Monday, July 30, 2012

Workshop Research Cliffnotes


(1) Your research question 
What are the best practices and methodology for upper elementary students in Common Core State Standards to be successful in reading and writing? 

(2) The intended population you wish to study (examples may include my 3rd grade students, my fellow teachers, my school's curricula/standards, etc.).
My population will be focused this fall on my 4th grade students, but will also look into the practices of other teachers within out school. We are just now switching to Common Core and I am curious to see how reading and writing instruction changes to reflect the changes in the standards. I will implement workshops in my classroom and use the results to show growth versus my instruction last year. 

(3)  What you plan on measuring in your study (student learning, teacher attitudes, history of an educational practice, usage of technology, etc.).
I will measure student learning in regards to their ability to read and write. The basis for the change in curriculum and practices is based upon the educational research and theories that have been published in the past. 

(4)  How you plan on acquiring the data for your study (a test, a survey, historical documents, etc.).
I will collect writing samples from the beginning of the year, as well as previous year's writing samples from their student portfolios. I will use research based measures for data improvement such as Reading 3D and rubrics to show the students' growth. I plan to survey teachers on their practices, while following my counting plan, to find out how much time is truly dedicated to literacy each day in every class. 

(5) Which general form of design you intend to employ
This study will primarily be qualitative, although I feel that there should be some quantitative data used, for reading I would use data and I would survey teachers and students to get their take on the workshops. As for qualitative, this may involve a variety of data collection. For example, through interactive, I would observe the collective classroom as a social group and the conversations had through ethnographic research, but also may have a specific case study of students in my classroom and possibly others. Ideally, I would achieve a triangulation design for research, so that there is less subjectivity in the qualitative findings. 

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Counting Plan

Two cups of coffee, two halves of plain bagel, two tablespoons of cream cheese, eight hours of sleep, and one happy morning. I often think of counting things on a regular basis, as strange as that seems. I tend to think quantitatively about the frequency of things, for example, yesterday I had the hiccups three times and sneeze seven today. There are so many numbers that rule our daily routines and affect our lives that we rarely think about. I think it is safe to say that the most commonly counted item for adults are calories, whether they are consumed or spent and for children how many songs are on their ipod or levels achieved on a video game. I think it says a lot about a person, if you asked them one quantity from their day or life, what would they say? 


In the teacher world, my focus is completely different. How many of my students say please or thank you? How long does it take the average student to go to the bathroom and at what length of time should I be concerned? How many students are present today? How many copies do I make of this assignment? How many pages did they read for homework? My daily life is consumed by numbers at school, and I am only a reading teacher. The increasing amount of data driven instruction adds to those numbers, how many students mastered the concept? How many words did they read in a minute? What is their AR level and how many points is that book worth? It is truly shocking when you think about the countless numbers we encounter regularly. 

I would like my counting plan to tie into my research topic. How many minutes are students given to write (or read) in one day? This count will be collected as a poll from all teachers anonymously. In that poll I would also ask the subject they teach. Moving to Common Core Standard Course of Study, literacy should be present in every classroom regardless of the subject. Students may read nonfiction texts and respond to them, they should read and write word problems in math, they should be able to explain and justify their answers, they should be able to explain the process they followed to reach that solution, etc.

I would like to count this because research states that students should spend at least 90 minutes a day in literacy. I am afraid that although they are getting a 90 minute literacy block (in some grades), that instructional time is being somewhat lost and the 90 minutes are not preserved. Another concern may be the honesty of the teachers completing the poll. Using the information, I would be able to support other teachers to incorporate reading and writing in their lessons, or encourage teachers to find other ways to allow students additional literacy time.

By including literacy in all classrooms, reading and writing become interdisciplinary and will make up for the instructional minutes lost in Language Arts class. These results may also support the need for additional time spent reading and writing or homework, to insure that 90 minutes are spent daily. The connection of literacy between the classroom and home is also supported by the research I found. Literacy cannot stop at the end of the school day, they need to see the continuation of reading and writing in all aspects of their life. To truly be proficient according to Common Core, students need to see the ties of literacy across all subjects and dedicate the time to practicing those skills. Through this counting plan, it would confirm or deny the need for additional efforts in all classes to allow for literacy to take place, and may even prove that this may be an immediate concern. If proven that very little time is dedicated daily, then it would further emphasize the need for writing workshop in all Language Arts classroom, and may change the way that my school looks at literacy and our curriculum. Additionally, this could lead to action research through which a team of teachers really evaluates and practices a variety of ways through which literacy can be used in other subjects (math, science, social studies, even the specials classes – art and music). This counting plan may lead a realization and confirmation that there is not enough time truly utilized for literacy in the day.

Literature Review



Writing Workshop and Common Core Standard Course of Study: Teaching students to be Writers
Introduction
Topic:
Writing is the format through which thoughts, understanding, and opinions are published and shared and for too long, writing has been pushed aside in the classroom to allow for more instructional time for math and reading. How can we deny the connection between writing and all subjects, do they not go hand in hand? As schools continue to evolve and adapt to the changing student, writing should be at the forefront of all communication. Adoption of the Common Core Standard Course of Study requires students to explain their thinking and justify their answers, which means, being able to express their ideas and understanding in words, through writing. The topic that has been so long ignored must reemerge into every subject and every classroom. Not only must teachers begin teaching student to write, but also this involves instruction on grammar, conventions, and spelling. It is necessary to make up for the years they have lacked in writing experience and make years of growth in just one year to ensure that students are competitive in their academics. Schools must adopt a writing program to encourage the writer in every child.
General Overview of the Literature:
Research supports that schools are in need of a Writer’s Workshop and the characteristics that should be involved. However, there are several quality programs to choose from, but what makes an excellent workshop? In reviewing literature by several researchers, Donald Graves, Nancie Atwell, Jane Hansen, Mark Dressman, and others who have great contributed to the study, there are certain characteristics that were interlaced and supported by nearly all of the experts. A workshop should involve student led discussions and allow for freedom of choice in their writing. According to Fletcher and Portalupi, “…Young writers work best when they feel a sense of ownership – personal investment – in their writing…” giving them a “this really matters to me feeling as they write,” (p. 23) if a teacher cannot invest the students the workshop may be a lost cause (2001). When teachers release control to the students, they are able to explore and learn on their own. It is also evident that one of the most important criteria for an effective workshop is allowing for time; students need the time to brainstorm, write, confer, and revise their writing. All researchers were in favor of choice for students in their writing, but also promoted worthy questions that also affect a writer’s voice and development.
Rationale:
            Common Core Standard Course of Study requires students to effective explain their reasoning and thoughts across the curriculum, schools are in need of a writing program that is supported by data research. Teaching writing is hard; it is a collection of skills that require other subject knowledge and ability to put thoughts into words (Fletcher, 2001). As there is plenty of research around writing, the focus of this literature review will be in the overall environment in the classroom to foster excellent youth writers. Denise Leograndis identifies four primary goals for writing workshop: build a safe writing community, establish rituals and routines, generate lots of thinking, talk and writing, and develop the understanding that all good writing has meaning, detail, structure, and pacing (2008). Therefore, the majority of research fell into three major aspects that must be present for a successfully workshop: proper teacher modeling, students routinely given time to write, and opportunity for student choice. 
Body
Kinds of Work Reviewed:
            To form an educated opinion, one should consider scholarly research from a variety of studies, case studies, reviews, and articles. Many of these researchers are interrelated and often discuss the others’ research in their own. It seemed that many built their theories and studies based upon another’s. Lucy Calkins and Donald Graves studied and researched together, which led to many findings involving each other’s work. One such study by Graves and Calkins that related to the revision process of students (1991). This research also contained his case study featured in Research in the Teaching of English that looks specifically at the writing process of seven-year-old children. All the research pointed conclusively to the need for writing workshop in the classroom environment, but differed slightly as to what need to be emphasized in that workshop (1975). All agreed to the development of student choice to develop themselves as authors. Mark Dressman conducted his research by reviewing the procedures of reading initiatives in to states, Texas and California. Although not direct research upon the writing program, reading and writing should not be separated, which included the emphasis on explicit teaching to marry reading and writing in the classroom setting (1999). Primarily this research seemed to be qualitative research based on the observations of students and their interaction within the classroom. This type of subject is difficult to support with data analysis because students vary in countless ways. However, the results are conclusive; writing workshop is a necessary aspect for teaching student writers with specific characteristics involved, but primary emphasis upon student choice within their own writing development.
Description of selected important works:
            Writing should be an opportunity for students to have a choice and a voice in the classroom and their writing. Nancie Atwell (1985), references to Lucy Calkin’s idea of an “underground curriculum” of the students’ ideas and knowledge, which the teacher too often ignores. It should not be the teacher’s role to assign mandatory writing topics, but rather demonstrate good writing habits for students to imitate and make their own. By modeling and participating, the teacher demonstrates that each student has their own story to tell. According to Donald Graves and Lucy Calkins research, students should develop as writers by having the opportunities of authors: “daily time for writing, conferences with teachers, and peers, and opportunities to draft, revise, and publish their writing; most significantly they took responsibility for deciding what and why and for whom they would write” (p. 35). This is a necessary freedom for children to find their own author’s voice. Furthermore, the recognition for the need of time, talk, and reading all play an important role in writing. This journal, really hit upon many aspects that I have found must be in a writing workshop for maximum success in the development of student writers. That being said, one of the most important aspects is creating the proper classroom environment where students feel able to write freely and bring out the author inside, whomever that may be (Atwell, 1985).
            Gender and environment can affect the type of writer a student becomes. Through a case study of a seven-year-old child, Donald Graves (1975), finds after observing students’ writing, the classroom setting in which this occurred, analyzing writing samples, and looking at the interventions of the teachers in those classrooms, that “learning environments, sex differences in writing, developmental factors and the writing process” (p.234). Thus proving that students need a relaxed environment to be able to write freely and independently and recognizing the difference in the needs of students based on gender. These conclusions led him to the classification of two writers that students may become due to these factors: reactive or reflective. Understanding the ways in which students write and their writing styles, allows a teacher to better mold the workshop to fit those writing needs. For example, reflective writers do not usually need as much time before writing, and often revise frequently at a phrasal level. However, the needs of these two writers are very different and by recognizing their strengths and weaknesses, and providing support for both, the teacher would ensure that a proper environment, conducive to their writing is produced. It takes time for a student to truly develop who they are as a writer (Graves, 1975).
            Students need ample time to routinely practice the writing process. After reviewing the practices in two highly regarded states for eduction, Dressman (1999), found the need for curriculums to proide “explicit, systematic instruction…” (p. 278). Not only must a writing program encourage writers, but also students need consistency and instruction when they write. It is through these lessons and teacher modeling that students observe proper skills for writing and truly learn and internalize the writing process. (Dressman, 1999).
            Teachers are active learners and model the writing process for student learning in the classroom. As teachers, we should continually be learning and growing in our profession, as we do through professional development. Jane Hansen and Donald Graves (1986), emphasized the importance of the teacher actively portraying a learner in the classroom. Not only should teachers teach, but they should learn from their students as well, giving students ample time to be teachers in the classroom. Teachers should attend professional development, read educational literature, or even do research, and demonstrate this continual growth to their students as a model for students to imitate their learning habits. Similarly, the teacher needs to demonstrate the act of selecting topics and the writing process, especially revision, for students to truly grow in their writing (Hansen & Graves, 1986).
            Students demonstrate sophistication of writing. As students develop as writers, their stories become more descriptive and detailed. Donald Graves (1991), found that character development is a primary characteristic to show development in a child’s writing. He goes on to address poetry, as another form of development. Lucy Calkins (1994), mentions poetry beginning with songs and chants, where students are able to the sounds of their writing, but Graves says students are developed when they are able to understand what information is necessary to the piece and what is superfluous. Students can fall into the trap of writing what they think the teacher wants, but advanced development shows when they truly act as a writer and find their own voice. Their growth as a writer leads to appreciation of author’s craft, in turn developing their overall literacy (Graves, 1991).
            Literacy development through reading and writing is critical in students. For true literacy development, workshops must develop students as lifelong readers and writers. Referencing other great researchers, Nancie Atwell, Lucy Calkins, and Donald Graves, Mark Dressman (1993), creates the statement “students largely read silently and independently from books of their choice and dialogue with teachers and classmates through response journals, while promising to transform the reluctant readers…into lifelong loves of books and into critical, literate citizens, are also, by design, a socially reproductive practice” (p. 258). That is the true purpose of literacy development and the workshop program. However, as readers and writers, literacy cannot be confined to the classroom (Dressman, 1993).
            Writing should bridge the connection between home and school. Connecting home and school can be a great challenge, but with a literacy program that embraces and enables parents to be an active participant in their student’s life is what every school needs. By having a program in which the teacher has more control over the content and subjects taught, they are able to incorporate lessons and texts that reinforce the lives of their students. Although this article discusses greatly, ways in which to involve parents, the relevance lies in the flexibility allowed through various reading workshops that is not allowed through textbook programs. As McCarthey emphasizes, understanding their students’ backgrounds is important so that the teacher may “alter curriculum and discourse patterns to include all children,” and strictly following a textbook of stories through which families cannot relate, will not bridge the gap from classroom to home. Through workshop style curriculum, the teacher would be able to reinforce those connections and allow parents to be a great part of their student’s literacy development (McCarthey, 2000).
Conclusion
How your work is informed by the work of others:
            After extensive research, I have found the criteria upon which to base a writing workshop. The research has been very conclusive as to what the teacher should provide and what the students must bring to the workshop. Many of the articles and books I reviewed led to similar conclusions as to the emphasis of writing workshop. I now understand that workshops should be primarily student led in conferences and discussion of topics. Although the teacher must set an example and provide instructional mini-lessons, for the students to use, the teacher must allow student choice to play the primary role in their writing. The workshops purpose is for the students to find their voice in their writing. The element of choice for students was evident in nearly all the researchers’ works. Prior to this research, my understanding of a workshop was to provide plentiful writing prompts for students to choose from and that would allow them choice. It seemed more teacher led, the teacher choosing topics for the students to follow and practice a skill of writing daily. However, I have found that this is not the case; the best word for the teacher that I have found is “facilitator.” Lucy Calkins emphasizes that this is not the case, as teachers we should gradually release the responsibility, initially helping students to brainstorm, but in the end the students should choose a topic that is meaningful to them. Fletcher and Portalupi (2001), put it best in saying that students must have the “this really matters to me” (p. 23), feeling in their writing. If a student is not invested in telling their story, then they are unable to create the detailed piece with proper character development that is necessary for a proficient writer.
            Without doubt, my vision of a writing workshop has drastically changed and as I had mentioned before, countless researchers reference Lucy Calkins and her writing workshop. Although I have heard of other programs, this research continuously peaked my interest in evaluating the aspects of Calkins program. That being said, this research confirms my need for writing workshop for students to be proficient according to Common Core Standard Course of Study and will lead to my proposal to our school for the adoption of Lucy Calkin’s writing program. This program ensures that students are given a choice, within a safe environment, and their writing is facilitated by the teacher model, but they encouraged to find their own voice. As Common Core primarily supports argumentative writing, as opposed to narrative, some adaptations will need to be made to the workshop to promote this writing. Naturally students write what is familiar and that involves stories that do not need factual support. Thus, more emphasis upon teacher modeling will be needed to teach students to find a topic that interests them and go through the writing process for a persuasive piece. How will students learn to write if they are not given the time, the choice, and the support to do it? Writing workshop will be in place in my classroom and hopefully within my school. 
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Czerney.LitReview

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Annotated Bibliography


Annotated Bibliography

Atwell, N., (1985). Everyone Sits at a Big Desk: Discovering Topics for Writing. The English Journal, 74 (5), 35-39. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/817698

Writing should be an opportunity for students to have a voice in the classroom. Atwell references to Lucy Calkin’s idea of an “underground curriculum” of the students’ ideas and knowledge, that the teacher too often ignores. It should not be the teacher’s role to assign mandatory writing topics, but rather demonstrate good writing habits for students to imitate and make their own. By modeling and participating, the teacher demonstrates that each student has their own story to tell. According to Donald Graves and Lucy Calkins research, students should develop as writers by having the opportunities of authors: “daily time for writing, conferences with teachers, and peers, and opportunities to draft, revise, and publish their writing; most significantly they took responsibility for deciding what and why and for whom they would write.” This is a necessary freedom for a child to find their own author’s voice. Furthermore, the recognition for the need of time, talk, and reading all play an important role in writing.

Dressman, M., (1993). Lionizing Lone Wolves: The Cultural Romantics of Literacy Workshops. Curriculum Inquiry, 23(3), 245-263. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1179992

Dressman directly addresses the ideal of Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop through this article that emphasizes the sense of community and individual choice to build life long readers and writers. Referencing other great researchers, Nancie Atwell, Lucy Calkins, and Donald Graves, he creates the statement “students largely read silently and independently from books of their choice and dialogue with teachers and classmates through response journals, while promising to transform the reluctant readers…into lifelong loves of books and into critical, literate citizens, are also, by design, a socially reproductive practice.” That is the true purpose of literacy development. Dressman continues by linking a strength in literacy to overall intelligence. Another important aspect, is the sense of community within that safe reading environment. Students are able to make connections between text and writing, between themselves and others, and between texts. These workshops allow for a “collective negotiation of meaning” and gives students a voice in the classroom where they are able to learn through their own exploration.

Dressman, M., (1999). On the Use and Misuse of Research Evidence: Decoding Two States’ Reading Initiatives. Reading Research Quarterly, 34(3), 258–285. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/748064

In reviewing the reading initiatives of two highly regarded states in the world of education, Mark Dressman reviews the practices of Texas and California. He begins by referencing education of the past and effects of various diversity aspects. Specifically Dressman addresses race in the school systems and the role it has played in these two states. This is not of primary concern for the article, after doing so, he begins to evaluate the development of literacy through these programs. After much research and refences to many studies of Phonemic/Phonological Awareness, he states that “the future of children as literate individuals in these states is jeopardized by current curriculums based principally on the reading and writing of meaningful texts…need to be replaced by explicit, systematic instruction…” It is then evident that students need a consistent program that marries reading and writing that is taught with consistency. He also emphasizes the importance of research based teaching and recognized that these states had not revisited their curriculum for the relevancy to today’s youth. This further supports my desire to implement a research based program that can be taught routinely beginning at a young age for Phonemic/Phonological Awareness.

Graves, D.H., (1975). An Examination of the Writing Process of Seven Year Old Children. Research in the Teaching of English, 9 (3), 227-241. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40170631

Through this case study, Graves looks closely at the development of the writing process of seven-year-old children. After observing students’ writing, the classroom setting in which this occurred, analyzing writing samples, and looking at the interventions of the teachers in those classrooms. This study came to conclusions about “learning environments, sex differences in writing, developmental factors and the writing process.” Thus proving that students need a relaxed environment to be able to write freely and independently and recognizing the difference in the needs of students based on gender. Reactive and reflective writers were identified, with rather opposite characteristics. Reflective writers have a strong sense of audience and provide reasoning for their feelings in writing. These are the characteristics in writers that we should be aware of and encourage. However, Graves goes on to ask further questions that apply to my research, and emphasizes the need for additional observation on this topic of writing development.

Graves, D. H., (1991). Trust the Shadows. The Reading Teacher, 45 (1), 18-24. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20200796

Specifically looking at the writing programs within American schools, Graves digs deeper to find out what kind of writing is taking place in the classroom. One surprising finding was from the school supply companies, noting that lined paper (which is used for writing) purchases were in steep decline. One topic studied with Lucy Calkins, was the process through which students revise their work. Graves also mentions the differences in topic choice between genders and the range of focus through which children write, but both genders place a large focus on the character and the “motion and action” of that individual. The level of character development in a child’s writing can also signify the level of their development as a writer. Finally, he relates it, through poetry, to adult writers and the importance of understanding what information is necessary to the piece and what is superfluous. Students often write what they think the teacher wants as an answer instead of truly acting as a writer and “trust (their) own thinking.” 

Hansen, J., & Graves, D., (1986, April). Do You Know What Backstrung Means? The Reading Teacher, 39(8), 807-812. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20199226 .

In a study conducted by Jane Hanson and Donald Graves, in Lee, New Hampshire at the Mast Way School (K-5), they found the importance of the teacher actively portraying a learner in the classroom. Teachers always attend professional development, read teacher books, or even do research, but the importance of this study was to demonstrate that a teacher learner values student knowledge and models learning for his/her students is the most effective. The teacher must listen to his/her students and ask questions, the students will then imitate the actions and do the same. This can be related to reading and writing in the sense that the teacher must show students how to be both and actively participate in the practices of reading and writing. Teachers often hold back from allowing their students opportunities to teach and share, sometimes afraid to lose control over their classroom. Hansen and Graves emphasize teachers participate in similar practices as their students, e.g. reviewing others’ writing. They then dive deeper into the roles of both the teachers and students engaging in the writing process.

McCarthey, S. J., (2000). Home: School Connections: A Review of the Literature. The Journal of Educational Research, 93(3), 145-153. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27542260

Connecting home and school can be a great challenge, but with a literacy program that embraces and enables parents to be an active participant in their student’s life is what every school needs. By having a program in which the teach has more control over the content and subjects taught, they are able to incorporate lessons and texts that reinforce the lives of their students. Although this article discusses greatly, ways in which to involve parents, the relevance lies in the flexibility allowed through various reading workshops that is not allowed through textbook programs. As McCarthey emphasizes, understanding their students’ backgrounds is important so that the teacher may “alter curriculum and discourse patterns to include all children,” and strictly following a textbook of stories through which families cannot relate, will not bridge the gap from classroom to home. Through workshop style curriculum, the teacher would be able to reinforce those connections and allow parents to be a great part of their student’s literacy development.




Czerney_2_AnnotatedBibliography

Monday, July 9, 2012

Common Core Writing and Reading Programs: Introduction


As more states across the nation make the shift to Common Core standards, the rigor increases and the expectations of higher level thinking skills required for proficiency far surpasses what students have been required for proficiency. Being an upper elementary teacher, I am eager to see the effects on students having been held to these standards all along, but what does that mean for those students in upper elementary who have barely gained exposure to what we are now asking. Going through their elementary career, students have not been asked to write informational texts and their time of free writing has nearly vanished. How do we adopt a reading and writing program in upper elementary that will make up for the shortcomings of these students while allowing for them to move at their readiness level and be successful with the new standards? What would that reading and writing program look like? So to begin exploring these options, the real question is, what are the best practices and methodology for upper elementary students in Common Core State Standards to be successful in reading and writing?
During the 2011 – 2012 school year, I was hired as a Fourth Grade Reading teacher, and that was it. Our school had separated reading and writing for my group of students. I was handed the SRA Open Court curriculum and was informed that our Science and Social Studies teacher would also teach writing, but had not curriculum or standards to abide by. I was then given the option to veer away from Open Court and go where I saw fit as long as the standards were met for the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and that the students proved proficient on the End of Grade Test. This lack of curricular structure, led me to discuss the options with other teachers. Every teacher in our building was doing something different for their reading and writing instruction. The only consistency was that we all had the Open Court materials, some of them, and that we were aware of Reading A-Z as a program that was available. Continuing through the year, I saw the disconnect among grade levels as well as a lack of communication between all reading and writing teachers. In the past, writing had been tested, but was recently dropped and merely a writing sample is kept in each student’s portfolio. Through this research, I hope to find a program that will enable our teachers to have consistency and routine in their instruction to better prepare students for the level of writing required for reading comprehension through Common Core.
In doing so, I plan to present the data to our school Principal to review for the upcoming 2012 – 2013 school year. By piloting this program, there may be an opportunity for our district leaders to review our work with the program and potentially implement them across the district. However, for full district adoption, I will need to keep in mind the cost of the programs I review, as well as the training required for teachers to understand the materials and implementation of the program. Therefore, this will not only guide my instruction in the fall, but potentially also within my school and district to benefit all students to be successful.
Initially, I looked to leaders within my school and two individuals who presented at our professional development conference. After extensive discussions, I have decided to review work and research done by Lucy Caulkins, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser – The 2Sister of the Daily Five and CafĂ©, Dr. Robert Marzano, and Debbie Diller to name a few. There have been additional researchers whom have conducted research upon these programs, but through this study I hope to review their work as well as discussing with teachers who have implemented these programs and seen results to reach my final conclusion. It was the consensus, that students must comprehend more informational texts and use higher order thinking skills, being able to explain their thinking through writing to meet Common Core State Standards. This is an ongoing issue and debate within classrooms across the country. When reviewing the Six Shifts of the Common Core State Standards, there are now required standards for writing that have not been in place prior to adopting the standards. For example, one shift has gone from writing a persuasive text to an argumentative text, not just your opinion, but have the evidence to support that side of the argument (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2012). This is just one sample of increasing the rigor of the expectations on students and their writing abilities. As the document, English Language Arts Unpacking Standards, continues, it makes it more evident that our reading and writing programs cannot remain the same, especially when they were nonexistent to begin with. If students are raised to higher standards, we must be able to use the curriculum to help them meet and exceed those standards.

Works Cited

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (2012). English Language Arts Unpacking Standards. Retrieved from http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/acre/standards/common-core-tools/unpacking/ela/4.pdf