Curated OER
Text Complexity in the Common Core
Use these tools to choose a text that is appropriate and challenging, while also fulfilling the Common Core’s requirement for text complexity.
Curated OER
The Common Core Literacy Standards - Grade 1 Posters
Prepare your first grade classroom for the Common Core with this series of colorful literacy standard displays. Providing children with clear learning objectives throughout the school year, this resource includes each English language...
Curated OER
The Common Core Literacy Standards - Kindergarten Posters
Can we do it? Yes we can! Your class can become Common Core masters with a fine set of posters that state each of the kindergarten literacy standards in a friendly "we can" statement. Each of the posters contains two standards, a "we...
Curated OER
Comparative Mythology and the Common Core
Use comparative mythology to make myths relevant for readers and help prepare them for rigorous Common Core texts.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Courage “In the Time of the Butterflies”: A Common Core Exemplar
The courage of Las Mariposas, the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a series of activities designed to accompany a reading of In the Time of the Butterflies that ask readers to consider what it means to be courageous. Beautifully crafted...
Illinois State Board of Education
Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.10
Make sure that your pupils have mastered complex literary nonfiction by the end of the year and use this resource to help get them to that point. After a brief description of the Common Core standard, a list of age-appropriate...
Curated OER
Create College-Ready Readers with Text-Dependent Questions
Build content literacy and cater to the Common Core State Standards by creating text-dependent questions to accompany reading passages.
Curriculum Corner
7th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists
Track your class's progress on all of the ELA Common Core standards with these handy charts. Along the left side, each seventh grade identifier is listed along with the full text of the standard. As you teach, reteach, assess,...
Penguin Books
Addressing Text Complexity - Making Independent Reading Meaningful
Many English teachers dream of a classroom full of readers silently enjoying their books. A useful guide helps make that dream become a reality by providing book recommendations for a range of readers. Each suggestion includes the...
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
A Search for Symbolism in The Great Gatsby
After reading The Great Gatsby, groups return to the text and note passages where Fitzgerald uses symbols and color imagery in his narrative. They then develop a presentation that explains the context, the implications, and possible...
Curated OER
Unit 1: Water is Life: The Heart and Science Behind this Phrase
Water, water, everywhere — but will there be enough to drink? Check out these detailed lesson plans to meet NGSS water cycle and CCSS literacy standards in your science classroom. Learners do a close reading of a challenging, poetic text...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 13: Character Development 2
Building upon prior lessons in the series, this reading and writing exercise requires pupils to look back at their own writing, track character development in the novel The Cay, and analyze how Phillip has changed. The reading focus is...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 8: Nonfiction Close Reading
As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a close reading of a section of Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Jigsaw groups then compare the voice in the essay...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2
The details in the new Common Core standard for producing informative/explanatory texts is different from what you have in your current curriculum, and now you are confused on what to do. Keep calm and carry on, because not only does...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3
Focus on complex characters with a lesson from a series that teaches individual skills from the Common Core. Specifically, this resource provides practice with standard RL.9-10.3. Get pupils thinking and talking about characters with the...
National Council of Teachers of English
Writing Acrostic Poems with Thematically Related Texts in the Content Areas
Scholars scour thematically aligned texts to gather a bank of words they can use in an original acrostic poem.
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 15: Theme
Build understanding of theme with an activity designed for The Cay and the Common Core. Small groups or pairs use graphic organizers to determine themes, find and record related details from the text, and formulate theme statements. In...
Channel Islands Film
The Legendary King
After viewing two documentaries about the history of the Channel islands, individuals craft an essay in which they compare the lives of Juana Maria, the Lone Woman San Nicolar Island, to Lester Holt and his family featured in the...
Curated OER
Advertising in the Contemporary World: An Introduction to Persuasive Texts
Beginning a persuasive writing unit with your middle schoolers? Approach it through something that persuades us all: advertising! Through studying video and print advertisement, your class will practice Common Core skills for reading...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.10
How do you assess what your pupils have learned over the course of the year? Find out how competent they are at reading and analyzing age-level literature with the ideas presented here. Included in this resource are two suggested...
Odell Education
Building Evidence-Based Arguments: "Cuplae poena par esto: Let the punishment fit the crime."
Should a criminal's punishment match the crime? An argumentative writing plan explores this question as class members investigate a variety of mixed-medium sources by experts in the field, form evidence-based claims, and support them...
California Education Partners
We Are The Ship
An assessment sheds light on scholars' ability to read, gather evidence, and draft an original written composition. Learners read an informative text twice before taking notes and discussing their thoughts and textual evidence with a...
Curated OER
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, Written by Himself
Foster reader confidence when encountering complex text and reinforce the skills readers have acquired to build and extend their understanding of text. The plan uses a section of Douglass’ narrative as an exemplar text. Directions for...