English Language Arts Common Core State Standards

               I like how students are required “to read stories and literature, as well as more complex texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social studies” (Common Core State Standards Initiative). I feel this is important not only for students, but for teachers as well. Teachers from the English department can correlate with teachers from other departments. This team work between teachers can create positive relationships, and the lessons can be linked together in some way. It is stressful that the main reason for these common core standards are to prepare students for college. That puts an abundant amount of pressure on me as a teacher and on the students. What if my students do not pass the test? What if they do not get anything that I teach? Going exactly by the book will be difficult for me, but I feel it is vital to make these lessons as fun as possible for the students. In my composition class, I read in my textbook that the author lets her students pick what they want to write about in the beginning. Why does she do this? Because she wants her students to engage in writing, but at their own pace and their own time before they dive into the deeper material that is required by the state. If you throw a student right into an essay about the use of symbolism in Lord of the Flies, they won’t have any interest in the essay. Instead warm their writing up with interesting prompts. For example, have them write five truths and one lie on a piece of paper, share it with their classmates/group, and then write about one of their truths in a personal narrative essay. Warming my class up to the idea of writing will benefit in the long run because when it comes time to write about the use of symbolism in Lord of the Flies, they won’t feel so unprepared and lost.