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Courses

Getting to the Core

This course explores the Common Core State Standards. It will provide teachers with an understanding of the CCSS and offer the necessary strategies and tools to create an educational framework to meet the needs of students, to help them achieve success, and be fully prepared for college and the workforce. The CCSS were designed to prepare students for college and career readiness.

Although this course refers to the Common Core, the strategies, words, and activities still apply to standards newly adopted by states that have repealed the CCSS. This course unpacks critically important strategies and tools to create an educational framework that will meet the needs of students.

 

Carlow University ED 610 • Madonna University EDU 5830.47 • The College of Saint Rose EDT 683

The required text for this course is Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement by Lucy Calkins. 978-0-325-04355-5

 


Graduate participants earn 3 semester hours of graduate credit and will receive a transcript from one of our partner institutions below. Professional development participants receive a certificate of completion for 45 hours of professional developments credit for face-to-face classes and 60 hours of professional development credit for online classes.

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Course Schedule

  • 1/9/24 - 4/9/24
  • 3/12/24 -6/11/24
  • 5/14/24 - 8/13/24
  • 7/9/24 - 10/8/24
  • 9/10/24 - 12/10/24
  • 11/12/24 - 2/11/25
Outline

Introduction

Content:

  1. Introduction emails

Module 1: Introduction to the Common Core State Standards

Content:

  • List commonly heard negative ways of thinking about the CCSS
  • List valuable ways of thinking about the CCSS
  • Reflect upon what you are already doing in your classroom, and what the Common Core requires 
  • Reflect upon ways you can begin to bridge the gap

Module 2: The Reading Standards

Content:

  • Analyze the Reading Standards
  • Examine what the standards find significant in reading comprehension
  • Examine how the same skills are applied to reading literature and informational texts

Module 3: Literal Understanding and Text Complexity

Content:

  • Analyze how the CCSS recommends finding a text's level of complexity
  • Examine how to get students reading increasing complex text
  • Explore how to support students who are reading below grade level

Module 4: Reading Literature - Standards 2-9

Content:

  • Analyze a literature text, between the reading standards
  • Explore implementing the literature standards in your classroom

Module 5: Reading Informational Text - Standards 2-9

Content:

  • Analyze a informational text, between the reading standards
  • Explore implementing the informational standards in your classroom

Module 6: The Writing Standards

Content:

  • Analyze the Writing Standards
  • Examine the types of text the standards call for, (narrative, argument, information)
  • Examine the quality of writing expected
  • Examine the writing process and writing across the disciplines

Module 7: Gaining a Greater Understanding of the Writing Standards

Content:

  • Reflect upon the methods your school currently uses to teach writing 
  • Evaluate how these methods align or conflict with the CCSS
  • Explore how you can bridge the gap, to support students' growth

Module 8: The Speaking and Listening Standards

Content:

  • Analyze the Speaking and Listening Standards
  • Explore the use of technology in the classroom
  • Examine how students should learn to use grammar and conventions
  • Examine different strategies for vocabulary development

Module 9: Assessments and Reform

Content:

  • Evaluate your thoughts from this course
  • Examine your "best practices" in your classroom
  • Explore how you can strengthen those practices, to align to the CCSS
  • Explore how you, and your colleagues, can continue to implement the CCSS

Module 10: Tying it All Together

Content:

  • Complete Lesson Plan Project
  • Complete Personal Position Paper
  • Complete Student Survey
Objectives
  • Develop working definitions for the Common Core State Standards
  • Analyze the Reading Standards
  • Examine Literal Understandings and Text Complexity
  • Explore various ways to implement the CCSS for reading literature
  • Explore various ways to implement the CCSS for reading informational texts
  • Analyze the Writing Standards
  • Examine the quality of writing expected
  • Examine the writing process
  • Examine writing across the disciplines
  • Evaluate and create a plan to implement the CCSS
  • Create a lesson plan that incorporates the CCSS
  • Research current educational policies and research-based educational programs that puts into practice the CCSS
  • Analyze how data can drive meaningful instruction
  • Investigate the Speaking and Listening Standards
  • Explore and evaluate improvement possibilities for teacher professional development and community building
Partner Universities

Our Partners are well-established regionally and nationally accredited colleges and universities, recognized for academic excellence and their commitment to teachers.

Important Information

Online 3-graduate credit courses are 13 weeks in length.

On-site weekend courses are held Friday evening from 6:00pm-9:00pm and Saturday/Sunday, 8:30am-5:30pm.

Weekday courses are Monday-Friday from 8:00am- 6:00pm.

It is the responsibility of the student to check with their state, county, district, or school to ensure that all requirements are being met by the course you're taking.  

Check the Partner Universities page for specific university information as well as course numbers which are specific to the university partner. 

Students are required to purchase their own textbook, the information for which can be found here. If no book is required it will be specified on the list. We have copies of many of the textbooks should you wish to purchase directly from TEI. 

Professional development (PD) participants receive a certificate of completion from TEI for 45 hours of PD credit for face to face classes and 60 hours of PD credit for online classes. These certificates are mailed within one week of the end of the class and reflect the course title, dates of attendance, and credit hour information. 

Student Academic Integrity
Participants guarantee that all academic class work is original. Any academic dishonesty or plagiarism (to take ideas, writings, etc. from another and offer them as one's own), is a violation of student academic behavior standards as outlined by our partnering colleges and universities and is subject to academic disciplinary action.