The Standards set requirements not only for English language arts (ELA) but also for literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Just as students must learn to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively in a variety of content areas, so too must the Standards specify the literacy skills and understandings required for college and career readiness in multiple disciplines. Literacy standards for grade 6 and above are predicated on teachers of ELA, history/social studies, science, and technical subjects using their content area expertise to help students meet the particular challenges of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language in their respective fields. It is important to note that the 6–12 literacy standards in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects are not meant to replace content standards in those areas but rather to supplement them. States may incorporate these standards into their standards for those subjects or adopt them as content area literacy standards.
As a natural outgrowth of meeting the charge to define
college and career readiness, the Standards also lay out a vision of what it
means to be a literate person in the twenty-first century. Indeed, the skills
and understandings students are expected to demonstrate have wide applicability
outside the classroom or workplace. Students who meet the Standards readily
undertake the close, attentive reading that is at the heart of understanding
and enjoying complex works of literature. They habitually perform the critical
reading necessary to pick carefully through the staggering amount of
information available today in print and digitally. They actively seek the
wide, deep, and thoughtful engagement with high-quality literary and
informational texts that builds knowledge, enlarges experience, and broadens
worldviews. They reflexively demonstrate the cogent reasoning and use of
evidence that is essential to both private deliberation and responsible
citizenship in a democratic republic. In short, students who meet the Standards
develop the skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening that are the
foundation for any creative and purposeful expression in language.
My initial thoughts: Wow! This is an ambitious undertaking! This vision of a literate person is far
beyond where many people are now, beyond what currently passes for literate. What
might society look like if we actually achieved a population that actively seeks
the wide, deep, and thoughtful engagement with high-quality literary and
informational texts that builds knowledge, enlarges experience, and broadens
worldviews? How would our political debates change if everyone could reflexively
demonstrate the cogent reasoning and use of evidence?
I love that college and career readiness are part of the name of the standards and that this is the ultimate goal, but boy, we sure have a lot to do to get all students to reach that goal. And I love the emphasis placed on using high quality literary and informational texts that build knowledge, and demonstrating cogent reasoning and the use of evidence. Thinking about how this changes my daily practice is a little daunting.
Okay, rather than get bogged down in the enormity of that, I’ll
focus on the top paragraph…
What I particularly like is that the CCSS share the burden
(opportunity?) of teaching literacy skills –it isn’t just the responsibility of
English/Language Arts teachers. The CCSS explicitly state that social studies,
science, and technical subjects all are required to help students learn to read
and write.
I’m guessing that a few social studies and science teachers
will grumble about how teaching reading and writing skills belongs in English
and not their disciplines; others may feel unprepared to teach reading and
writing. And I completely understand the complaint or question of “how will I
get it all done?!” But I think that’s where the opportunity is – we now have a
clear target of what students should be doing and we have (at least) three
disciplines working together to make sure students can hit that target. Teachers
from all three disciplines can work together to devise close reading strategies
or writing templates. A common vocabulary can be used to describe both the
writing process and elements of a particular type of writing. Having everyone
focus on the same goals for reading and the same types of writing should make
it easier for both teachers and students.
Communication and time to think/plan/implement/reflect
together amongst the three disciplines will be crucial. I think it would be a
real mistake to expect or encourage English teachers to take the lead in explaining
the standards to social studies and science – all three disciplines should work
through the standards together. I think it would be important to keep the three
disciplines on the same page, rather than letting each group decide how to
implement the standards:
·
After reading the standards and seeing how the
ELA standards are connected to the literacy standards for social studies and science/technical
subjects, where do our students need the most help? Close reading skills?
Writing skills? That might be a starting point for implementation.· Setting a progression for the types of writing. Maybe English starts with inform-explain writing the first quarter and social studies and science pick it up the second quarter. Or everyone starts with inform-explain and then moves together to argument. Hey, how about a school-wide writing bootcamp!
· Assessing writing together with a rubric shared by all three disciplines. Norming papers together would be fascinating and so helpful! I think this would be really eye-opening.
· Determining a common vocabulary. Not that all teachers have to teach lock-step together, but it would be so helpful for students if we could all agree to the same terms so they wouldn’t have to call it a concession in one class and a counterargument in another, for example.
I’m excited by this opportunity for collaboration – much to
learn, but not as daunting when I realize there will be many teachers working
towards the same goal.
~Jen P
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