Literacy In America P1

What evidence addresses the main problem in the article ?

• Some of the disappointments we have seen with the common core is really attributed to implementation more than it is to the quality of the standards themselves.

• The Pew Research Center reported last year that 23% of Americans surveyed said they hadn’t read a single book in 2013.

• Common Core’s emphasis on moving toward 70% nonfiction informational texts by senior year of high school has been met with mixed responses, strategies and interpretations.

• A new survey points to an increase in readiness gaps from high school graduates at the college and career level. Significantly, the study also shows that there are general discrepancies between state academic standards and the types of qualities and skills colleges and employers say they seek.

What are the causes of the main problem in the article?

• There is a cultural shift moving away from the importance of literature and moving towards using school as an instrument to ready students for careers.

• Less people are reading books

• Implementation of the reading standards has been met with mixed responses, strategies and interpretations.

• A new survey points to an increase in readiness gaps from high school graduates at the college and career level. Significantly, the study also shows that there are general discrepancies between state academic standards and the types of qualities and skills colleges and employers say they seek.

• Students are too distracted by electronics to stay focused in school

What can you determine from the data?

"The Pew Research Center reported last year that 23% of Americans surveyed said they hadn’t read a single book in 2013. In 2006, that statistic was 16%. The decline in overall reading coincides with statistics from last year’s National Association of Educational Progress report, which found that just 37% of high school seniors were at a proficient or higher level of reading."

• The data shows that 16% of people surveyed has increased to 23% showing more people are reading but the majority of people do not.

• The data shows that 23% of people surveyed has decreased to 16% showing that less and less people are reading.

• The data shows that 16% of people surveyed has increased to 23% showing less people are reading.

• The data shows that 23% of people surveyed has decreased to 16% showing that more people are reading.

Why does the author believe the standards that were implemented are not working or the data found is incorrect?

• Common Core’s emphasis on informational texts

• The interpretation and implementation of "informational texts" varies widely among teachers and schools.

• Common Core tries to reduce the use of nonfiction informational texts by 70%

• The interpretation and implementation of informational texts was not received well by students causing them to loose interest in school

• Common core is relatively new and has not been implemented long enough to show positive results

According to the text, What would be an appropriate definition for informational text?

• A text that informs and explores the modern and historical world we live in through real world events that document the multicultural struggles and triumphs of the people that live there.

• A text that tells a story about life, a novel.

• Anything that can be researched online that has to do with real world events that inform us about the real world. Informational texts come in many forms, Op-eds, blog posts, essays, memoirs, and even autobiographies of people from the past.

• Newspaper articles and Encyclopedia articles are the best choices for information texts you can find online. These sources are reliable and can cover a wide range of topics.

Daniel Hernandez is a student in Mr. Troha's class. Dan is doing a research project and he needs an informational text to support his claim. Select all of the sources in Dan's bibliography that would be considered appropriate informational texts. Which sources align with the article's definition of rigor and complexity.

• Rappers and Rap Music: A Blog by Biggie Z Dee-Munny

• God's Plan: An Autobiography of Aubrey Drake Graham

• Why Rap Is Music: A Philosophical Essay by Andre Romelle Young

• Tweets From Jay-Z and Beyonce

• Andre Romelle Young's Wikipedia Page

What evidence from the text shows that students could benefit from classical works of literature in ways that would make them more college and career ready?

• College instructors appear to be most in agreement that students ought to be proficient in generating sound ideas for writing, while high school educators, much like the Common Core standards, tend to emphasize the ability to critically analyze source text.

• College instructors reported that they find their students to be lacking in five essential skills: determining central ideas, identifying important details, drawing conclusions, evaluating evidence, and reasoned judgment.

• Workforce respondents were shown to highly value nonacademic skills, such as acting honestly, sustaining effort, getting along with others, and maintaining composure, skill sets that are related to demeanor, rather than analytical capability.

• When a student reads, they are better able mediate conflict, take risk and resolve risk. Literature can encourage empathy and help the individual ask better questions while fostering a general curiosity.

Which conclusion could you come to after reading the article?

• Common core is the main reason for the decline in Literacy in the United States

• Literary Texts hold just as much value to a students future college and career goals as informational text and both should be incorporated equally in the standardized curriculum.

• Schools are responsible for the startling research statistics that show 23% of Americans surveyed have not read in a book in the last year.

• The only reason for school is there to help students become college and career ready.

Common Core is...

• a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). These learning goals outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade.

• books and writings published on a particular subject.

• a list of the books referred to in a scholarly work, typically printed as an appendix.

• a book that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts.

After reading the text, choose which statement will help you as a student make sure you overcome any academic pitfalls in the education system and be successful in life?

• I can be a voracious reader. I will be an all consuming force of nature reading as much literary and informational texts as possible! I will be the captain of my life. Knowledge will be the blade I use to cut through ignorance and doubt that tries to hold me back. Knowledge will light my way through the darkness. I will be the King or Queen of my destiny. Nothing will stand in my way. If they do, they will bow to my will! I am ferocious. Here me Roar!

• Ima Watch Netflix! Ima Watch Youtube! Ima consume all the mindless social media and become a puppet of the man never learning to think deeply and complexly. I can live my life just fine letting other people tell me what to do, how much money I'm allowed to have and where I get to live. I don't need to think. I got Snapchat and wikipedia. I don't need knowledge. Everyone can be a genius if they got the internet.

• Yo man, I got them cinnamon pop tarts and dorito tacos. I don't need nothin' else. Maybe some mountain dew. Mountain Dew's lit.

• "Renaissance Learning’s 2016 report, “What Kids Are Reading,” shows high school seniors are reading at a 6th grade level, and only 9% of students in high school read texts above a middle school complexity level of 8, leaving students ill-prepared for college level reading at about 13. Both Renaissance Learning and Common Core standards support nonfiction texts in the classroom, because they tend to have a higher reading level of around 9 to 11 — though Renaissance Learning says there shouldn’t be a trade-off with comprehension, even if the complexity is increasing."