English Language Arts Common Core Standards AND The Common Core Standards for English Language Arts Blog #2

*While reading the 6-12 common core standards online,  it was interesting to see the breakdown of what is expected/taught for those grade levels and why. I was interested to read that in the 9-10 grades, common core is already trying to teach about college ready courses and what to expect. I didn't take a writing for college class until my senior year, and that was an elective credit. While reading the standards, I feel that this is a good thing in prepping kids for the future. I know that a lot of what it laid were things I didn't really learn until college. Like when it talks about at the end of 9th grade the students should have a sense of scaffolding if needed. I feel that these are skills that help in everyday life, like building a professional resume, or even being able to hold an educated discussion with someone. I am excited that these are the types of things that I will be able to teach in the future. In the 11-12 standards, I was excited to see Shakespeare and an American dramatist as some requirements. There are so many things we have learned from Shakespeare, and as a theater geek, a lot of his books and sonnets are essential to our growth as an actor. I feel the same way as far as the literacy end of it. We, in today's days, use a lot of phrases and words from Shakespeare's times. Here is a fun list of those things!

*I enjoyed reading the handout, The Common Core Standards for English Language Arts.There were many things in there I liked, but a few really stuck out to me. Basically, I enjoyed the stories and experiences of other teachers and what they learned from this. For instance, the P21 framework encourages a focus of different themes; global awareness, financial literacy, etc. It was a really good idea to take a teen novel and then make a youtube channel PSA for these issues. I feel like this is something that could really capture the attention and interest in high school kids, since they are all so tech savvy (I'm slightly jealous). This incorporates the teacher's goal or thinking (all while following the common core state standards) about the social issues and blends it with the teens interests (youtube, internet, group work). This is something that I would even want to do in a future class of my own! I also enjoyed reading the story of the teacher who thought her first year would be fun and exciting as she was able to take the common core curriculum and make it her own, but come to find out she was barely trying to survive her first year as a teacher. I think this is so important because it shows that we all have good intentions in how we want to teach and what we want to teach, but that we need to stick to the state standards, and have that even as a fall back while we try to figure out our own teaching style. I am not, nor have I ever been a huge fan of common core (mostly because I feel my daughter's 2nd grade math is more difficult and confusing for her), but while reading the standards for english language arts, I'm glad to have a plan already.