Appendix on Implementing District Standards
The State of Delaware along with 40 other states has adopted the Common Core State Standards.39 Because this unit is intended to be utilized across grade levels, the standards listed are anchor standards rather than grade-level specific. While the standards below are focused on English/Language Arts, selecting mentor texts that focus on other content areas would allow those standards to be addressed, too. The following are the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards as they apply to the different facets of the unit.
Reading - Mentor Texts
When it comes to utilizing mentor texts, these are the skills and concepts teachers need to first model for students, then scaffold student and text interactions working towards students’ independent abilities. Use a variety of mentor texts, forms and genres to give students deeper understanding. These standards are the tools we use to dig into writers’ practices and choices.
Craft and Structure:
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text
Writing – Essays and other writing practice
Students will be utilizing the techniques learned from mentor texts to guide their own writing experiences. Students will focus on nonfiction writing as communication, a means to express their ideas on a variety of topics and experiences. There is opportunity for research in any nonfiction writing so the knowledge standards for research do not only apply to report writing.
Text Types and Purposes
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
Range of Writing:
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Speaking and Listening - Writers’ Workshop
The use of a workshop approach builds life-long communication skills. It is the focus on writing as an ongoing process rather than a string of independent assignments. These standards highlight the importance of author and audience interactions.
Comprehension and Collaboration:
Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
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