One of the benefits of 45 states and 3 territories adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is that there are a wide variety of people all working towards the same goal. In each of these states and territories there are teachers, administrators, state officials, grantees, entrepreneurs, and consultants all working to develop both curriculum and resources that will support the implementation of CCSS. This means that millions of other people are out there right now creating materials to support the CCSS and many of them are willing to share. The purpose of this post is to consolidate some of those resources in one place. As I travel around, peruse the internet, check in on Twitter and scour my Inbox, I find more and more quality resources that can help teachers as they implement the new standards.
Below is my first collection of these resources. I have tried to organize them into "clusters" that share similar characteristics.
The Big Picture:
The Hunt Institute - This YouTube channel, put together by the Hunt Institute, interviews the team leaders of the Common Core Standards project. The videos provide information on the development of the standards, their philosophical underpinnings, research supporting their development and the major underlying principles.
Let's Chat Core - If you have not checked out Teaching Channel yet, you need to. It is an amazing resource for seeing classroom practice in action (see more below). This particular link goes to a video created by Sarah Brown Wessling, Teacher Laureate at Teaching Channel, where she provides a teacher's bird's-eye-view of the standards.
Curriculum
(UPDATE 2/14/13)
Progressions - Here is a map of learning progression for each of the domains in math. These documents, completed by the University of Arizona, show how skills and learning should evolve from one grade level to the next. They are divided up into each of the major domains.
Unpacking - Have you looked at any of the standards and said to yourself either, "What does this mean?" or "How can I teach that?" or "Isn't that what we are already doing?" Check out this work done by educators in North Carolina to unpack each of the standards by grade-level!!
Jordan - The teachers of the Jordan School District have been busy. Here is a link to a set of Literacy materials they have put together including curriculum maps and instructional materials/resources.
App - From the iTunes App Store, you can download the CCSS to your iPhone, iPod and iPad. This is an easy to use app that allows you to access full details of the grade-level standards for Math and ELA. I have it on my iPad and iPhone and it works great!
AchievetheCore - A rich resource that provides some detailed descriptions and examples of some of the major shifts in learning required under the CCSS. For example, there is a section on developing "text dependent questions" as required in the ELA standards and a section on defining the Focus areas for each grade level in mathematics. The good information is 3-4 "clicks" into the website, once you filter what you are looking for. Just click the "get started button" to get started.
Materials
K-1 , 2-3 , 4-5 - Each of these links is connected to a set of posters created by the teachers of the Jordan School District in Utah. They are posters that put each of the Mathematical Practice Standards in kid friendly language and visuals.
Khan Academy - A rich resource of instructional videos that can be used to assist whole group instruction as well as individualized instruction/remediation/enrichment.
NC Wiki - Here is a Wiki put together by your colleagues in North Carolina. They have resources including units and instructional materials organized by grade.
Howard County - The Howard County Public School District has put together this rich Wiki with resources for instruction, mapping and assessment in mathematics. The best part is that it is organized by grade level.
Instruction - Whether we are ready to recognize it or not, the new standards require some changes in instructional practice in order to meet the learning demands put forth in the standards. Here are some sites to help explore some best practices.
TeachingChannel - This is a phenomenal resource!! Teachers using strategies with actual students, in their classrooms video taped for you to watch. An unbelievable professional resource that is a MUST SEE!!
Insidemathematics - Here is another collection of videos that is not as comprehensive and is focused on mathematics, but is valuable as well.
YouTube - YouTube is much more than videos of kittens falling in swimming pools. Interesting in a teaching strategy (cooperative learning, Socratic method, think-pair-share, etc.) type it into YouTube's search engine and you are bound to find a collection of videos of teachers doing it. I have used YouTube to learn to use Excel, change the brakes on my car, un-seize a lawnmower, fix my computer, fix my phone, research teaching methods, improve lesson plans and much more. If you have not ventured into the world of YouTube, you do not know what you are missing.
School Improvement Blog - Here is a blog by the School Improvement Network that provides a lot of resources for teachers. There is a list of topics on the left hand side.
I will update this periodically as I come across new and valuable resources. I hope you find this post useful.
