ELA Frameworks K-8

It has been crazy lately trying to get everything done.  I'm sure you feel the same way.  I was busy preparing materials to facilitate a day long institute day on the CCSS and the implementation of the Understanding by Design process and my hard drive crashed for the second time since July.  I love Dell laptops but their service stinks.  I lost all of the English Language Arts templates that I typed up in January.

I originally saw the attached English Language Arts Frameworks from the Georgia Department of Education.  I used their format to design a template for the district where I work.  Imagine how thrilled I was when I realized that these templates were actually based on the PARCC (Partnership for Achieving Readiness for College and Career) Model Content Frameworks!  At this time, the PARCC Frameworks are available on their website for grades 3-12.  Based on the PARCC Frameworks, I have re-typed the ELA templates for grades K-8.  You can download them here. Below is a photo of the grade 4 template for ELA.

The PARCC Frameworks are oriented horizontally on the page but I prefer the vertical orientation which also mimics the orientation of the Common Core Standards as you look vertically down the column for your grade level.  I also like these documents because it clearly depicts the requirements for each module or nine week period during the school year.  These documents also demonstrate how the six shifts for ELA instruction are threaded throughout each nine week period.  Thankfully, no one should be stopping instruction to prepare for THE TEST.  Instead, everyone just needs to do their best teaching everyday and keep the six shifts for ELA in mind every week as you write your lesson plans or as you work on curriculum committees to prepare units of instruction. 

I am schedule to present at the Superintendent's Conference in Tinley Park, IL on March 21-22, 2013.  My presentation is based on a bulletin board that I created titled, Daily Dose of CCSS, which focuses on the six shifts in instruction for ELA.  On page 7 in the introduction to the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, there is a description of a literate individual. So I decided to create a diploma depicting a literate individual to hand out at the end of my presentation with all of the links that are included in my presentation.    I'm going to roll up the diploma and tie it with red ribbon.  See the picture above and click on the bold print ELA for a hyperlinked copy.  

I'd love to hear your comments.