Writing to Explore: Discovering Adventure in the Research Paper
by David Somoza and Peter Lourie
(Stenhouse Publishers, 2010 – Learn more)

Reviewed by Kevin Hodgson

Like many other teachers in states that have adopted the Common Core, I’ve been re-thinking the way we can approach research projects with my sixth grade students. The new standards not only increase the expectations of research-based reading and writing across the content areas, they also expect these skills to be taught in younger grades and with increasingly more complexity as the students get older.

Strands of learning include finding information, evaluating claims of writers, citing sources, and writing frequently and extensively. Teaching all of those skills and more is made all the more difficult if the student writers are not invested in their projects, leading to dull and lifeless reports that were probably boring to write and are probably just as boring to read (sorry, kids).

Writing to Explore by David Somoza and Peter Lourie seeks to turn our concept of a research paper on its head, and while the book is explicitly aimed at grades 3-8, I would suggest that the main idea here – writing an adventure essay using real research and facts – might have a place in classrooms even beyond that grade range.

In fact, even with the Common Core, there are many places where the push towards expository and informational text writing is balanced by the effective use of narrative writing. Writing to Explore and the idea of a hybrid essay may be one path forward.

Blending research facts into adventurous writing

The book was conceived when Somoza, a teacher, began corresponding with Lourie, a writer of children’s books, about ways to help Somoza’s elementary school students become more invested as writers. Over time, what the two men realized is that a fusion of adventure-style writing buffered by facts and information from research could bring out the best of both worlds: fiction and non-fiction writing.

Their main project is built along the lines of a Heroic Quest story format, but the projects are rooted in a real place with real historic significance. The research phase of the adventure essay might seem familiar. It’s the gathering of important details and facts from a variety of reputable sources. But the presentation of that knowledge is done within the framework of a fictional adventure story, with emphasis on setting (so that the research can be used most effectively).

I appreciated the honest reflections here as Somoza shares how he implemented their ideas. The book is a nice mix of the letters that Lourie and Somoza sent back and forth (sometimes while Lourie was on location, scouting out settings for his own books), handy guidelines and teaching moments, and also some exemplary student work.

The adventure essay covers a lot of ground and might just hook those students (and teachers) to whom the phrase ‘research project’ conjures up groans and moans and dismay.

Kevin Hodgson is a sixth grade teacher in Southampton, Massachusetts, and is the technology liaison with the Western Massachusetts Writing Project. Kevin blogs regularly at Kevin’s Meandering Mind and tweets more often than is healthy under his @dogtrax handle.

Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating  Achievement
by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman
(Heinemann, 2012 – Learn more)

Reviewed by Julie DeMicco

We’ve heard for several years that the Common Core is coming, and now that it has arrived, we teachers have a lot of work to do. By now, most teachers have delved into the standards, and many teachers have begun to try to interpret them and decide what the standards really mean for our classrooms. But how do we best begin this Common Core work?

The authors of Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement introduce their book by telling us we have a choice in how we approach these new expectations. We can look at the standards in a negative way, or we can embrace what is good in the document. The authors suggest that there is a lot to celebrate within the Core — points they enumerate in detail. This book is written for those educators who are excited to begin to implement the CCSS.

As challenging as it must have been to write and finesse the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, that accomplishment is nothing compared to the work of teaching in ways that bring all students to these ambitious expectations. The goal is clear. The pathway is not.” – Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman

In the final section of the introduction, the authors suggest some principles for approaching implementation in districts, schools and classrooms. It’s here that we learn something about their credentials: all three are teacher educators at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, which has “helped hundreds of principals and teacher leaders design plans for adopting the Common Core.”

“As we’ve worked together to study school after school,” they write, “a few principles have emerged that are broadly applicable across many different settings” — which they then summarize.

A Deeper Look at the ELA Common Core Standards

As an educator, I was looking for help in understanding what the English/Language Arts Common Core State Standards really say, and how I was going to bring them to life in my classroom. Each chapter in this teacher-friendly, easy-to-read book explains how to do just that. There are suggestions for implementation, and there are also activities teachers might choose to try with well-known books such as Charlotte’s Web. These activities will help teachers to better understand the implications of the Core.

Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement includes four chapters devoted to the reading standards and four chapters devoted to the writing standards. There is an overview at the beginning of each section with helpful background information. The overview for reading discusses what the standards value and what they don’t value. The overview chapter for writing considers the current state of writing instruction, describes the three types of writing the standards call for, reflects on the quality of writing CCSS expects, and talks about the writing process and the importance of writing across the disciplines. (You can download the table of contents, the introduction and the book’s first two chapters here.)

Inside the Book

The authors have devoted one chapter to reading standards one and ten. A clear metaphor is given for how these standards relate to the others:

“Some people who are close to the Common Core have likened the reading standards to a ladder, with standards 1 and 10 as the crucial struts that form the two sides of the ladder, and the other reading standards as the rungs of the ladder.” (p33)

The next chapter is on reading standards 2-9 for reading literature. The final chapter devoted to the reading standards discusses standards 2-9 for reading informational texts. The 10 anchor standards are the same for reading literature and for reading informational texts. Sometimes the standard is identical at a given grade level, but sometimes there are variations, given the different challenges that reading literature and reading informational texts pose for the student reader.

Following the overview chapter for writing, there are three more chapters about the writing standards, each focusing on a type of writing: argument, informational, and narrative. The authors suggest starting with the narrative writing standard (even though it is third) because many teachers are most familiar with teaching this type of writing. And yes, just as we had anticipated, we are told that argument writing is a big deal in the CCSS.

There is also one chapter dedicated to the speaking, listening, and language standards. This is another overview chapter, so we learn how to best understand these final two strands of the ELA standards in context.

The final chapter addresses assessment. The authors convey information about the two consortia —PARCC and SMARTER Balanced — which have been developing the new Common Core-aligned assessments. Their websites are given, with the suggestion that we go and visit these organizations to learn more. The differences between the two groups’ approaches to testing (at least thus far) are outlined as well.

Plenty of Helpful Information

There is a lot of practical help woven throughout this book. One topic that I found really interesting describes the structure and flow of the standards. The authors continually point out how the standards change as they move up the grade levels. It’s so interesting to see this progression of skills within these new standards. Teachers do not always have the luxury of time to examine where our students have come from, as well as where they are going. If the standards become commonplace in our schools, we will have this information at our fingertips.

The authors also point to resources where teachers will find more in-depth treatment of standards and recommended teaching practices. Not surprisingly, they suggest the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project website as a good source of ideas and examples related to CCSS literacy standards. They also steer us to Appendix B of the CCSS ELA document to look at the exemplar texts published there. They send us to Appendix A if we want more information on methods for leveling texts.

They also draw our attention to the sample texts in Appendix C so we can see representative writing that portrays what all eighth grade writers should be able to produce if the Common Core’s ambitious goals are achieved.

I also enjoyed the comparisons the authors made between CCSS, which I don’t know that well, and other topics in education that I do know well. For example, they often reference No Child Left Behind; they mention Fountas and Pinnell’s book leveling system; NAEP; Calkin’s Units of Study for Teaching Writing, and the National Reading Panel Report. For me, these comparisons helped to clarify the connections between CCSS and what has come before.

This book was exactly what I was looking for. I picture myself turning to it time and time again as we continue to implement the Common Core into our school.

Julie DeMicco teaches reading to seventh and eighth graders at Stilwell and Indian Hills junior high schools in West Des Moines, Iowa. She has also taught elementary school and is a former Reading Recovery Teacher. Julie has a passion for helping students find books that they love, as well as being an avid reader herself. She is also one of the anti-bullying club moderators for one of her schools.

Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans: Ready-to-Use Resources, 6-8
by Lauren Davis
(Eye on Education, 2013 – Learn more)

Reviewed by Linda Biondi

When I first received Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans, by Eye on Education editor (and former ELA teacher) Lauren Davis, I had mixed feelings.

I was afraid this would be one of the many books out there that promises to make life easy for middle school teachers with one-size-fits-all lesson plans. I have shelves full of teaching resource books that sounded great but once I got past the first few pages, I regretted that I had already highlighted sections and wouldn’t be able to return it.

This is not that kind of book. This is a resource you will consult again and again, and you may have a difficult time locating it because other teachers will be asking to borrow it.

Valuable for all content-area teachers

The book, geared towards middle school teachers, literacy coaches and curriculum leaders, is a valuable resource for all content area teachers and can also be adapted to the fifth grade Readers and Writers Workshop. It is well organized by the strands of the Common Core State Standards for reading, writing, speaking, listening and language.

The publisher’s summary of the book’s features emphasizes the applicability of the lesson plans in subjects other than English/Language Arts, where the Common Core standards are raising the stakes for content-area literacy and students’ ability to read and write in nonfiction contexts. “Middle school students,” the summary notes, “learn how to answer text-based questions, read informational texts, conduct research, write arguments, and improve their speaking and listening skills.”

All lessons are well researched and contain differentiation strategies that are applicable and attainable. In addition, the lesson plans include the following valuable information:

• Grade level suitability
• Time frame to complete the lesson and extension ideas
• General information about the goal and focus of the lesson and how to adapt it for other grade levels
• Common Core State Standards
• Student objectives
• Background knowledge students need to successfully implement the lesson
• Materials needed
• Step by step directions
• Differentiation
• Assessment ideas, rubrics and scoring guides
• A note-taking section that encourages reflection of what worked and what to change the next time the lesson is used

I shouldn’t admit it, but I usually jump right into the “meat” of lesson plan type books and skip the overview. I am so glad that I didn’t this time. In the overview, Davis reassures the teacher that adapting to the Common Core doesn’t mean you have to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Many teachers are afraid that the Common Core State Standards are going to eliminate teacher input and do away with past teaching practices and carefully wrought lesson plans. Davis explains that you can use lessons that you taught before, but cautions the reader to review the lessons to make sure they are complex enough and match the rigor the standards now require. Most important: look at your current teaching practices. For example, you may have to eliminate the “cute” haiku lesson that you’ve always done in the early grades — or rethink the Romeo and Juliet unit in middle school. However, I believe you will become reinvigorated as you reflect on best practices in teaching and think about ways you can adapt these lessons to challenge your students to meet the new standards.

A thoroughly professional book

This is a thorough book that combines research, lesson planning, and resources in a highly professional manner. While so many “test prep books” or genre specific books focus solely on step-by-step lessons, this is not the case with Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans. This is not about teaching by formula. An added bonus and valuable piece to this book is the section labeled “Additional Resources,” which provides links to exemplars, sources for extension practice, and websites that address the application of the Common Core Standards. You can also access the handouts described in the book by registering your buyer’s access code online.

As I previewed some of the book’s content, I realized that the lessons were formatted according to the Readers and Writers Workshop, a best-practice model where instruction is offered through the workshop approach — enabling students to work independently, via a gradual release of responsibility from teacher modeling to student directed work.

While I skimmed through the lessons, I was amazed by the number of practical ideas that were provided to encourage active student interaction. One example, in the Speaking and Listening Skills section, suggests that you map students’ taking turns talking so that you can identify patterns. Students sit in a circle during a discussion and you draw the seating pattern on a piece of paper, then draw arrows on the circle and take notes to keep track of who is responding to whom. Another idea: making video recordings of class discussions so students can view and reflect upon their own speaking and listening habits. So uncomplicated, yet so complex.

As a reviewer, I could not find anything to criticize in the book. As a perpetual teacher-learner, I wanted to visit all the resource sites that were included — but that’s my problem! I am excited about sharing this book with my colleagues as we continue to pursue the Common Core Standards.

(Editor’s note: Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans is also available in a K-5 and a 9-12 edition.)

Linda Biondi is a fifth grade teacher at Pond Road Middle School in Robbinsville, New Jersey. She has written for Education World, the Responsive Classroom newsletter, and the ERIC Clearinghouse. She’s also the recipient of several grants that promote inquiry and a literacy enriched curriculum, and consults for the National Writing Project.