[CASL-L] the Common Core in HS

[IRENE KWIDZINSKI]

FYI


----- Forwarded Message ----
From: David loertscher <reader.david at gmail.com>
To: aaslforum at ala.org
Sent: Tue, April 3, 2012 2:08:09 PM
Subject: [aaslforum] Re: some thoughts and questions about the Common Core in HS

There are a number of possibilities for fiction/nonfiction.

1. In high school, Lang. Arts teachers might partner with Social Studies or 
Science teachers  or any other discipline in the reading of nonfiction as a part 
of a larger learning experience.  If the Teacher librarian sets up a Knowledge 
Building Center using Google Sites or LibGuides or Moodle and the two teachers 
and the TL plus all the students are in this virtual space together, the entire 
project/learning experience can happen collaboratively without the need to meet 
together physically.

2. Both a novel and a counterpart nonfiction work could be studied together, for 
example a historical fiction alongside a biography. The group could use a 
Book2Cloud learning environment to compare and construct meaning across the 
bridge of fiction and information. Add a movie of the topic in the mix and a 
wide array of Web 2.o tools to curate and you have an engaging mix.

3. For the study of complex texts, use Book2Cloud to have kids and teens curate 
around pieces and parts of the text to create deep understanding for the entire 
group. This constructivist activity is much more beneficial than a lecture from 
the front of the room.  Google Book2Cloud to see examples of what I mean.

4. The Common Core provides TLs with a great opportunity to add both literature 
and informational texts into enhanced and higher level learning experiences. Now 
is the time to be at the table as the planning is taking place. Inquiry and 
technology boosts can fit right into the pursuit of complex texts and you, the 
TL can be at the center.

5. Share ideas widely on the creative ways you are supporting the move to more 
informational texts yet retaining the wide world of recreational reading and 
reading habits. We don't have to make the choice of one or the other.

This is a great form to share these kinds  of ideas.


On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 11:48 AM, Sarles Patricia  (18K500) 
<PSarles at schools.nyc.gov> wrote:

I've been doing a lot of reading about the common core, but I have a question 
for possible discussion. With the goal of the common core being that students 
read 70% nonfiction by the 12th grade, I'm wondering if English teachers should 
be spending ANY time teaching literature and poetry at all in high school, 
despite the NY Times article which summarizes a study that supports the teaching 
of fiction 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?pagewanted=1&%2339&sq=your%20brain%20on%20fiction&st=cse&%2359;&scp=1<https://outlook.brooklyn.cuny.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?pagewanted=1%26%252339%26sq=your%2520brain%2520on%2520fiction%26st=cse%26%252359;%26scp=1>).

>
>I just read this this morning:
>
>"If you ask students what makes reading hard, they blame the words. And they’re 
>right to place so much importance on vocabulary: Authors introduce their ideas 
>through words and phrases, and if readers don’t know what these mean, there’s 
>little chance that they will make sense of the text. Studies show that 
>higher-order thinking in reading depends heavily on knowledge of word meanings 
>(Shanahan, et al., 2012)." 
>(http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar12/vol69/num06/The-Challenge-of-Challenging-Text.aspx<https://outlook.brooklyn.cuny.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar12/vol69/num06/The-Challenge-of-Challenging-Text.aspx>).
>
>
>and it made me think that there was a strong need to spend time teaching 
>vocabulary to students as well as remedial reading for I read this as well:
>
>"No matter how successful early instruction in reading is, it cannot fully 
>prepare students for the literacy demands that evolve after 3rd grade. 
>Supporting adolescent literacy requires simultaneous attention to the needs of 
>students who have not mastered basic reading skills and to the common need of 
>all students to master ever-more-challenging texts in ever-changing contexts for 
>increasingly divergent goals (Biancarosa, 2012) 
>(http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar12/vol69/num06/Adolescent-Literacy@-More-Than-Remediation.aspx<https://outlook.brooklyn.cuny.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar12/vol69/num06/Adolescent-Literacy@-More-Than-Remediation.aspx>).
>
>
>My question, should English teachers abandon teaching literature and poetry all 
>together and spend their time teaching vocabulary, remedial reading, and complex 
>texts instead? It seems that under the common core state standards that they 
>should. After all now, what is the purpose of teaching literature and poetry if 
>we are trying to prepare students for college and careers where, unless students 
>are to become English or Comparative Literature majors, they won't be reading 
>any fiction or poetry at all?
>
>I'm just curious what others think.
>
>
>
>____________________________________________
>Patricia Sarles, MA, MLS
>Jerome Parker Campus Library
>100 Essex Drive
>Staten Island, NY 10314
>718-370-6900 x1322
>psarles at schools.nyc.gov
>http://www.scoop.it/t/help-with-the-common-core-state-standards/
>http://paper.li/psarles/1332609247
>
>The Internet may be the world's greatest library, but let's face it - all the 
>books are scattered on the floor.  - D.C. Denison, Boston Globe
>
>Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant. 
>- Mitchell Kapor
>
>To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief 
>aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to 
>discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from 
>the fiction ... The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think 
>intensively and to think critically. - Martin Luther King, Jr., The Purpose of 
>Education
>
>.
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Professor David V. Loertscher
School of Library and Information Science
San Jose State University
Home address: 312 South 1000 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
mobile: 801-755-1122
Home: 801-532-1165
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mylist.net/archives/casl-l/attachments/20120403/e9163997/attachment.html>