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Rolla students, even those in the earliest grades, will start reading more non-fiction, and they’ll learn to write opinions based on reasoning, evidence and facts.
“Taking a position and supporting a position,” is the way Craig Hounsom, assistant superintendent, described the new writing requirements in the Common Core State Standards that are being phased in with the final phase scheduled to take place during the 2014-15 school year.
Speaking to the Rolla Board of Education Thursday night, Hounsom said the Common Core State Standards for proficiency in English and math are a voluntary, state-led effort to introduce the students to “rigorous content requiring higher order thinking and application of knowledge.”
The standards will prepare all students for college or career and should lower the need for high school graduates to take remedial classes in college. Hounsom said the state is working on a statewide curriculum.
The English language arts standards are written in “four strands”: reading, writing, speaking/listening and language.
“Each strand is defined by anchor standards, which are descriptions of what students should be able to do by the time they graduate from high school. Grade level standards are written to help build each year toward those anchor standards,” Hounsom said.
Hounsom said the reading strand will have an “increased non-fiction emphasis” and “increased text complexity.
The writing strand will emphasize research and argumentative writing, even requiring simple opinion essays from kindergartners, Hounsom said.
The language strand will emphasize tiered vocabulary, the breakdown of words into basic vocabulary, words often used in many settings and subject-specific words used infrequently. This strand also “recognizes that students must be able to use formal english in speaking and writing, but that they must be able to make skillful choices about how best to express themselves,” Hounsom said.
The speaking/listening strand will teach students about academic discussion in various settings: one-on-one, small group and whole class. it will include both formal presentation and informal collaboration, Hounsom said.
The math standards “focus on procedural knowledge and conceptual understanding,” Hounsum said.
Instruction will focus on precision in problem-solving, the ability to look for and make use of structure and to persevere in solving problems.
Assessing of students, i.e. testing, will be done in grades 3-8 for math and English. There will also be a grade 11 “end of high school assessment.” Tests will be given online, although a “back-up plan’ from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is possible if the online tests prove to be too expensive.
Rolla students, even those in the earliest grades, will start reading more non-fiction, and they’ll learn to write opinions based on reasoning, evidence and facts.
“Taking a position and supporting a position,” is the way Craig Hounsom, assistant superintendent, described the new writing requirements in the Common Core State Standards that are being phased in with the final phase scheduled to take place during the 2014-15 school year.
Speaking to the Rolla Board of Education Thursday night, Hounsom said the Common Core State Standards for proficiency in English and math are a voluntary, state-led effort to introduce the students to “rigorous content requiring higher order thinking and application of knowledge.”
The standards will prepare all students for college or career and should lower the need for high school graduates to take remedial classes in college. Hounsom said the state is working on a statewide curriculum.
The English language arts standards are written in “four strands”: reading, writing, speaking/listening and language.
“Each strand is defined by anchor standards, which are descriptions of what students should be able to do by the time they graduate from high school. Grade level standards are written to help build each year toward those anchor standards,” Hounsom said.
Hounsom said the reading strand will have an “increased non-fiction emphasis” and “increased text complexity.
The writing strand will emphasize research and argumentative writing, even requiring simple opinion essays from kindergartners, Hounsom said.
The language strand will emphasize tiered vocabulary, the breakdown of words into basic vocabulary, words often used in many settings and subject-specific words used infrequently. This strand also “recognizes that students must be able to use formal english in speaking and writing, but that they must be able to make skillful choices about how best to express themselves,” Hounsom said.
The speaking/listening strand will teach students about academic discussion in various settings: one-on-one, small group and whole class. it will include both formal presentation and informal collaboration, Hounsom said.
The math standards “focus on procedural knowledge and conceptual understanding,” Hounsum said.
Instruction will focus on precision in problem-solving, the ability to look for and make use of structure and to persevere in solving problems.
Assessing of students, i.e. testing, will be done in grades 3-8 for math and English. There will also be a grade 11 “end of high school assessment.” Tests will be given online, although a “back-up plan’ from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is possible if the online tests prove to be too expensive.
