Teaching Common Core English Language Arts Standards. Patricia M. Cunningham
for 9–10 and 11–12.
Implementing, teaching, and talking about these standards are hearty tasks for elementary teachers! No wonder many teachers feel overwhelmed. In this book, we hope to make this task less daunting.
Three Main Goals of the Standards
In our work with teachers, we have found it helpful to explain that, even though all the English language arts standards are important and must be taught, the three main goals of teaching these standards are to (1) improve students’ reading comprehension, (2) improve their writing, and (3) promote independent reading and writing.
Reading Comprehension
First, think about the ten Reading standards. The first nine require reading comprehension of one sort or another. The tenth Reading standard, however, says that students will be able to meet the first nine standards in grade-appropriate texts. The Foundational Skills within the Reading standards exist so that students will have the decoding ability, sight words, and fluency necessary to comprehend the texts they read. Such skills are also covered in the other strands. For instance, Language standard five (L.5) includes the knowledge of figurative language important for comprehending grade-appropriate texts (see NGA & CCSSO, 2010, pp. 27–29). Language standards four and six (L.4 and L.6) focus on meaning vocabulary knowledge, long known to be essential for reading comprehension (see NGA & CCSSO, 2010, pp. 27–29). Of course, the Speaking and Listening standards are valuable in their own right, but Speaking and Listening standard one (SL.1) also includes student interaction and discussion, which play a facilitative role during comprehension instruction (see NGA & CCSSO, 2010, pp. 23–24). In addition, Speaking and Listening standards two and three (SL.2 and SL.3) include being able to comprehend while listening in ways parallel to Reading standards one, two, six, seven, and eight (R.1–2 and R.6–8; see NGA & CCSSO, 2010, pp. 11–14, 23–24). Similarly, Writing standards seven through nine (W.7–9) require students to comprehend literature and informational texts well enough to write about them (see NGA & CCSSO, 2010, pp. 19–21).
Table I.2 presents the number of standards that focus on reading comprehension.
Table I.2: K–5 CCSS ELA for Reading Comprehension
* There is no literature standard for Reading standard eight (RL.8; see NGA & CCSSO, 2010, pp. 11–12).
By our calculation, improving students’ reading comprehension is a goal of 182 of the 250 ELA standards—more than two-thirds of them!
Since reading comprehension is a goal of so many of the standards, it is important to understand what the CCSS mean by reading comprehension. Reading comprehension in the CCSS for grades kindergarten through fifth grade includes both close reading and higher-level thinking about texts. For instance, Reading standard one (R.1) focuses on close reading and is a prerequisite to all other Reading standards. Inferential comprehension is not a separate standard in the CCSS but is required for every Reading standard. Reading standard two (R.2) focuses on main idea comprehension. Reading standard four (R.4) requires students to learn word meanings during text comprehension. Reading standard six (R.6) expects students to deduce or infer a character’s or author’s point of view. Reading standard eight (R.8) reflects critical reading. Students are expected to be able to compare, contrast, and synthesize two or more texts (Reading standard nine; R.9) or a text with media (Reading standard seven; R.7). Never before has there been such a full and rich view of comprehension reflected in reading standards (see NGA & CCSSO, 2010, pp. 11–14).
Most significantly, the Reading standards make a major distinction between comprehending literature (stories, dramas, or poems) and informational text (historical, scientific, or technical writings). Every K–5 Reading standard applies to informational text, and every Reading standard except eight (R.8) also applies to literature. An examination of Reading standards two through nine (R.2–9), however, reveals just how different comprehension is for the two kinds of text (see NGA & CCSSO, 2010, pp. 11–14).
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or the Nation’s Report Card, has steadily increased its use of informational text in grades 4, 8, and 12 assessments (National Assessment Governing Board, 2008). To coincide with this growing emphasis on informational texts, the CCSS call for an even distribution of reading literature (50 percent) and informational text (50 percent) by third grade (Coleman & Pimental, 2012). The CCSS do not specify a split between literature and informational text for grades K–2. It seems prudent, however, to have primary students read enough informational text to prepare them for the 50 percent split they will encounter in third grade. Furthermore, in grades 6–12, the CCSS call for a shift to substantially more literary nonfiction reading and instruction (Coleman & Pimental, 2012). By twelfth grade, the CCSS call for a 30 percent literature and 70 percent informational text distribution (NGA & CCSSO, 2010). For this reason, we recommend a 70 percent literature and 30 percent informational text split for reading lessons in grades 1 and 2.
Writing
Another principal purpose for teaching the CCSS ELA is to improve student writing. There are ten Writing anchor standards, each specifying an aspect of writing competence. In addition, Language standards one and two (L.1 and L. 2) address the traditional concerns of usage and mechanics in writing or speaking. Language standard three (L.2.3) expects second-grade writers to know the difference between formal and informal language. It also expects them to make effective and precise word choices. Language standards four and six (L.4 and L.6) address meaning vocabulary knowledge, which is crucial for academic writing. Language standard five (L.5) addresses figurative language, which is helpful to writers as well. Additionally, Speaking and Listening standards four and six (SL.4 and SL.6) support improvements in student writing, and Reading standards seven through nine (R.7, R.8, and R.9) focus on reading comprehension required for writing about texts and other sources.
Table I.3 presents the number of standards that focus on improving writing.
Table I.3: K–5 CCSS ELA for Improving Writing
Improving students’ writing is a goal of 120 of the 250 English language arts standards—almost half of them!
Since writing is a goal of so many of the standards, it is important to understand what the CCSS mean by writing. Notably, the Writing standards include the overall objective of writing instruction: that students will be able to write well for their grade (Writing standard four; W.4). Equally important, the Writing standards tell us how students are expected to achieve that objective: by writing a variety of types and lengths of texts routinely across the school day and week (Writing standard ten; W.10) and by using the writing process to develop and strengthen some of what they write (Writing standard five; W.5). The Common Core specifies three general types of writing (opinion pieces, informational pieces, and narratives) that students are expected to learn how to do well (Writing standards one through three; W.1–3). Students are also required to learn how to use technology to write and publish (Writing standard six; W.6). In addition, students are expected to both write about what they read (Writing standard nine; W.9) and do research (Writing standards seven and eight; W.7 and W.8). Language standards one and two (L.1 and L.2) require students to write with correct language usage and writing mechanics (spelling, capitalization, and punctuation) as