32 BCALA NEWS Volume 41, Issue 3

Summer 2014

Back to School and Public Libraries With Common Core Standards

BY KAREN LEMMONS, DETROIT SCHOOL OF ARTS

Depending on which state you reside in, Common Core State Standards may be extremely important to your state’s department of education and school districts. Common Core State Standards were launched in 2009 by members of the National Governors’ Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. These two organizations developed these standards using state standards already in existence, talking with educators and education leaders, and gathering feedback from the public. Currently 43 states have adopted the Common Core State Standards. If you want to know if your state has adopted the Common Core State Standards, you can visit the website: http://www.corestandards.org

The Common Core Standards were developed in two subject areas: English Language Arts and mathematics. In addition to reading literature and informational text, the English Language Arts standards include writing, speaking and listening, and language for all grades. In grades 6-12, the English Language Arts state standards integrate history/social studies, science and technical subjects. The state standards place equal emphasis on skills and content. The skills and content increases in complexity at each grade level. An example of a state standard for kindergarten reading literature is listed below:

Kindergarten:

Key Ideas and Details: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2

With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3

With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

Craft and Structure: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4

Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.5

Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6

With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.8 (RL.K.8 not applicable to literature) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.9

With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.