PreK teachers and the Common Core: Preparing Young Children for Success in Kindergarten and Beyond

1. PreK teachers and the Common Core:Preparing Young Children for Success in Kindergarten and Beyond Dr. Lisa S. Goldstein Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA lsgoldstein@scu.edu

2. Common Core State Standards?

3. Big questions about the CCSS • What are they, actually? • Why do we need them? • How are they different from the HCPSIII? • Are they developmentally appropriate for young learners? • How can we prepare our kids to be successful in CCSS kindergartens?

4. Getting to know the CCSS • Common Core State Standards • English Language Arts(& Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects) • Mathematics • Common Core State Standards • Adopted by 45.5 states • Common Core State Standards • Meant to comprise 85% of the curriculum

5. CCSS Adopters PLUS: District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands, Dept of Defense schools

6. Why did we need the CCSS? • Establish and maintaingreater consistency and continuity across states • Clear goal: all students will graduate from HS college and career ready • Benchmarked against the curricula of countries that have highest rates of literacy and numeracy • Increased rigor

7. How are the CCSS different from the HCPSIII? • Fewer • Higher • Clearer

8. Are the CCSS good for young learners? • Yes! And no… • It depends on • How the CCSS are framed and interpreted in grades K-2 • How K-2 teachers are required to implement the CCSS

9. Good for young learners! • Implementation of the CCSS should not create a rush for “academic shovedown” • No long lists of content and skills to teach • No emphasis on testing testing testing • The CCSS are compatible with DAP • The implementation of the CCSS in K-12 education might protect DAP in preK classrooms

10. No way! Really? • Yes, really! • The CCSS reflect respect for the developmental realities and needs of young learners

11. CCSS-DAP Alignment Areas • Explicit attention to role of development in learning • Holistic perspective • Support children’s language development • Focus on children’s thinking • See children as capable, active learners • Teaching as guidance, not telling • Instructional decisions belong to teachers- use DAP to enhance learning

12. 1. Explicit attention to the role development plays in learning • CCSS- Mathematics • Young kids need more • Repeated exposure to new concepts • Focus on the most powerful knowledge

13. 1. Explicit attention to the role development plays in learning • CCSS-English Language Arts • Certain anchor standards aren’t on the kindergarten list because they’re not age appropriate for kinders

14. 2. Holistic, integrated perspective • Integration across academic disciplines is expected • CCSS- English Language Arts (and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects) • Give children flexibility and choices in showing what they know and can do • Similar habits of mind are presented in the CCSS-ELA and the CCSS- Math • Leads to more coherent learning experiences

15. 3. Emphasis on English language development • Support English language development for all children in all content areas • Expressing ideas and opinions • Presenting evidence to support ideas • Communicating clearly • Using rich and precise language • Developing academic vocabulary • Deliberate English language development is not reserved for ELLs

16. 4. Focus on student thinking and metacognition • Students are guided toward deep understanding of concepts • Not just mastery of procedures or memorization of information • Emphasis on critical thinking • Explicit efforts to develop students’ awareness of themselves as learners, thinkers, and problem solvers

17. 5. See young children as capable, active, sense-making learners • Student-directed investigations and presentation of findings begin in kindergarten • Provide evidence to support statements • Discuss rationale and reasoning • Standards requirehigher order thinking • Students pose questions, solve problems

18. 6. Understanding of teaching • Teaching should involve • More asking, listening, observing, reflecting • Less telling and talking • Giving students opportunities to develop confidence in their own capabilities • Fostering independence, perseverance • Guiding students as needed • Use lots of engaging, age-appropriate strategies to build students’ connections with the content

19. 7. Acknowledge teachers’ specialized expertise • Teachers are the only professionals who have the knowledge and skills to make principled, informed, intentional instructional decisions • CCSS specify what students should learn, but not how it should be taught • CCSS was designed to be 85% of the curriculum in a given grade- room for additions and customization • Teacher discretion is expected

20. An example from the CCSS-ELA • “The use of play with young children is not specified by the standards, but it is welcome as a valuable activity it its own right and as a way to help students meet the expectations in this document.” (p.9)

21. Questions?

22. “Elbow partner” discussion • How much did you know about the CCSS before today? • What did you think about the CCSS before today? • How have your knowledge and/or your feelings changed?

23. Small group discussion debrief • Thoughts? Comments? Questions?

24. How to teach the CCSS content to young learners? • Youdon’t need to teach the CCSS • You need to build a foundation that will prepare young kids for success in kindergarten and beyond • A strong foundation will make it easier for students to be highly successful in grades K-12 • But you do need to know what will be expected of kids who enter kindergarten

25. Best preparation for kindergarten? • Spending every day in a • stable, • developmentally appropriate, • play-based, • language-rich, • interesting, • nurturing learning environment • Resist pressure to turn preK into K

26. PreK and the whole child • Strong social-emotional skills and productive approaches to learning are more important than academic skills for success in kindergarten • This has become even more true as kindergarten has become more academic and structured

27. Protect the PreK learning space • Academic activities become top priority as early as kindergarten • PreK is truly the last child-centered learning environment in the U.S. • Getting ready for K-12 academic success is critically important

28. Preparing kids for kindergarten • Kindergarten CCSS-Math standards • What do five-year-olds need to know and be able to do before they can learn this academic content? • What kinds of educational activities can you do with your kids next week that will prepare them to learn this mathematics successfully when they start kindergarten?

29. Activity #1: CCSS-Math • Develop answers to the two questions on the previous slide • What do kids need to know and be able to do BEFORE they can learn kindergarten math content? • What NEW experiences can you provide next week that will help prepare your kids for successful math learning in kindergarten? • Work in small groups of your choice • We will reconvene and debrief at____.

30. Activity #1 Debrief • What do kids need to know and be able to do BEFORE they can learn kindergarten math content? • What NEW experiences can you provide next week that will help prepare your kids for successful math learning in kindergarten?

31. Activity #2: CCSS-ELA • What do kids need to know and be able to do BEFORE they can learn kinder speaking, listening, & language skills? • What NEW experiences can you provide next week that will help prepare your kids for successful English Language Arts learning in kindergarten? • Work in small groups of your choice • We will reconvene and debrief at____.

32. Activity #2 Debrief • What do kids need to know and be able to do BEFORE they can learn kindergarten listening, speaking, and language skills? • What NEW experiences can you provide next week that will help prepare your kids for successful LA learning in kindergarten?

33. Concluding Q&A Q: Are the Common Core State Standards great? Are they “meh?” Are they awful? A: It doesn’t matter. The CCSS are already here (in 45.5 states).

34. Our most pressing task? • Preparing PreK students for success in CCSS kindergartens by helping them develop strong social-emotional skills and productive approaches to learning in a developmentally appropriate classroom environment.

35. Mahalo! • Contact me at • lsgoldstein@scu.edu