Assignment Template: California's CCSS

This article about California's Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy was perfect timing for me to read because I was just working on my Unit Objectives for my three-week unit plan. It was helpful for me to see the State Standards for what is expected of my students when reading literature and texts with them. I learned the essentials of what I need to prepare my students for as a teacher of ELA by discovering that it is important to assess your students both on the factual information being presented in the text and also key concepts that the text displays. For example, if the students are reading Huck Finn, it is important for them to be able to name the main characters, give a plot overview, as well as answer specific questions about the setting or moral context of the story. However, it is also important to assess them on things like "find a metaphor" and be able to give a description of what a metaphor is. Having the students identify certain language in the text and have them justify why that kind of language is used in that way, is also a good tool for them to grasp and retain what is being read. I learned that there is many ways to assess students on literature, and different teachers can go about it different ways. Before giving any sort of assessment on the material, it is also important that you make sure the students are actually understanding what they are reading. This can be done by having them annotate and analyze the text, jot down key points as they read, and write down questions and have a question/answer discussion after the reading. This sort of structure can allow them to draw helpful conclusions before they are assessed. All of these are new, enlightening ideas that I have learned since reading about CCSS in depth.