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Getting to the Core of English Language Arts, Grades 6-12

How to Meet the Common Core State Standards with Lessons from the Classroom

By: Vicky Giouroukakis, Maureen Connolly

Foreword by Kenneth Lindblom

The authors move the implementation of the CCSS for ELA from the abstract to the concrete by providing adaptable, exemplar lesson plans in each of the CCSS strands.

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Product Details

Grade Level: 6-12
ISBN: 9781452218816
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2012
Page Count: 240
Publication date: September 24, 2012

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Description

Design effective CCSS-aligned lessons for secondary students

If you want to revamp your secondary English Language Arts curriculum to reflect the Common Core State Standards, this book is the perfect resource. The authors move the implementation of the CCSS for ELA from the abstract to the concrete by providing adaptable, exemplar lesson plans in each of the CCSS strands: reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language. Each lesson template includes:

Intended grade level band, timeline, and the type of student writing involved
Connections to supporting theory, including the Backward Design model
Variations to differentiate the lesson for diverse student populations
Ways to link the lesson to technology and service learning
Reproducible handouts

The lesson narratives also give tips for incorporating technology into lessons and connecting them to enduring theorists in education (Dewey, Bloom, and Gardner). The final section offers collaboration strategies for connecting via technology to colleagues beyond the school building and working together on CCSS-based ELA lessons. This practical, easy-to-use guide will help you navigate the most efficient route to creating standards-based lessons that optimize student learning.

Key features

A perfect resource for any middle or high school revamping their ELA curricula to reflect the Common Core.
Transforms the common core state standards for ELA from the abstract to the concrete by providing thorough examples, voices from the field, and adaptable lesson plans
Each lesson plan includes 1) what standards are being addressed, 2) applicable components of the Backwards Design model, and 3) opportunities for differentiation to reach students with special needs, ELLs, struggling learners, students with diverse learning strengths etc.
Provides in-depth coverage of each of the ELA CCSS strands - (1) Reading, (2) Writing, (3) Speaking and Listening, and (4) Language
Makes connections between Backward Design and the CCSS (Table 2.1).

Author(s)

Vicky Giouroukakis

Consulting Description

Vicky Giouroukakis, PhD, (née Vasiliki Menexas), is an Associate Professor in the Division of Education at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York. She teaches graduate courses to prospective and practicing secondary English teachers and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers. Prior to her tenure at Molloy, Vicky taught English at a public high school in Queens, New York, and ESL to adolescents and adults. She also taught at Manhattanville College and Queens College, CUNY. Her research interests include adolescent literacy, standards and assessment, teacher education, and cultural and linguistic diversity. Her work has been featured in books and scholarly journals, and she frequently presents at regional, national, and international conferences. In 2010, Vicky was the recipient of the Educator of Excellence Award by the New York State English Council and has been serving on the Council’s Executive Board since then. She has been interested in standards and assessment and how they affect teaching and learning ever since she began teaching. Moreover, her dissertation work was on the impact of state assessments in English on instructional practice. Vicky received a master’s degree in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She also received a master’s degree in TESOL and a doctorate in Reading/Writing/Literacy from the University of Pennsylvania. Vicky resides in New York with her supportive husband and three loving children.

Maureen Connolly

Consulting Description

Maureen Connolly, EdD, has been an English teacher at Mineola High School on Long Island, New York, for 12 years. She has also worked as a professor of Education at Molloy College, Adelphi University, and Queens College. She has overseen service-learning grants for the New York Metropolitan Area and collaborated in the writing of several publications related to service-learning. While Maureen credits her passion for service to her mother, a music teacher who often coordinated trips for her pupils to perform at a local nursing home, she credits her love of literature and teaching to her grandmother, a professor of English at Hunter College, and her grandfather, a salesman for Macmillan. Maureen has developed many standards-based, service-learning projects that link community outreach, character education, and reading. In addition, she has been a part of the Learn to Serve with Character Research Project headed by New York State. Maureen earned her master’s degree in Reading and her doctorate in Educational Leadership at St. John’s University. She has been awarded the title of Honoree for the ASCD Outstanding Young Educator of the Year and granted the St. John’s University LEAD Award. Also, she has presented workshops at regional, national, and international conferences, and volunteered to teach in India, Ghana, Peru, and Spain. Maureen is part of the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program which promotes global education. She believes that at the core of her profession is the need to develop purposeful learning that opens students’ eyes to the potential for positive change in themselves and in their local, national, and global communities. Maureen resides in New York City.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction: How to Use This Book

1. Laying the Foundation: An Overview

Part I: Reading

2. The Benefits of CCSS for the Teaching of Reading

3. Reading Lessons from the Field

Part II: Writing

4. The Benefits of CCSS for the Teaching of Writing

5. Writing Lessons from the Field

Part III: Speaking and Listening

6. The Benefits of CCSS for the Teaching of Speaking and Listening

7. Speaking and Listening Lessons from the Field

Part IV: Language

8. The Benefits of CCSS for Language

9. Language Lessons from the Field

10. Raising the Roof: Collaboration Beyond the School Building

References

Index

Reviews

“This book is a wonderfully timely text that makes the Common Core Standards manageable. The authors integrate theory and practice by supplying examples and testimonials to transform the standards from the abstract to the concrete. This is a must for any teacher or school revamping curricula to reflect the CCSS.”

Lynn Frick, English teacher
Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI

"With its relevant ideas and suggestions for incorporating the CCSS into current classroom practices, this book is a gift to ELA teachers who grapple with this renewed approach to reading and writing instruction. All educators will benefit from the invaluable resources aimed at helping students to 'run with the literacy stampede' of the 21^st century."

Judith Sullivan, Supervisor of Secondary English Language
Baltimore County Public School System, MD

"The understanding and implementation of the ELA common core standards are woven seamlessly with practical, classroom tested ELA lessons. The attention to background information, structure and content is artful. This groundbreaking publication belongs in the hands of new and experienced ELA teachers."

Evelyn M. Connolly, Assistant Professor of Instruction in Literacy and ELA
Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY

"This book gives teachers both an understanding of the standards and a means by which they can put the standards into practice. It features sound pedagogy with the standards¸ emphasizing reliable assessment, teaching strategies, and suggestions for integrating media and technology. A must for ELA teachers seeking expert."

Victor Jaccarino, Team Leader
NYSED, NY

"A well-written text that benefits practicing educators and pre-service educators about to go into the field. Readers learn about the Common Core and its application in the classroom along with constructing powerful lesson plans to meet the needs of diverse classes. I encourage college educators to use this fabulous text."

Kjersti VanSlyke-Briggs, Associate Professor of Secondary Education
SUNY Oneonta

“This hands-on, research-based classroom guide for the CCSS presents classroom-tested lessons that are beneficial to all English teachers, from the neophyte to more experienced instructors. This book deserves an important place on the shelf of any current or aspiring English educator.”

Lawrence Butti, English Instructional Leader
Mineola High School, Garden City Park, NY

Other Titles in: Teaching Methods & Learning Styles | Learning Styles | English/Language Arts (Middle/High School)

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