Assignment Template: California CCSS for English Language Arts and Literacy

I will admit, when I first received this packet I contemplated lighting it on fire because I thought it was going to be a tedious read. Luckily it wasn't too bad. There were parts of it that I liked and found helpful, and others that weren't that useful to me. But overall, not a bad read. 

One part that I found helpful was the key on the left hand side which had the state standards plainly listed that coordinated to each activity. This makes it easy to translate each lesson to the standard and perhaps what other things I could do to achieve the same goal using the template for initial guidance.

I am not sure why students today aren't really being taught how to read actively. They are taught how to read, then it seems like as they get older, the tools to add to their school tool belts just stop coming, and it is assumed that if you can read something, you not only then understand it, but can write about it. This is simply not the case. Many of my students either just don't do the assigned reading because they know they won't get anything out of it, or they will spend two hours rereading to try and squeeze meaning out of something that should have only taken them 30 minutes to annotate/highlight. This is not only frustrating for students, but most often, I like students to have discussions with me about their reading in class, and obviously, if they didn't read, they don't discuss. If there is no discussing, there is no writing, and that's how the nasty cycle gets perpetuated. 

This article provides practical solutions and simple foundation exercises for students to master. The nice thing about writing is that it is so personal. For students who have more trouble writing, they can start at more of an understanding level, where someone who comprehends the article can begin thinking about it more critically and writing about their feelings etc. I really liked the section on critical reading. Teaching students about credibility as well as ethos, pathos and logos can not only serve them in the classroom setting, but also in more practical ways. Being able to determine a solid argument and debunk a non-credible source- especially come election time- is a highly useful skill to have.

Revision of the writing process is also something that I think typically gets skimmed over in most classrooms. Most teachers assume that students know what they mean when they say it's time to 'peer edit' or that their papers need to be written in multiple drafts. That simply isn't the case. Teaching students how to put on a teacher minded hat when they revise can help get students involved and thinking more about grammar, conventions and structure rather than just the content of their own papers. 

Overall, if teachers can adapt to this new standard, we can begin to synchronize it with our individual curriculum and create the best possible content for our students. No matter where they start when they come into our class, templates like this can help provide a foundation of basic skills that can be built on using more fun and creative methods for discovering a lifelong love for reading and writing.