Common Core video series

This is a 15 minute video in which David Coleman, a contributing author to the Common Core State Standards, models a close reading of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” After reading the letter and watching the video, educators might ask themselves: Which of the Shifts is modeled in this video? What would it take to be able to conduct a conversation such as this with students?

This is a 32-minute video which features a discussion between NYS Commissioner of Education John B. King Jr., David Coleman (contributing author to the Common Core) and Kate Gerson (a Sr. Fellow with the Regents Research Fund) addressing Math Shifts 2-6. By unpacking these shifts, the discussion addresses ways in which teacher and student skill can develop into deep understanding and facility through an increased attention to coherence across grades, fluency in basic functions, and real world application.

This is a 15-minute video which features a discussion between NYS Commissioner of Education John B. King Jr., David Coleman (contributing author to the Common Core) and Kate Gerson (a Sr. Fellow with the Regents Research Fund) addressing Shift 1 –Focus. By unpacking Shift 1, the discussion addresses the benefits of giving the areas of focus articulated in the Common Core the time it deserves in the elementary classroom.

This is a four minute video in which David Coleman, a contributing author to the Common Core State Standards, describes an exemplary module that he and his fellow authors have designed.  After watching this video and reading the Publishers’ Criteria and accompanying rubric, educators might select curricular material and assess it using the expectations articulated in the Publishers’ Criteria and measured through the rubrics.  In what ways do these curricular materials meet this high bar for Common Core alignment?  In what ways can their alignment be improved?  Participants may even want to

This video describes specific strategies and resources that educators can begin using immediately to help facilitate and expedite implementation of the Common Core.

This is a 30 minute video which features a discussion between NYS Commissioner of Education John B. King Jr., David Coleman (contributing author to the Common Core) and Kate Gerson (a Sr. Fellow with the Regents Research Fund) on the first 20 paragraphs of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This conversation represents one of the ways a group of educators might prepare for close reading of text with students.

This is an eight minute video in which David Coleman, a contributing author to the Common Core State Standards, describes an exemplary module that he and his fellow authors have designed. After watching this video and reading the Exemplar, educators might ask themselves: In what ways does this exemplar model the 6 shifts required for implementation of the Common Core?

This is a 6 minute video which features a discussion between NYS Commissioner of Education John B. King Jr., David Coleman (contributing author to the Common Core) and Kate Gerson (a Sr. Fellow with the Regents Research Fund) addressing Shift 6 –Academic Vocabulary. By unpacking Shift 6, the discussion addresses the “tiers” of vocabulary (see Isabel Beck’s work, for example) and the choices teachers need to make regarding the explicit teaching of “academic” vocabulary.

This is a 12 minute video which features a discussion between NYS Commissioner of Education John B. King Jr., David Coleman (contributing author to the Common Core) and Kate Gerson (a Sr. Fellow with the Regents Research Fund) addressing Shift 5 –Writing from Sources. By unpacking Shift 5, the discussion addresses the challenges and benefits of putting a renewed emphasis on writing from sources rather than keeping the current focus on personal narrative. After watching this video, educators might ask themselves: What is shift 5? What will this mean we have to change about our practice?