Common Core Learning Standards for ELA - Exemplars, mini-lessons and more
Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” Second Inaugural Address, and Letter to Albert G. Hodges
Because Common Core promotes the importance of all students studying the arts, we have highlighted places where ELA instruction could be enhanced by connecting a genre or particular text, or a theme of a unit, to works of art, music, or film. We suggest, for example, that students study self-portraiture when they are encountering memoirs. Students might compare a novel, story, or play to its film or musical rendition. Where a particular period of literature or the literature of a particular region or country is addressed, works of art from that period or country may also be examined. In each case, connections are made to the standards in the CCSS themselves.
A substantial body of research clearly indicates that utilizing specific instructional modifications as well as targeted pedagogical strategies can accelerate ELLs’ academic achievement and English language acquisition. As a result, ELLs’ academic performance can be comparable to their English proficient (EP) counterparts.
This document is intended to inform educators on insights and practical suggestions for accelerating the academic achievement of ELLs in literacy classrooms, specifically in the following areas:
I. Vocabulary
II. Scaffolding
III. Native Language
IV. Writing
Success with the Common Core Learning Standards for students with disabilities.
This exemplar has been developed to guide high school students and instructors in a close reading of Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.” The activities and actions described below follow a carefully developed set of steps that assist students in increasing their familiarity and understanding of Lincoln’s speech through a series of text dependent tasks and questions that ultimately develop college and career ready skills identified in the Common Core State Standards.
This unit can be broken down into three sections of instruction and reflection on the part of students and their teachers, which is followed by additional activities, some designed for history/social studies and some for ELA classrooms.