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Patchwork Common Core Implementation Plagues the US | Consider the Source
Photo by Smithsonian Institution I’m just back from FETC—the Florida Educational Technology conference. I was there at the behest of Scholastic to talk about Common Core (CC). (I don’t work for or...
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Inquiry and Nonfiction | On Common Core
nquiry—the process of satisfying our curiosity—and nonfiction are closely related. Readers turn to nonfiction for those how-to lessons as well as informational needs. In titles such as Bradley Hague’s...
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Coming Soon to a School Near You | Consider the Source
By the time you read this column, Common Core’s “Next Generation Science Standards” may have been released. (They’re scheduled to go public sometime this month.) I hear tell that a draft was briefly...
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Balancing Readability and Reading Fluency | On Common Core
As states from Maine to Montana implemented the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the readability recommendations shocked those teachers who find that their students already struggle to read...
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Speak Up | Consider the Source
“Have you ever been in a revival meeting? Well you’re in one now.” (Nina Simone, “Children Go Where I Send Thee,” from the 1962 album Nina Simone Live at the Village Gate) I’ve just returned from two...
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National History Day—A Perfect Support for Common Core | Consider the Source
Lately, as most of you know, I’ve been examining the Common Core crosswinds—the obstacles that make it challenging to fully implement the new education standards. But today, I want to focus on some...
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SLJ Reviews Gobstopper and Subtext: Apps that Enable Interactive Classroom...
“If you think about math teachers, they’ve always been able to give assignments in which students are required to show their work. That makes it easy for them to check individual understanding, pretty...
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We Are Not Alone: National Curricular Reform Around the Globe | Consider the...
Designing and implementing core standards for ELA, math, science, and social studies in the United States has been a huge challenge—as many educators know from their daily experience. But, as I...
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SLJ Resources for National Poetry Month
Maggie B.’s Spine Poem from 100 Scope Notes April is National Poetry Month, and School Library Journal has compiled a list of tools and creative ideas for celebrating. From poetry slam best practices...
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Nonfiction for Teen Readers | JLG’s On the Radar
By the time students reach grade 12, the Common Core State Standards require that 70% of their reading should be nonfiction. In order to fulfill this requirement in content area subjects, students will...
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Nonfiction as Mentor Text: Style | On Common Core
Last month in this column, we introduced some of the ways in which writers for young people model the substance of their “big picture” thinking, how they sift and shape new ideas and evidence from...
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20 Outstanding Nonfiction Books | Core Essentials
At long last, the educational spotlight is shining on nonfiction. Under the widely adopted Common Core (CC) Standards for reading informational texts (RI), teachers must integrate more nonfiction than...
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Constellations | Consider the Source
In my last column, I began exploring nonfiction passages that require and reward rereading—a key focus of the Common Core (CC) English Language Arts (ELA) standards. As I was writing that piece, I was...
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College Readiness: Librarians Can Help the Transition | On Common Core
Education buzzwords—whole language, multiple intelligences—come and go, but 45 states chose to adopt the Common Core Learning Standards. Why? Because the Common Core defines the critical thinking, the...
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The Road Ahead: Common Core Insights | Consider the Source
For the past two weeks I have had a strange feeling—a combination of déjà vu and the sense that I am a visitor from the future. I say that because since November 2011, I have been traveling around New...
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Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure | On Common Core
hat will be in your tote as you head out to the beach, a nearby lake, or your own front stoop this summer? Our bags are already heavy with Paula Byrne’s The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things...
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A Classic Summer: Pair Audiobooks and Films to Spark Discussion and Writing |...
Teachers, librarians, and students sometimes struggle with assignments for summer reading, especially when it comes to the time-honored classics. The audiobook productions featured here will engage...
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IMLS Says Libraries Key to Early Learning
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading today unveiled a new report on the role of museums and libraries in early learning [PDF], and issued a call...
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Vulcanizing Vocabulary: Librarians Lead Path to Achievement | On Common Core
“Words are not just words. They are the nexus—the interface—between communication and thought,” states Marilyn Jager Adams (Common Core State Standards [CCSS], Appendix A). “When we read, it is through...
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A Common Core Approach: ‘Teaching with Text Sets’
y now it’s old news that the Common Core State Standards have influenced a shift in the role of informational text in classroom instruction. It’s also clear that these standards don’t spell out how...
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