Common Core State Standards: Tip #2 for Implementing the CCSS Your Curriculum

Align your lessons with the Common Core Standards.

If you teach in one of the 48 states that has adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), chances are you've been looking for resources to help ensure your students are practicing the essential skills to meet the standards. And chances are you haven't found much for grades 6-12. I'd like to offer some tips that I learned as I went through this process during the 2010-2011 school year. Check back often to read my next tip (I'll have several). See tip #1 here.

TIP FOR IMPLEMENTING THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS INTO YOUR ELA CURRICULUM
2. Take advantage of the fact that the ELA anchor standards for 6-12 are the same, just varying the depth of each as students progress. For example, the first anchor standard for reading literature grades 6-12 is:
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. 
(Source: corestandards.org)
Take a look at each grade-level standard for reading literature and see how they either build upon one another or stay the same:
RL.6.1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.8.1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.9-10.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.11-12.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

At the sixth grade level, it seems as though just one supporting piece of evidence is necessary to find in the text, while seventh through 12th grades require more than one piece of evidence, and/or more difficult texts to find the supporting evidence from eighth grade on up.

Common Core Graphic Organizers

This is helpful because students will continue to build on these same skills each year, reinforcing what they know. It's also to your advantage when it comes to finding resources by using materials that cover several grade levels. My graphic organizers can be used with any text (fiction or non-fiction) in any content area. I begin with the anchor standards, then add directions or prompts that suit the grade level. Therefore, if you teach both an 8th grade and 11th grade literature class, you would only have to purchase the organizers for grades 11-12 because those will have all the materials from grades 6 on up. The organizers for grades 6, 7, and 8 are very similar to those for grades 9-10, so only one or the other would need to be purchased if you taught any of those grades. This is why my organizers for grades 11-12 are more expensive--they contain more and go more in-depth on many of the standards.

UPDATE: History and science teachers can find Common Core Literacy resources here:
CCSS Graphic Organizers for History & Social Studies, Grades 6-12
CCSS Graphic Organizers for Science & Technical Subjects, Grades 6-12

ADDITIONAL CCSS RESOURCES
• If you are a pin-head like me (aka Pinterest Addict), check out my Common Core resources board:
Common Core Resources for English/Language Arts

• You can also find resources through Charity Preston's Common Core Reading Lessons website. Just click on the specific grade level you are looking for.

SOURCE
The Common Core State Standards were posted under the public license:
The NGA Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) hereby grant a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to copy, publish, distribute, and display the Common Core State Standards for purposes that support the Common Core State Standards Initiative. These uses may involve the Common Core State Standards as a whole or selected excerpts or portions.

NGA Center/CCSSO are the sole owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.

© Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

Implementing the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts Classes, Tip #1

Align your lessons with the Common Core Standards.

If you teach in one of the 48 states that has adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), chances are you've been looking for resources to help ensure your students are practicing the essential skills to meet the standards. And chances are you haven't found much for grades 6-12. I'd like to offer some tips that I learned as I went through this process during the 2010-2011 school year. Check back often to read my next tip (I'll have several).

TIP FOR IMPLEMENTING THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS INTO YOUR ELA CURRICULUM
1. Take advantage of the materials available to you. There are many websites and Pinterest boards that are posting resources. Utilize those! It will save you a lot of time. (Links to resources posted below.)

Sadly, I did not have any materials available to me two years ago, otherwise I would have used them.

Avoid the tedious task of re-mapping your curriculum.

When our district learned of the adoption of the standards in 2010, we were given the tedious and time-consuming chore of aligning our curriculum maps with the CCSS. It seemed like it would be an easy task, but it turns out there were many Illinois standards that just didn't seem to fit anywhere in the Common Core. It didn't take long to realize it would be easier to re-do many of my lessons than align each one.

As a result, I created my Grades 9-10 Common Core Reading Graphic Organizers. Though I had already been practicing skills like inferencing and analysis of characters, theme, the author's purpose, figurative language, and so on, the language in the CCSS was much more specific with exactly what the students should be learning. Below is an example of one I created for the reading literature anchor standard #3 (CCR.RL.3):

I had my students use the RL.3 organizer while we read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. {You can download this graphic organizer HERE free.}

Below is an example of the character analysis of Scout Finch. In one of my next posts I'll be writing about what we did after students filled out their graphic organizers.

If you are interested in the graphic organizers for other grade levels, you can find them all in my teacher store: Common Core Resources (free & priced) for English/Language Arts

I will be posting more tips every few days, so check back for tip #2!

ADDITIONAL CCSS RESOURCES
• If you are a pin-head like me (aka Pinterest Addict), check out my Common Core resources board:
Common Core Resources for English/Language Arts

• I belong to group boards, where you can find resources from various teachers and websites:
Common Core Ideas
The Ultimate Common Core ELA Products - Must Have

• You can also find resources through Charity Preston's Common Core Reading Lessons website. Just click on the specific grade level you are looking for.

SOURCE
The Common Core State Standards were posted under the public license:
The NGA Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) hereby grant a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to copy, publish, distribute, and display the Common Core State Standards for purposes that support the Common Core State Standards Initiative. These uses may involve the Common Core State Standards as a whole or selected excerpts or portions.

NGA Center/CCSSO are the sole owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.

© Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

To Decorate or Not Decorate...That is the Question

I love looking at all the cute elementary teachers' classroom pictures. There's something so magical and inviting with all the colors, rugs, story time areas, and cute tiny tables and chairs.

Then, as students get older and the desks get taller, classrooms start to turn...well, a little bland.

What happened to the bright colors?
The rugs on the floor?
The polka dot curtains?
The decorated doors?

Are those things reserved just for the tiny tots in the primary grades? To be honest, I don't think I could picture students in chemistry class sitting around little decorated chairs doing a lab experiment, could you? And if you let high school students sit on a carpet square in the room for story time, wouldn't they just fall asleep? And wouldn't group desk formations encourage cheating?

These are all excuses we high school teachers come up with because, quite frankly, who has time for this?

There are syllabi to copy!
Lessons to plan!
Rosters to load!
Apps to be ran!

Yet, elementary teachers do many of these things and even though they may only have 30 students to our 150, they do have prep work that does not involve decorating. So perhaps high school teachers just decide that classroom aesthetics aren't that important.

But...are they?

Do you decorate your high school room? If so, how does it impact the learning environment, if at all?

I've actually given this a lot of thought because I like a colorful room. I love hanging memes, quote signs, and posters relating to the novels we read. And an English classroom wouldn't be complete without books! These things count as decoration, right?

I think having a happy-looking room will brighten the students' moods. At least I hope it does. I've never done any formal research on the topic, but would love to see a study about this for secondary classrooms.

So I'm going to share some of my classroom pictures that may not be as colorful or organized as my elementary teacher friends', but I love my classroom. :)

I have almost an entire wall in my classroom lined with bookshelves. As my classroom library grew, the wonderful custodians in my building added the short oak bookcases--one-by-one each summer. Three years ago, our new counselor redecorated one of the rooms in her office and no longer needed the tall bookshelves, so our custodians--knowing how much I could use them--surprised me by adding them to my room. (Did I say already that I have THE best custodians!?)

I also think plants make any room feel more warm and homey.

On the window by my classroom door I added the previous years' "book selfies" (this is a FREEBIE in my store). Students love to look at the books their classmates recommend each year, so I continue to add to them each year as I get new book selfies from students. I will probably have to extend the display onto the door as it grows. I love that the first thing they see walking in and walking out are books.

Another simple tip is to add fresh flowers from your yard (or the neighbor's, if they don't mind!). Flowers make everyone feel special and students DO notice these little things. It's simple and it really does help with creating a more cheerful mood and adding a fresh scent. Just be aware of allergies--some flowers have pollen that may spark hayfever or other allergic reactions. 

Don't neglect the ceiling; it's a way to display student work and add a 3-dimensional feature to your room without cluttering the walls or using valuable board space. Here, I displayed student collage mobiles and trading cards. Both are great back-to-school activities.

I usually use my whiteboards for displaying student work. One thing I learned from elementary teachers is to use bulletin-board borders on my whiteboard to separate sections. I have one section I use for making announcements and displays students who were featured in the newspaper for various achievements.

Interactive bulletin boards are also very popular with secondary students. It gives students something to read and interact with before, after, and during class if time permits. This one is a banned books display in a social studies classroom.

Memes can be fun reminders of your classroom rules, policies, or just to supplement your instruction. And we all know how much middle and high school students love memes, so don't be afraid to add them to your decor.

Please share how you "decorate" your secondary room and feel free to link up a post to your blog or website. I'd love to see more examples of secondary rooms! And thanks to all the elementary teachers out there who bring color and joy into the lives of millions of school children each year.

This post is featured on the TeachersPayTeachers (TpT) Blog. You'll find many helpful articles for secondary teachers there!

Hunger Games DVD Giveaway!

In case you hadn't heard, I'm having a giveaway for "The Hunger Games" DVD on my other blog Hunger Games Lessons. It ends this week, so make sure you enter to win it and my Hunger Games Novel vs. Movie lesson pack.

In addition, I posted links to various Hunger Games freebies from my teaching friends.  There's a wide variety, so check them out.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great week!

I Know What You Read This Summer

I Know What You Read This Summer - Have students post books they read for other students to see.

I've decided to switch my old "Good Reads" board space up this year. I use that space to encourage students to suggest books to their classmates. It allows them to see what their friends are reading, rather than just having me suggest books. It's also more meaningful coming from their peers. In addition, they get a chance to contribute to the classroom "decor" (if you can call my room having "decor"). Students LOVE writing on white boards. I have no idea why, but even my seniors enjoyed the opportunity to write on the board.

So I made this sign for that space: "I Know What You Read This Summer." I am sure that someone before me probably came up with this parody of the novel/movie, since I Know What You Did Last Summer has been around for years (1973 to be exact). But you are welcome to download this poster for your own classroom. You can take the image file from here, or download it in my TpT store for a larger, better quality PDF file.

I've posted some classroom pictures on my Facebook Page and will add more on here when I have the board up. :)

What do you do to encourage students to read? Please share with us!

It's a Clip Art Giveaway!

Like the banner says, you do NOT want to miss this giveaway!
Check out all the TeachersPayTeachers clip artists and enter the giveaway for a great bundle of art.
Just click on the banner to get started. It ends Sunday, so enter now.

I'll be giving away my popular "It's a Hoot" Owl package. But guess what? If you already have that bundle, I'll let you pick out any other package from my store.

Special thanks to Lita from Learning in Spain for hosting this giveaway.

Good luck, friends!

Are You a Teacher? Do You Love Pinterest? Join the Edu-Pinner Link-Up

In case you haven't noticed, I love Pinterest. I'm a self-proclaimed pinhead and proud of it. I recently joined Rainbows Within Reach's "Great Edu-Pinner Link-Up." Thanks to Debbie from Rainbows for putting together this awesome collection of educational Pinterest users. She is number one and has 25K+ followers! Isn't that amazing? I am number 85. I think the last I checked I had a little over 2K, so I have a ways to go. I try to follow back, but if you link up your Pinterest url below, it'll be much easier for me.

I pin a lot of teaching tips, resources, freebies, and humor onto my boards. And, of course, anything related to The Hunger Games trilogy. But my Hunger Games boards are only a small fraction of what I pin. In fact, guess which pin is my most popular? It's from my humor board and I pinned it on Jan. 1, 2012. Yep, it's a comic.

According to PinReach, this is my most popular pin.

My more popular boards are:
Teaching The Hunger Games Trilogy
Teaching Resources
Back to School
Books Worth Reading
1:1 Technology
Education (lots of infographics and misc. posts related to education)

I'd love to see more secondary teachers on the list. I do love the elementary teachers, so no offense to any of you at all. Looking into your classrooms and seeing all the fun things you get to do with your students makes me a little envious. But then I remember that you also have to help your students blow their noses and I'm back to being OK with teaching high school. So come on, middle and high school teachers...let's see your pin boards!

What Are Your Classroom Rules?

From Close to Home by John McPherson

One of the more difficult parts of classroom management is coming up with a list of classroom rules. You could be like Mrs. Mutner (above) and cover everything from "wearing weird clothes" or "making smart-alecky remarks." Or you could keep it more simple (which is what I would recommend).

I like to show the Close to Home comic and actually keep this posted in my classroom near the doorway. I've been a John McPherson fan for many years and stock my classroom with several of his Close to Home books for my students to enjoy. I love using humor and showing your students Mrs. Mutner's rules is a great icebreaker into your own class rules. Here are some additional "humorous" images from my classroom that I posted last year, before I had any followers. :)

After my students loosen up, I give them my classroom rules. It's important to keep your rules simple and broad. Here are some guidelines I learned long ago from one of my education professors:

Here's an example of my classroom rules (or expectations):

You can download a copy of this poster free (without the website link) from my teacher store: 

Simple Class Rules for the Secondary Teacher

Though they are short, they lead into various discussions, like being punctual, bringing all the necessary supplies to class (book, pen/pencil, paper, laptop, etc.), how we treat one another, and appropriate language used in the classroom.

Even though you want to keep your rules simple, class procedures are another story. You will want to go over little things like how they should turn in homework (Do you want it printed on paper? written in pencil? emailed to you? dropped in your digital dropbox? and so on...).

Elementary teachers will have to be more detailed, even modeling some of the procedures for the students. You can see Wise Guys' resources for class procedures if you teach elementary. They have a freebie you can download {HERE}.

Secondary teachers may not have to model as much, but it is still a good idea to go over procedures the first day of school or sometime during the first week of school. Topics will most likely vary from elementary; I always go over our school handbook rules on cell phone use, turning in late work, and chewing gum. My packet "Can I Chew Gum in Class?" is a great way to cover these procedures and rules in a way that is less boring than just reading them from a syllabus. It also places more responsibility on the students for figuring out what the rules are.

I also love Miriam  Hamilton Keare's "Golden Rules For Living" as seen below in the image. I inherited this from another teacher when I first started out and have kept it posted in my classroom for years.

Whether this is your first year or 30th year teaching, I hope you find these classroom rules and procedures tips helpful. Though I have been working in education since 1994, I still question my beginning of the year routine. Each year a few days before school starts (or, the night before) I always go over my syllabus and make adjustments. I learn from other teachers all the time. Even from Mrs. Mutner...on what not to do, of course.

Have a GREAT school year!

-Tracee

Designing Your Cover Page - The Rule of Thirds

Photographers know that one way to create an appealing photograph is to follow the "rule of thirds." The rule of thirds is simply breaking up the picture into nine equal parts using two vertical and two horizontal lines. The places where the lines meet are "focal points" and your most important elements should be placed along these lines.

To demonstrate this in photography, see the graphic below. One image naturally follows the rule of thirds and becomes even more visually appealing when it is cropped. The other image is not naturally set up to follow the grid, but after it is cropped, it does become a more interesting picture.

You can use this same principle in design. I use iWork's Pages (Mac) for most of my designs. It is very similar to Adobe's InDesign software, which I used in journalism. You can follow the rule of thirds in any design software, including Microsoft Word. However, using Pages and InDesign make it easier for you to create a grid that you can see, but will not print. In both programs, just place your cursor in the ruler, then hold it down and drag your cursor to the place you want the line. Once you start dragging, a blue line will appear.

Start with a blank document in Pages (or InDesign).

Place your cursor in the ruler, then click and drag it. A blue line will appear. Unclick when the line is where you want it.

To make the horizontal lines, drag from the top ruler.

The lines can always be adjusted by placing your cursor on them and moving them. To get rid of them, just move them right off the page, and they will disappear. (I do not know if Microsoft Word or Powerpoint have the design gridlines feature, but you can always download a template HERE; just be sure to delete it after you've designed your page and before you print, because that one will show up.)

Repeat this step until you have nine equal parts.

Notice that the four intersections will be places that the viewer's eye is drawn. This is where you want to place your dominant features or elements. Also, following the horizontal or vertical lines with a dominant feature (like the title or a large graphic) will be more eye-appealing.

Many people will be tempted to place a dominant image right in the center of the page. I have been guilty of that, as well. But the more stimulating designs will place a dominant image off-center, following one of the vertical or horizontal lines.

Below are examples of a cover page and a page from one of my Powerpoint presentations that demonstrate the rule of thirds. Notice that the cover page does not have any dynamic images, but because the title is placed on the upper horizontal line, it is more appealing. You can use lighting effects to also draw the viewer's eye to one of the focal points, as demonstrated in the presentation page example.

This does not mean that you should always follow the rule of thirds. But if you are struggling with design and want to try something that will catch the viewer's eye (perhaps make your pages more "pin-worthy" on Pinterest), try this method out and see if it works for you. Good luck!

You can download this tutorial FREE in my teacher store, which includes two gridline .png graphics and additional tips:

DESIGNING A COVER PAGE USING THE RULE OF THIRDS

It's The Lesson Cloud Dollar Days Back-to-School Sale AND a Giveaway!

The Dollar Days Sale & Giveaway sponsored by The Lesson Cloud!

The Lesson Cloud authors are presenting a big Dollar Days sale this week! PLUS, you can win a $75 gift card to Really Good Stuff in our Back-to-School Giveaway!
You can get great deals on so many teacherspayteachers lessons, activities, printables, and other teaching resources for just $1 or $2. But it's only happening Sunday, July 29th and Monday, July 30th, so you'll need to put those items on your wish list or add to your cart so you don't forget.

To see all the great resources that will be marked down and to enter the $75 giveaway gift card, go to 

The Lesson Cloud Dollar Days

There you can click on the grade-level resources that are marked at super discounts and enter our giveaway!

  I will be marking down several products, including:

Grades 6-12: 
Common Core Graphic Organizers for Grades 9-10
Using Silly Shapes/Bands Bracelets to Teach Symbolism
Mockingjay Novel Unit Supplemental Activities/Lessons
The Life & Times of Shakespeare Powerpoint Presentation
 MLA Citations & Works Cited Student Help/Cheat Sheet 
Character Olympics - The Summer Games


Grades K-4:

  Create an Award Craftivity
Writing Lines Commercial & Personal-Use Clip Art (For handwriting practice) 

Clip Art:

More Seusstastic (Dr. Seuss-themed) Frames, Borders, Backgrounds

Writing Lines Commercial & Personal-Use Clip Art  (For handwriting practice)

Line-Art (or outline) Adults/Teachers Cartoon Characters Clip Art Package

Thanks to Hilary Lewis for designing the cute logo at the top!
Check out her blog {HERE}.

Simple Solution for my External Hard Drive Problem...

Do you have a laptop? Do you also use an external hard drive or charge your phone on your laptop? If so, maybe you can relate to my problem that has been bugging me for over a year (and why I never thought of this solution sooner is beyond me).

You see, the only time I really use my laptop at a desk is at school. I mean, it's a laptop. It's meant to be portable! But when I have my external hard drive attached I tend to forget it's there. So, there have been numerous times I've gotten up from my relaxed position on the family room couch only to find that I, once again, accidentally unplugged the hard drive. It's especially frustrating when I'm in the middle of something new and I hadn't saved it.

For some time I've been looking for some sort of pocket to attach to my laptop case to hold it. Believe it or not, I could not find anything designed for an external hard drive (or my iPhone, either...which tends to have the same fate when it's attached & I forget about it). There had to be something. But, I had no such luck.

Then I realized that my hard drive came with a little carrying case. (I have a tendency to toss these things aside and instead cram all my devices into my school bag...) I found the case in a junk drawer and brainstormed ways I could attach it to my laptop.

It didn't take long to realize that Velcro(TM) would be the best way to secure it. I bought some industrial strength (no, the hard drive isn't heavy, but I wanted to guarantee it would never fall off) and easily stuck it on. The best part is that the little case can also hold my iPhone, as well, as it charges. (I just realized it can hold one of my little cameras, too.) Since the pocket has a zipper, I just keep the top open so the cord can stick out. I can easily carry it around the house without worrying about it slipping or sliding and falling. Seriously, this simple solution has made my life so much easier!

Here are some additional pictures and the how-to steps:

Supplies you will need: Velcro (I used industrial strength...it's not going anywhere!), scissors, laptop, external hard drive case.

The external hard drive case remains secure as the laptop is opened and closed.

The steps are simple: 

1. Cut the Velcro to the size of your case. 

2. Attach one piece to your case, the other to your laptop cover.

3. Stick the case on the Velcro, making sure the opening is "up" so the hard drive doesn't fall out.

Problem of the accidental detachment of external hard drive is SOLVED!

If your external hard drive doesn't come with a little case, you could probably make one yourself if you are crafty and can sew. Or maybe you could convince the family consumer science teacher (a.k.a. home ec) that this would be a great project for the sewing class! :) Either way, I do hope you find my simple tip helpful if you happen to have the same problem.