Book I just finished reading: The Core Six Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the Common Core

>If you are in the education field right now, chances are you are very concerned about the new Common Core State Standards, and how to implement them efficiently and effectively.  As an instructional coach, I often try to find simple ways teachers can use what they have in their toolbox, and take it just a step further.  I found The Core Six Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the Common Core by Harvey Silver, Thomas Dewing, and Matthew Perini, sold by ASCD.  This book was just what I was looking for in regards to simple strategies that take thinking to the next level.

What I loved about this book, was the way it is organized.  The very beginning provides Six Tips for Inspired Instruction:

• Capture students’ interest.  (We often ask our students to write with an attention-grabbing hook, but do we model that every day?)


• Explain the strategy’s purpose and students’ roles in the strategy.  (It is important that students know why we do what we do when we read.)


• Teach the thinking embedded in the strategy.  (I remember learning all about this with Thinking Maps.  It is imperative that teachers provide think alouds and analyze their own thinking for students.)


• Use discussion and questioning techniques to extend student thinking.  (We really want to move students from the superficial to deeper understandings.)


• Ask students to synthesize and transfer their learning.  (We often give students an activity to do, and then that’s it.  We need to summarize at the end, even if it’s just a minute summarization.)


•  Leave time for reflection.  (National Board Certification would agree with this!)

Each chapter offers reasons for using the strategy, research behind the strategy, a checklist for implementing the strategy, sample lessons, and planning considerations.  The Six Strategies are:

• Reading for Meaning


• Compare & Contrast


• Inductive Learning


• Circle of Knowledge


• Write to Learn


• Vocabulary’s CODE

I presented Reading for Meaning during my book study.   Reading for meaning is especially crucial to my school right now because we have been implementing Balanced Literacy for a year, and our biggest breakdown was whether or not we teach reading for meaning.  Sure, vocabulary is taught, sequencing, etc., but are we teaching reading for meaning?  And how do we teach active reading?

From the Core Six, the strategy I presented was a Support/Refute Organizer.  For this example, one would identify a short text/visual source/poem, data chart/etc. that you want students to read for meaning.  Generate a list of statements about the text, and students will search the text for evidence that supports or refutes the statement.  Introduce the topic to students, and allow them to preview your pre-identified statements BEFORE they read the text, and elicit background knowledge.  Students can record their responses while they read and after they read.  Students then discuss their evidence in pairs or small groups, and come to a consensus about their statements, possibly picking the top two statements for support or refute.  Conduct a whole-class discussion, then use students’ responses to evaluate their understanding of the reading and their ability to support a position with evidence.

Example from the book Oh, Rats! By Albert Marrin:

Evidence For	Statement	Evidence Against
	Everything about the rat makes it a champion at survival.

 

Before reading, students would tap their background knowledge about rats.  While reading, students take notes to support or refute the statement.  Then, students would discuss their evidence collaboratively, and make decisions on the best evidence to support or refute.  A whole-class discussion would occur, then students evaluate their understanding by using this strategy while reading.

Do you see how THIS strategy is reading for meaning?!



 

UPDATE:  I practiced this strategy when I presented at SCCTE in 2014!  Click here to read more!