The new Common Core Standards, have recently been adopted by 46 of the 50 states and will begin to be implemented in Vermont and New Hampshire in the coming school year.
These standards, initiated by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, are internationally benchmarked and intended to raise the level of our nation’s education system and to help students better meet the challenges that face them in college and in the work environment.
Standards are a set of expectations of what students should know and understand at each level of their education. They provide a framework for what will be taught in each grade level and in what order. Teachers retain, as ever, the responsibility of choosing materials and teaching methods.
As part of the English Language Arts Standards, historically known as reading and writing, students in the elementary grades will be expected to work with more nonfiction texts than previously expected and to develop the skill of “reading for information.”
This departure from past standards creates a problem for schools, and this is where CLiF has provided some help.
Previously, systematic use of nonfiction reading was reserved for the older grades, and elementary school libraries tend to be light on readable nonfiction for new readers.
Above you see Burlington, Vermont’s CP Smith School librarian, Colleen Springer, smiling happily while holding one of the new nonfiction books donated by CLiF.
We have been able to provide sets of books for reading groups to practice together and for classroom teachers to use as a daily resource.
In the endeavor of helping kids become successful readers and intelligent, informed individuals we are always happy to help!
