Skip to main content

Common Core and the Kentucky School Library

Lexiles, folktales and informational texts – oh my!  With the introduction of the Common Core ELA in Kentucky, school librarians across the state are in the perfect position to really show collaborative skills and show their resource power!
When I found out that we were going to the Common Core, I was just starting my LMS job search, so it was the ideal time for me to learn the standards and learn them well. I’ve spent a lot of time reading through them and internalizing them.  For me the ELA standards came easily because they are set up so much like the ACT standards- which were standards that I had already been consulting and using for three years in my high school English content.  With the addition of the Speaking and Listening standards, and the research and multimedia aspects that are now present, I think it’s an exciting time to come up with some new ideas.
Here are a few of the things that I’ve learned about over the last two years that make my job a million times easier:
1.       Thinkfinity rocks!  Thanks to some excellent emails last year from KET Education Consultant, Cynthia Warner, I really discovered the benefits of searching through lessons on Thinfinity using the standard search. I do usually preview the lessons for a certain standard before sending the list off to my teachers because sometimes the connection to the standard isn’t apparent.  If you’re looking for good lessons on myths and folktales – it’s good to start here.  There are some really great ArtsEdge resources for myth listed under those standards that could make for some awesome collaboration opportunities between classroom teachers, librarians, and art & humanities teachersJ
2.       Tennessee is doing it right!  With Read Tennessee and the Teacher’s Reading Toolkit there is a lot to explore  for our K-3 teachers. On their Common Core Standards for English Language Arts Page you can choose a grade on the left (K-3) and then explore lessons by selecting the standard.
3.       KATE – TICK is working hard to give KY teachers awesome technology resources! TICK (Technology in Classrooms of Kentucky) is hosted by the Kentucky Academy of Technology Education (KATE) and they are encouraging Kentucky teachers to share good, technology based lessons that relate to standards.  You can do a standard search and find some great resources.  It might also be worth your while to add a lesson or link or two that you know is going to be helpful because they do prize drawings every now and then.
4.       Pinterest is a constant source of good stuff!  Simply doing a search for “common core” will yield tons of results for pins and boards you can follow.  Browse around and find a few boards that really have things you like; then follow them.  It’s much easier to sort through ideas as they come up on your “Following” page than it is to try to back track and go through everything out there.  A lot of the good pins will come up over and over anyway  - so don’t feel like you’re missing out!  I have a Library - Common Core and More board, a Library - Informational Texts and Library - Literary Texts board that may be helpful to start.
5.       The Common Core App can be a great resource!  At the beginning of the year when I mapped out my curriculum, I used the Common Core Standards to determine what we would be doing and when.  It helped having those standards in one place at my fingertips.  I use it for a quick reference weekly when I’m listing the standards on my lesson plans.  Search for the app in the App Store of your Smart Phone or iPad.
6.   LiveBinders is an organizational dream! I’ve been using this to begin tracking some of my favorite links and pins so that I can access them at school easily if I need them.  My Common Core ELA binder is a total work in progress – the key is: books – if you want to check it out.  You can also search for other shared binders are in this site – a good one appears to be ELA Common Core States Standards Resources
What are your favorite Common Core resources and how are you using them?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Project Genre-fy the Fiction Section!

After a lot of thinking, I finally decided to take the leap this summer and move the fiction section of my elementary library from the traditional first-three-letters-of-the-last- name organization to a genre based organization. Now that the project is almost complete, I cannot wait to get the kids back in the library so I can show them! Deciding Factors There are many reasons individual teacher librarians might choose to genrefy their library.  For me, I was driven to start with the fiction section because I've noticed an alarming drop off in students checking out books by the time they get to fifth grade.  This drop off could be for any number of reasons: increased activities after school, loss of interest in the materials they see on the shelf, lack of time, or they could be overwhelmed by book after book organized by letter. I realized, too, that although my 3-5 graders don't ask for "funny" books or "animal" stories, they seem to get stuck on c

Library Centers for Kindergarten & First Grade

Center Inspiration After much debate at the end of last school year, I was able to get 10 extra minutes added on to each of my classes for this year boosting class library time from 35 minutes a week to 45 minutes a week for my fixed schedule.  For me, 35 minutes a week, just wasn't enough to pack in all the awesomeness I wanted to achieve.  It seemed like we would just be getting started into something great when it was time to go. I was thrilled to know that this year I was going to have the extra time to work with my classes on research skills and technology projects while working in more time to allow them to browse the shelves and look at books.  That being said, truth be told, I was completely freaked out about what to do with my kindergartners for 45 minutes. Did I mention in my former life, I was a high school English teacher?  Four years ago, my first two weeks in an elementary library were a complete culture shock to me. I was used to walking into a room and just say

Digital Interactive Notebooks: Getting Started

Post appeared also on FtEdTech It's no real secret that I love Digital Interactive Notebooks.  I create them every chance I get and encourage teachers to use them for everything from long term Project Based Learning (PBL) projects to weekly unit work with vocabulary .   The Interactive Notebook (INB) has long been a staple of the classroom to engage students more directly with their notes.  The traditional interactive notebook often includes traditional student notes, questions, and interactives that students cut, fold, color and paste into their notebooks. You might find graphic organizers, pockets with measuring tools, data charts, and foldables that act as study aides.  In the NSTA article " Science Interactive Notebooks in the Classroom " Jocelyn Young explains the benefits of INB when she shares that " By using notebooks, students model one of the most vital and enduring functions of scientists in all disciplines—recording information, figures, and data.