Common Core Practice Tests Have Been Released

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/pilot-test/

Nonfiction and the CCSS

The School Library Journal links 20 outstanding nonfiction titles to specific Common Core standards: http://www.slj.com/2013/05/standards/common-core/20-outstanding-nonfiction-books-core-essentials/#_

Nonfiction Resources

I highly recommend the following professional resources for increasing the quality of nonfiction reading and writing instruction in the classroom:

http://www.amazon.com/Place-Wonder-Reading-Writing-Nonfiction/dp/1571104321

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Real-Strategies-Success-Informational/dp/0325005370

http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=9535

The Learning Network Blog on NYTimes

This blog contains numerous lesson plans and ideas for grades 3-12. A search for posts related to the common core produces hundreds of results. The only problem is that I cannot figure out how to search by grade level....

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/

Scholastic Common Core Resources

Scholastic has created a website full of free resources about the Common Core. The materials provide a good introduction to the Core and some ideas about beginning to shift practice.

http://www.scholastic.com/commoncore/common-core-free-resources.htm

Common Core Concerns and Answers

Instructor Magazine provided a list of common questions about the CCSS and solutions.


http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/your-core-concerns

Professional Development: It's Time for Change

This article from the NEA suggests that PD should come from within the knowledge bank of teachers at a school, be sustained, include job-embedded collaboration, and focus on student results. The article includes a discussion of PLCs.

http://www.nea.org/home/55173.htm