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Finding the Right Books for Common Core-Aligned Reading
Finding the Right Books for Common Core-Aligned Reading
In this article in Reading Today, Lauren Aimonette Liang (University of Utah), Naomi Watkins (University of La Verne), and Deanna Day (Washington State University/Vancouver) suggest ways to find challenging, high-quality texts that match the criteria of the Common Core State Standards. “Be aware of the various types of nonfiction, and strive to include a variety in classrooms,” they urge. Teachers should also consider different formats: picture books, magazines, novels, how-to guides, and a variety of informational texts. They suggest the following websites as resources:
• Booklist: http://booklistonline.com/commoncore
• International Reading Association: www.reading.org/elacommoncore
• Hornbook’s Nonfiction Notes:
www.hbook.com/notes-from-the-horn-book-newsletter/nonfiction-notes-...
• School Library Journal: www.slj.com/category/standards/common-core
• Text Project: www.textproject.org
• World of Words: http://wowlit.org
In addition, Liang, Watkins, and Day recommend the following books (each with a Lexile level):
• Island: A Story of the Galapagos (J. Chin, Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, 2012 – 900L)
• Lincoln’s Grave Robbers (S. Sheinkin, Scholastic, 2012 – 930L)
• Kid Pickers: How to Turn Junk Into Treasure (M. Wolfe, Feiwel and Friends, 2013 – 1030L)
• Frog Song (F.Z. Guiberson, Henry Hold & Company, 2013 – 950L)
• The Impossible Rescue: The True Story of an Amazing Arctic Adventure (M. W. Sandler,
Candlewick, 2012 – 1270L)
• Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure (J. Murphy,
Clarion Books, 2012 – 1200L)
“Selecting Quality Nonfiction Classroom Texts That Meet CCSS Qualifications” by Lauren Aimonette Liang, Naomi Watkins, and Deanna Day in Reading Today, October/November 2013 (Vol. 31, #2, p. 25-27), www.reading.org; the authors can be reached at Lauren.Liang@utah.edu, naomiwatkins@laverne.edu and dday-wiff@vancouver.wsu.edu.
From the Marshall Memo #511
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kirk Cunningham on
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This perspective, teachers using "ways to find challenging, high-quality texts that match the criteria of the Common Core State Standards", epitomizes the debate within education. If a text is meaningful to the student, and, or is culturally relevant to the student, it will likely result in a high level of learning which remains with the student long after the "test" or "project" whether or not it aligns to CCSS. So which is a preferable paradigm, the CCSS which is designed to result in high level thinking and skills or texts (and you could certainly insert other realms of learning) which are self-selected by students or selected in authentic collaboration with adults which result in high level thinking and skills? For some the bottom line is, who do we trust, a national consortium of standards/curricula designers or the inquisitive learning of human nature, coined as "homo curaous" by John Lofflin? For many the debate continues..
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