Common Core Decoded

School is in session and Common Core is the classroom buzzword - but what does it mean for you and your child?

The Big Picture

Common Core is short for Common Core State Standards, a series of benchmarks developed to ensure that all students are meeting state standards in English/Language Arts and Mathematics.

English/Language Arts Standards

• Read and comprehend a variety of narrative and informational texts and tools, including indices, appendices, charts, and graphs.
• Write comprehensive fictional (stories) and informational (reports, summaries, syntheses) texts.
• Develop and display a fluent social and academic vocabulary.

Mathematical Standards

• Fluent in basic arithmetic  before advancing to higher level and/or theoretical mathematics.
• Independently apply analytical and logical problem-solving skills.

For standards by grade level (K - 12), take a look at the Parent Roadmaps to Common Core, available in English and Spanish via the Council of Great City Schools.

Or check out the Chicago Public Schools' site Raising the Bar: The Common Core State Standards, opens a new window.

CPL and Common Core

From board books to book clubs, CPL has so many resources to support you, your child and your classroom.

I hope you'll join me as I write future posts on specific resources for PreK through 3rd-graders.

In the meantime, enjoy these booklists, drawn from the Text Exemplars, opens a new window created by the Common Core Standards Initiative:

• Common Core Fiction: Kindergarten - First Grade, opens a new window
• Common Core Nonfiction: Kindergarten - First Grade, opens a new window
• Common Core Fiction: Second - Third Grade, opens a new window
• Common Core Nonfiction: Second - Third Grade, opens a new window
• Common Core Fiction: Fourth - Fifth Grade
• Common Core Nonfiction: Fourth - Fifth Grade
• Common Core Fiction: Sixth - Eighth Grade, opens a new window
• Common Core Nonfiction: Sixth - Eighth Grade, opens a new window
• Common Core Fiction: 9th - 10th Grade, opens a new window
• Common Core Nonfiction: 9th - 10th Grade, opens a new window
• Common Core Fiction: 11th - 12th Grade, opens a new window
• Common Core Nonfiction: 11th - 12th Grade, opens a new window