Understanding/Implementing CT Core Standards in the Classroom - Social Studies

General Overview of the Common Core State Standards

• Clearer and Higher: Why Students Need CCSS (Ohio Education Department)
• Common Core for ELA and Literacy – an introduction to the Common Core State Standards for ELA (teachingchannel.org)
• What Makes Instruction Aligned - The Instructional Practice Guide suite of tools focus not on every pedagogical move in the classroom, but on the specific actions teachers and students take to address the Key Shifts required by the Standards. To understand aligned practice, you must first understand the Key Shifts. (achievethecore.org) 
• Building Knowledge – provides resources for exploring the shifts required by the Common Core State Standards as well as a link to the Text Set Project. (achievethecore.org)  
• Student Achievement Partners: Parent FAQ Sheet—designed for use with parents to provide information about the Common Core (acheivethecore.org)

 Common Core State Standards

• Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects including: Appendix A: College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards, Grades 6-12 Literacy Standards, Research Supporting Key Elements of the Standards, and a Glossary of Key Terms (corestandards.org)

 Connecticut Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Frameworks

• Connecticut Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Frameworks: A roadmap for teaching history, civics, economics and geography [PDF]
• College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (socialstudies.org)
• Social Studies Framework Webinar (ncss.org)

 EQuIP Resources for Common Core Alignment

• EQuIP e-Learning Modules - The purpose of this e-Learning module is to develop the learner's knowledge and understanding of the EQuIP Quality Review Process, which is designed to increase the ability of educators – and educational leaders – to identify and create quality instructional materials aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Specifically, learners will explore what effective observations and criterion-based feedback look like and experience the process of reviewing instructional materials using the EQuIP Quality Review criteria, rating scales, and rating descriptors. (achieve.org) 
• The EQuIP Student Work Protocol is designed to establish or articulate the relationship between student work and the quality and alignment of instructional materials that previously have been reviewed using the EQuIP quality review process. Focusing on this relationship enables educators to develop a common understanding of the challenging work required by the CCSS. (achieve.org) 
• An Introduction to the EQuIP Rubric – This webinar explores the development of the EQuIP rubric, how teachers use it to improve their practice and transition to the Common Core, and resources available to help teachers make this transition. (LearnZillion and Achieve)
• Strengthening Lessons for the Common Core - This video explores the role of the EQuIP rubrics in instructional planning, calibration and what teachers might learn from evaluating lessons together. (Achieve and Teaching Channel)
• Peer Review in Action: The ELA EQuIP Rubric - This video introduces a Student Work Protocol to evaluate a Literacy in History/Social Studies lesson using the EQuIP rubric. (Achieve and Teaching Channel)
• Strengthening Lessons with a Student Work Protocol - This video illustrates how to evaluate a lesson using the EQuIP rubric. (Achieve and Teaching Channel)
• EQuIP Rubric for Lessons & Units: Literacy in History/Social Studies Grades K-2 (achieve.org)
• EQuIP Rubric for Lessons and Units: Literacy in History/Social Studies (Grades 3-5) and (Grades 6-12) (achieve.org)
• EQuIP: Educators Evaluating Quality Instructional Products (achieve.org)

  Common Core Implementation for All Students

• NEA - How Educators Can Advocate for English Language Learners: ALL IN! 2015 Advocacy Guide (nea.org and colorincolorado.org)     
• Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School - This practice guide offers educators specific, evidence-based recommendations that address the challenge of teaching English learners in the elementary and middle grades: building their English language proficiency while simultaneously building literacy, numeracy skills, and content knowledge of social studies and science.  (What Works Clearinghouse for the U.S. Department of Education)
• An Innovative High School CCSS Lesson for ELLS: Letters from John Smith – This blog posted on colorincolorado.org by Diane Staehr Fenner describes some innovations that provide strategies for all teachers of ELLs. (colorincolorado.org) 
• Language Objectives: The Key to Effective Content Area Instruction for English Learners by Jennifer Himmel - This article provides an overview of how to use language objectives in content-area instruction for English learners and offers classroom-based examples from different grade and subject levels. (colorincolorado.org) 
• Using Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to Implement Common Core—The Council of Great City School’s white paper encourages schools to embrace the needs of ALL students, and recommends implementing the standards within a framework of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) that will help ensure that all students succeed. (cgcs.org)
• Understanding Language Project at Stanford University—This site aims to heighten educator awareness of the critical role that language, literacy, and learning play in the CCSS. (ell.stanford.edu)
• Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners : Six Differentiation Strategies for New Teachers - In this blog article, Lily Jones for Tcher’s Voice explores different differentiation strategies to use in the classroom: Equity Sticks, Sentence Frames, Multiple Ways to Express Understanding, Share Air Time, Excerpt Texts, and Differentiate Rubrics. (teachingchannel.org)  
• Meeting Students Needs Through Scaffolding – This document provides suggestions for scaffolding instruction to help students successfully read texts that may be difficult for them. (Expeditionary Learning for engageny.org) 
• Deeper Learning for English Language Learners—This set of videos illustrates scaffolded instructional strategies and differentiation in different classroom settings. (Grades 9-12 Teaching Channel – Internationals Network Deeper Learning Series)
• Linking Assessment with Reading Instruction for ELL Students (cdn.lexile.com)