ask questions, raise concerns, identify

roadblocks, make connections with your post-it notes.

Groups return to their original poster and consolidate thinking of the whole group to share out.

What is really different?Shift 1: Create a balance of informational and literary texts.

Informational Literary

Grades K-5 50% 50%

Grade 8 55% 45%

Grade 12 70% 30%

What is really different?Shift 2: Build knowledge in all disciplines.

Math: charts and graphs Science: diagrams and charts, scientific

arguments and evidence Social Studies: primary source documents,

historical claims and evidence

Visit this website for a list of exemplar texts across content areas:www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_B.pdf

What is really different?Shift 3: Staircase of Complexity

Quantitative Measures: Word length, sentence length, word frequency

Levelitbooks (leveling app)

What is really different?Shift 3: Staircase of Complexity

Qualitative: organization,necessary prior knowledge,multiple levels of meaning, maturity of content

Achievethecore.org

What is really different?Shift 3: Staircase of Complexity

Reader and Task: Actual priorknowledge brought to thetext, level of the task

What is really different?Shift 4: Text-Dependent Answers

Non-Text Dependent Text-Dependent

In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out. Describe a time when you failed at something.

What makes Casey’s experience at bat humorous?

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King discusses violent protests. In writing, discuss a time when you wanted to fight against something you thought was unfair.

What can you infer from King’s letter about the letter that he received?

What is really different?Shift 5: Writing from Sources

Narrative writing

Informational writing

Argumentation writing

What is really different?Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary

Tier 1: Common words that are learned earlyTier 2: General academic words that appear across discipline and text types (eg. relative, accumulate, dignified)Tier 3: Domain-specific words (eg. onomatopoeia, lava)

Professional Reading

“The Common Core Ate My Baby and Other Urban Legends”

(image: www.todayifoundout.com)

What is rigor? Take one of the slips of paper in the

envelope at your table. Read your quote. Think about it and jot

any thoughts on the back. Get up and mingle. Find someone with a

different quote. Talk about your big ideas and listen to others’. Compare notes. Consider classroom implications for increasing rigor.

Show me the shifts in practice. . .

How Wyomissing is embracing the Pennsylvania Core Standards.

PDE has brought together teams of educators in each grade level band (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) to create modules that create a foundational curriculum framework.

As teachers align available and appropriate resources to these modules, it is essential to align our assessments to the rigor of the Pennsylvania Core Standards.

Sample Curriculum Framework Take a few moments to skim and scan the

curriculum framework document. Consider these questions:

In what ways does this curriculum framework look different from prior classroom practices?

How do we support ELA teachers in being successful in preparing students for this level of rigor?

Talk at your table groups.

A moment of humor. . .

Why we need the Common Core

How does this impact assessment?

Common Core Shifts in ELA Assessments

Shift 1: Pre-K-5, Balancing

Informational & Literary Texts

Passages will be authentic, and will be balanced between

informational and literary texts.

Shift 2: 6-12, Knowledge in the

Disciplines

Assessments will contain knowledge-based questions about

the informational text; students will not need outside

knowledge to respond.

Shift 3: Staircase of ComplexityPassage selection will be based on text complexity that is

appropriate to grade level per Common Core.

How does this impact assessment?

Common Core Shifts in ELA Assessments

Shift 4: Text-based Answers

Shift 5: Writing from Sources

Questions will require students to marshal evidence from the

text, including from paired passages.

Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary

Students will be tested directly on the meaning of pivotal,

common terms, the definition of which can be discerned from

the text. Academic vocabulary will also be tested indirectly

through general comprehension of the text.

Sample Assessment Read and complete assessment as a student

would. With a partner at table, choose one section

and identify the demands necessary to be successful on the assessment.

At table groups, discuss current assessment practices and necessary changes. Consider what implications are evident for classroom practice, especially considering the Six Shifts we discussed today as well as our definition of rigor.

• Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading by Fisher, Fry and Lapp

• The Core Six: Essential Strategies for Achieving Academic Excellence by Matthew Perini

• Commoncore.org

• Achievethecore.org

• Commoncoreworks.org

• PDESAS.org

Resources

Contact Information

Melissa Devlinmeldev@berksiu.org610.987.8506