Date post: | 13-Jan-2015 |
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Writing and the Common Core State Standards
Esther WojcickiFounder, Palo Alto High School Journalism Program
California State Teacher Credentialing Commission Teacher of the Year in 2002.
Discussion topics today
• What are the Common Core State Standards in Writing and Language Arts?
• The challenge: including non-fiction in the classroom
• How to meet the State Standards • requirements in your classroom
• Examples from the real world
Education yesterday
Not much has changed in 100 years
• Little or no project based learning• Lots of worksheets—now online• Little student control of learning• Collaboration is seen as cheating
• CHANGE IS IN THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
What should school today look like ?
CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE, EXCITING, COLLABORATIVE
Differentiated instruction
Share their work online
Collaborative classroom
Give them control
Encourage collaboration
Encourage creativity
Lots of creativity
Teach kids to shareCREATIVE COMMONS
Teach them to SEARCH
Let them work in groups
KEY: ENGAGED students
Work collaboratively
Not afraid to take risks
Teacher as COACH
Project based learning
Teach respect by respecting them
BUT…..
Is it happening today??
Probably not in a school near you
80% of teachers LECTURE full-time
Classroom 2013
Another classroom 2013
Schools today discourage creativity
• TESTS, TESTS, TESTS• STANDARDIZED CURRICULUM
• SCRIPTED EDUCATION• WORKSHEETS
All kids have tremendous capacity for innovation
We educate innovation and creativity out of them with all the testing and
controlled curriculum
We are educating kids for a future that we don’t know
We need to teach them to think, to find information for themselves.
not to memorize useless facts
How do you get creativity into the schools?
Add project based learning into the scripted curriculum
Make school RELEVANT
Let them explore and write about their world
WHY JOURNALISM?
Journalism is the most effective and authentic project based
learning for all students
WHY?It’s real
Why Journalism?
• It ties directly to the Common Core State Standards
• The Common Core State Standards can help change the classroom
CCSS---Key Design Consideration
Research and media skills blended into the Standards as a whole
....students need the ability to gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize, and report on information and ideas, to conduct original research in order to answer questions or solve problems, and to analyze and create a high volume and extensive range of print and nonprint texts in media forms old and new. The need to conduct research and to produce and consume media is embedded into every aspect of today’s curriculum...
WRITING STANDARD
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Journalism is research, primary research
It provides….the ability to gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize,
and report on information and ideas, to conduct original
research….
WRITING STANDARD
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects …
Come up with a story idea
Pay attention to what is happening
in the world around you
ability to gather information...
How to Search intelligently on the web
SEARCH EDUCATION--GOOGLE
LESSON PLANS & ACTIVITIES
POWER SEARCHING
A GOOGLE A DAY CHALLENGE
LIVE TRAININGS
JOURNALISM MEANS INTERVIEWING
Students need to know how to interview, how to ask good questions, how to do primary research. Students learn by doing…(John Dewey)
WRITING STANDARD
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Example: PERSONALITY FEATURE
At the beginning of the school year, have students interview each other and write a
personality feature (profile) about each other
The NY Times Learning Network has 100s of resources supporting
the teaching of journalism
NY Times Learning Network
Writing a Personality Feature
Seventh grade was when it all started. The song “Careless Whisper,” by George Michael, hooked Orion into the musical world, and kept him there. With its catchy melody by his side, Orion was able to excel at alto saxophone, and find a supportive group of friends that share similar interests as him.
“It’s the song that got me into music.” Orion says, when referring to “Careless Whisper”. He and his friends have been playing that song for several years now, and it still holds a special meaning for them. Orion described how he and his five other band friends played Careless Whisper after band practice one day. “We played it over and over,” he said. “We even got some of the teachers to come out and dance! Our friends came out and walked with us and they talked, and we just kept playing.”
Personality feature lead by 9th grader
Other people to interview
• Adminstrators
• Teachers
• Student leaders
• Parents
• Grandparents
• Community members
• Business people
JOURNALISM MEANS PUBLISHING
Top Three and Free ways to publish
BloggerWordPress
Tumblr
PUBLISH FREE ON GOOGLE SITES
C MAGAZINE (Palo Alto High)
PRINT WITH APRINTIS.COM
JOURNALISM is Opinion Writing.It ties to CCSS
• All kids are opinionated starting at birth…by the time they are in elementary school they want to run the show.
• Give them an opportunity to write about something they care about and be independent
WRITING STANDARD STARTING IN FIRST GRADE
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure
MY THREE DAUGHTERS—MY FIRST CLASS—VERY SELF DIRECTED
PARENTS ARE A CHILD’S FIRST TEACHERS
• They are also the most influential of all the teachers.
• Parents are part of the educational team
MY PHILOSOPY WITH MY CHILDRENT.R.I.C.K
• Trust• Respect• Independence• Collaboration• Kindness
T.R.I.C.K WORKS IN THE CLASSROOM, TIES INTO CCSS
• It empowers students• Fosters collaboration• Helps teachers implement the project based
CCSS curriculum• Motivates students• Makes kids feel valued
857 students drop out every
hour
Reasons for dropping out
• School not relevant to real world• Feel disconnected to school
• Difficult home life• Economic issues
Help them feel connected
• Give them a chance to express their ideas (OPINION WRITING)
• Let them work together in groups (MORE FUN TO WORK WITH YOUR FRIENDS)
• Have them write everyday about what is important to them (or react to what is going on in the world) (USE GOOGLE DOCS TO SHARE)
EXAMPLES OF STUDENT OPINION WRITING
• STUDENTS CAN WRITE ABOUT– Local issues– Family issues– School issues– International issues– Class issues– So many topics
WRITING STANDARD
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
NEWS WRITINGTies to the CCSS
WRITING STANDARD
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
NEWS WRITING
What is News Writing?
• Collecting information and or data• Distinguishing fact from opinion• Evaluating sources• Evaluating information• Writing it up in the inverted pyramid
format, most important to least important
You don’t need a dedicated journalism program
• Opinion writing can be done in an English class, a social studies class, a science class
• Easiest classes to integrate journalism into is 5th through 9th grade English classes
Book Reviews instead of Book Reports
Have students read professional book reviews• Ask them to support their opinions about the
book with examples and quotes• You can still ask them to evaluate plots,
characterization, theme....• Have students peer edit using Google Docs• Publish the reviews in a blog online
WRITING STANDARD
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.5 … focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
WRITING STANDARD
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.6 …..use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers
PEER EDITING
PEER EDITING
Everything turned in online & shared
From: Key Design Consideration
Standards for 6–12 ELA requires much greater attention to a specific category of informational text—literary nonfiction—than has been traditional.
Key Design Consideration--CCSS
Students need to be proficient in reading complex informational text independently in a variety of content areas.
Have kids read the news everyday
• EXAMPLES– New York Times– Local newspapers– Time Magazine– Atlantic Monthly– HuffingtonPost– Many more….
TED PRIZE 2013—Sugara Mitra
HAPARA
Kids are not afraid of making mistakes
But through schooling we stigmatize mistakesBy the time they graduate they are good at memorizing but not thinking
Promote learning with badges
WHY ???
• Why don’t schools change??
• 1. Schools of education have not changed• 2. Teachers teach the way they were taught• 3. Teachers are reluctant to give up any
control to students• 4. Teachers are given scripted curriculum
Everyone is interested in education
Let’s see if we can make a difference in getting kids
engaged (not threatened) in their learning
Let’s see if we can implement the CCSS
Videos to watch
SEARCHhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v9yZco8bwI8
The power of Docs http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TYPjJK6LZdM
Video at the end http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9PvlEWAr5I