Aligning Lessons with Common Core Standards

Just like the little engine that could . . . I keep telling myself, "I think I can, I think I can", at least that's what I tell myself when I'm working on my lessons.  I have begun the task of aligning the lessons in my TPT and TN store with CCSS.  I initially thought once I typed up the CCSS chart, the majority of the work would be through.  What I'm finding is applying standards to a particular lesson isn't as black and white as I thought.   You can give a lesson to 3 teachers and they will teach it 3 different ways.  For example, in my Literature Circle packet, the job of the Quiz Whiz is to write 3 questions from his/her reading assignment.  You could assign this task different ways such as 1)  Write factual questions  2)  Write inferential questions  3)  Write evaluative question or write a combination.  Plus, the assignment may change each time you teach it depending on the CCSS you are currently focused on.  Do you see why my head is spinning?  I tried to mark the most basic CCSS and left the others that could be applied blank.  If a teacher, teaches those, she/he can mark it on the chart.

To make it a little easier for you, the I am using the same format with the packets I'm revising that I used with my "Documenting Common Core Standards" packet.  As I update my packet with CCSS, I will post them here to notify you.  So, bookmark this page and check back from time to time.

The first packet I'm updating is Literature Circles.  I thought this would be a good place to start because the lessons can be used with different books on different reading levels.  The lesson packets I've finished so far are:

On March 28, I began a series called "3 Cheers".  

Please read that post before you read the next part of this post.

   One of the specialist of our V.R. (virtual reality) faculty is Jayne @ ABCs of Reading. It is easy to see Jayne's love of reading when you visit her blog.  Her blog is devoted to integrating the arts with books to teach reading comprehension. Jayne has a passion for education which is evident in her teaching experience.  She has taught grades preschool - 3rd grade and was also a senior editor for The Mailbox magazine.  With spring in the air, you'll want to take a closer look at her garden unit.  It is geared to K/1 and is called Thinking about Gardens:  Primary Thinking Maps and Writing Frames.

   Our center specialist lives in North Carolina and has experience teaching fifth and second grade. Tonya @ Super Second Graders enjoys teaching through the use of centers.  In her free time, Tonya loves to make jewelry and is also a scrapbook fanatic like Hojo.  Tonya's current best seller is called Building a Story.  If you are looking for some new center ideas, you can visit her store by clicking here:  TONYA DYE