Dispelling Common Core Myths About Informational

vs Literacy Texts in a Properly Aligned Classroom

with Alan Sitomer

www.AlanSitomer.com@alansitomer

Question:Are English teachers

supposed to shift into a curriculum

that disavows and/or diminishes literature?

Unprecedented for American classrooms

Types of Text: Expected

percentages with Common

Core

Rebalancing the types of texts K-12 students encounter.

Distribution of Literary and Informational Passages by Grade

Informational text must exclusively dominate the curricular landscape in

ELA.

Gigantic Misperception

Common Core wants to eliminate fiction.

English classes must abandon literature.

Gigantic Misperception

Know the facts!

Informational text must exclusively dominate the curricular landscape in

ELA.

FALSE!

Patently Untrue!

No! No! No!

Gigantic Misperception

Common Core wants to eliminate fiction.

English classes must abandon literature.

Gigantic Misperception

Know the facts!

Like I just said…

Shared Responsibility

Literacy is to be a

on campus.

The facts say...

Shared Responsibility

Misperceptions

abound!

Many people are taking wrongly informed actions.

smart

www.corestandards.org

Shared Responsibility for LiteracyShared responsibility for students’ literacy developmentThe Standards insist that instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language be a shared responsibility within the school. The grades 6–12 standards are divided into two sections, one for ELA and the other for history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. This division reflects the unique, time-honored place of ELA teachers in developing students’ literacy skills while at the same time recognizing that teachers in other areas must have a role in this development as well.

ELA Other Content Areas + ELA

Shared Responsibility for Literacy

Across the entire school day

Shared Responsibility for LiteracyShared responsibility for students’ literacy developmentThe Standards insist that instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language be a shared responsibility within the school. The grades 6–12 standards are divided into two sections, one for ELA and the other for history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. This division reflects the unique, time-honored place of ELA teachers in developing students’ literacy skills while at the same time recognizing that teachers in other areas must have a role in this development as well.

ELA Other Content Areas + ELA

Shared Responsibility for Literacy

Across the entire school day

School day = 8:00 am - 3:00 pm6 hours of academic instruction

Half of all class time working with text (3 hours per school day)

30% = .9 hours Literary Text70% = 2.1 hours Informational Text

It’s silly to break down school mathematically.

General guidelines!

Oh, come on... Is this interpretation BALONEY?

“The claim that the Common Core State Standards have abolished the teaching of literature makes for a great

headline. Who wouldn’t get hot and bothered over the idea that high school students will no longer be reading “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Crucible,” and “Invisible Man?” I would be up in arms, too. Fortunately, nothing in the

standards supports this claim.”

Carol Jago in the Washington Post:

Let’s turn to the experts.

* Served as President of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)* Directs the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA* 32 years teaching experience in the classroom

David Coleman and Sue Pimentel

Let’s turn to the experts.

* The lead authors of Common Core’s State Standards for English* As in, the people who wrote the document.

The Common Core Standards apply to a broad spectrum of disciplines: English Language Arts, and literacy in History/Social Studies, and Science and Technical Subjects. By high school, the Standards require that 70% of what students read be informational text, but the bulk of that percentage will be carried by non-ELA disciplines that do not study fictional texts.

ELA classrooms are not being taken over by informational text and literature is not being left by the wayside.

Said plainly, stories, drama, poetry, and other literature account for the majority of reading that students will do in the high school ELA classroom.

The Standards could not be clearer: ELA classrooms must focus on literature -- that is not negotiable.

From whence do all these

misinterpretations arise?

How can so many smart people be misinformed?

"Catcher in the Rye Dropped From US School Curriculum.”

Headlines!

The London Telegraph

Headlines!

“A new curriculum plan almost certainly will diminish exposure to works of literature.”

Los Angeles Times

Headlines!“The new achievement goals actually set American students back by de-emphasizing great literary works for informational texts."

Michelle Malkin Fox News Channel Contributor

Headlines!“English teachers at every grade level must now ensure that 50 percent of reading materials are “informational texts.” This figure rises to 70 percent for high-school students.” -John Griffing

The National Review Online

Headlines!

“Aliens to eat all fiction, literature eradicated, novels burned!”

-National Enquirer

(And lose twenty pounds before next summer with our new and sexy Common Core diet tips.)

Know what the Common Core

standards actually say.

Fortify yourself

with knowledge!W

ith FACTS!

Dispelling Common Core Myths About Informational

vs Literacy Texts in a Properly Aligned Classroom

with Alan Sitomer

www.AlanSitomer.com@alansitomer