Achieve the Core has identified three overarching shifts in the move to the Common Core standards for English/Language Arts. Having spent the better of three years unpacking the new standards, these shifts indeed spotlight where a teacher should focus instruction.
Go to the Achieve the Core site to read more on "Making the Shift".
All three remind us of the need to offer more robust content to students so they can build vocabulary, skills (such as inference), and habits (supporting arguments) necessary to develop college and career readiness.
What are these shifts and how can student use of technology address them? Here are a few ideas:
1. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language
Use Little Bird Tales, Storybird, Voicethread, or Haiku Deck to 1) identify rich vocabulary in close reading and write a new story using it; 2) create a book of poetry on the weather, and 3) write your own textbook on animals, weather, geology, outreach activities.
2. Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational
Instead of writing an essay, have students create a digital story based on a script. Use Popplet to brainstorm/storyboard; Google Apps to write the script; and Comic Creator, Powtoon, GoAnimate! or video to create the final product.
3. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction
Non-fiction text can be found on many sites, but be sure to check out Scholastic, Discovery and Digital Public Library. Also check out Newsela for current event articles that are scaffolded to your students’ lexile numbers.
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Also check out the free app Books That Grow (www.booksthatgrow.com)--lots of multilevel nonfiction available in the library (https://www.booksthatgrow.com/book-titles/).
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