Connecticut State Department of Education

Connecticut Core Standards

Specific Skill Instruction - Social Studies

Reading Closely for Textual Details

  Writing

  • Write Along – This collection of interactive video lessons from LearnZillion provides students guidance on how to improve their writing. Each video builds a targeted skill by modeling the process of revising or editing a flawed piece of writing while students keep up on a practice sheet. At the end, a formative assessment allows students to apply the skill to a new draft.    
  • In Common: Effective Writing for All Students – This resource by The Vermont Writing Collaborative with Student Achievement Partners and CCSSO provides a range of examples of Common-Core aligned student work to demonstrate how a student’s writing skills can progress as they gain fluency across the three major types of Common Core writing: argument/opinion writing, informative/explanatory writing, and narrative writing. Four professional development activities to help build understanding of CCSS grade-level expectations for writing are also included. (achievethecore.org)    
  • How I Finally Figured Out Collaborative Writing – In this blog by Amber Rain Chandler, posted 5-08-16 on the MiddleWeb - All About Middle Grades website, she shares what she has learned this year about having students work collaboratively on writing assignments—and how she graded them. (middleweb.com) 
  • Learning Can’t Be Done in One Draft by Jessica Lander on 1-21-2016 for the Boston Globe - “Computer-coders, chefs, writers, are seldom satisfied with a first draft. They write reams of code or bake dozens of éclairs, continually tinkering before they are satisfied. Earnest Hemingway famously penned 47 different endings to his novel “A Farewell to Arms.” Yet students are rarely given the time and tools to turn good work into great work. Ambitious curriculums race from the Romans to the Romanovs, from genetics to global warming, in a flurry of assignments. Tests often emphasize breadth over depth. Students aim to complete assignments rather than master craftsmanship…” (bostonglobe.com)
  • Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: Holocaust and Human Behavior—This free downloadable resource from Facing History connects the text Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior with writing prompts that align with the expectations of the Common Core State Standards. This supplementary guide includes specific writing prompts and teaching strategies that ask students to use evidence as they craft a formal argumentative essay. The resource features effective writing strategies for general use in the social studies or English classroom. (facinghistory.org)  
  • Authentic Products Aligned to Common Core Writing Standards – This document focuses specifically on the writing component of final products.  Ideally, these products are created for an authentic audience, one beyond the classroom and the teacher.  (Expeditionary Learning, Plaut and Passchier, January 2015)  

  Researching to Deepen Understanding

  Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

  Text Complexity

  • Please Note: The Lexile measure (text complexity) of a book is an excellent starting point for a student’s book selection. It’s important to understand that the book’s Lexile measure should not be the only factor in a student’s book selection process. Lexile measures do not consider factors such as age-appropriateness, interest, and prior knowledge. These are also key factors when matching children and adolescents with books they might like and are able to read. Lexile codes provide more information about developmental appropriateness, reading difficulty, and common or intended usage of books. For more information on Lexile codes, please visit Lexile.com. (from The Lexile Framework for Reading Map by MetaMetrics)
  • Matching Readers with Targeted Text (lexile.com)
  • 7 Actions that Teachers Can Take Right Now: Text Complexity (textproject.org)