About Me

Friday, May 18, 2012

Common Core?????

Ok. So maybe some of you have read my Blog description, then read my posts, then thought, What does this blog have to do with Common Core? If you have, that's ok, because that's what I think every time I look at my blog. There really are more interesting things in my life, however, since that was the intended purpose of this blog, I though maybe I'd throw in some CC stuff here and there. I do have some cool documents for you, but I'll save those for later on in the summer because I know most of you are just trying to make it to the end. I'm done, by the way. You wanted to hear that didn't you?
Anyhoo...I do have some questions for you... 1. Did you do CC this year? And then I follow up with, Really? I'll be honest and say I was 100% introduced to it this year and we followed those standards strictly. Did our quarterly assessments line up? No. Did our report cards and progress reports line up? Not at first. They're better now, but not great. My district adopted the CC Curriculum Maps and these guided our instruction throughout the year. My honest answer is some of the activities are great. Others, eh. The Language Arts Units are divided into 6 units (great if you assess every 6 weeks, not so great for every 9 like us). The Lit Coaches have put together some great resources, though, that I want to share with you. Why re-invent the wheel right?
First is a great document to see how the year is lined out called the First Grade Year At a Glance. This really helps give you an idea of what the entire year will look like, all subjects. Another great document they've made outlines each LA Unit and the materials you'll need and standards that will be covered. Here is the link to Unit 1. If you're interested, this document will get you ready for the beginning of the year.
Next question, are these documents helpful?
If so or if you teach another grade, play around on the district website under curriculum. They've really worked hard to give us what we need and what we've asked for.
And last question...what other kinds of documents do you need or CC questions do you have? I am absolutely NOT an expert, but I'm learning along with everyone else.
Have a great weekend!!! I know I will!

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the follow. I now follow your blog. I love the colors. :)

    Heidi
    My (Not So) Elementary Life

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  2. Your blog looks nice! I am your newest follower. Come visit us for some Common Core ideas too! It's always nice to have other Common Core bloggers to bounce ideas from. :) http://primarypossibilities.blogspot.com/ We focus on Kindergarten (myself) and I have some freebies on TpT too. (Mrs. VanMeter) We also have a teacher in 1st grade and a Title I teacher who focuses on 2nd grade Common Core standards. We are developing mini-assessments for the math standards. We have some that are freebies and others that are for purchase. Visit soon.
    Stephanie

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    1. That is great! I will definitely be visiting your blog and store soon!!!

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  3. I love, love, love this post! I am from Georgia and we are implementing CC this year. My school is going to use the ELA units you discussed and I printed both of the resources you linked to. I have also bookmarked the page they came from to explore later. I am the ELA leader for my first grade team this year and am VERY nervous about it. How did you guys incorporate phonics into these units? Did you have to expand on each weeks' plans to have enough material? I'm sure I have more questions, but I'm blank right now. (While the units created by Georgia are great units, they just don't seem "teachable" to my team and I -- this is why we are using the units you discussed from the CommonCore website.)

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    1. Yes! We totally had to expand the units to have enough. And really sometimes we expanded the units, but mostly we just taught the standards using stuff we already had. For example, what I do not like about the units is they don't incorporate any holidays other than presidents day. So, around Christmas and Thanksgiving, I would still teach the standards but I used the holiday read alouds to introduce the lessons. I still have a lot to learn. I will have lots of questions too!

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  4. Thanks for sharing the links to the pacing guide and the Language Arts lesson. I am in Florida and this will be the first year we are implementing Common Core in first grade. I am looking forward to reading more on your blog. I am your newest follower:)

    Tammy
    The Resourceful Apple

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  5. Thanks for sharing! These are great links and fabulous resources :) I am bookmarking them for sure. I am really excited for CC because we will be able to collaborate on the same standards regardless of where we teach.

    Cris

    http://downinfirst.blogspot.com/

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Thanks for the comments!