Common Core Standards

The main focus on the Common Core state standards (CCSS) is that thesenewstandards
provideawayforteacherstomeasurestudentprogressthroughouttheschoolyearandensure
thatstudentsareonthepathwaytosuccessintheiracademiccareers.Thesegradingstandards
areheretohelpthestudentsimproveontheirwritingskills,nothurtthem.Thereisalsoa
gradingrubriccalledtheGrade35:Generic4PointOpinionWritingRubric.Thisgrading
rubricisusedtoinformstudentsonwheretheystandwiththeirqualityofwritingsothatthey
canimprovetheirabilitytowrite.ThethreesectionsofgradingthatwereusedtoscoreJohnand
MariasessayswereConventions,Organization,andStatementofPurposeandFocus.

ThefirstsectionofgradingweuseinConventions.IntheessaywrittenbyJohnBlackhe

willreceivea2.9intheConventionscategory.Hisessayexpressedverysimplelanguageanddid
notchallengehimself.MariaMendozasessayontheotherhandwillreceivea1.7inthe
Conventionscategory.Althoughherexpressionsofideasseemclear,hervocabularyattimesis
inappropriatefortheaudience.Therearealsomanymistakeswhenitcomestoheruseof
punctuationandspelling.Forexample,inthethirdparagraphMendozawrites,Thisshowsthat
weremostlytreatedlikeanimalsveryhopelessandmisrebleandwereshackledandwhipedvery
badly.Inconclusion,asateachertryingtohelpmystudentsimproveandbeuptoparwiththe
CommonCoreStandards,thefirstmethodIwoulduseistoplanalotofinclassessaystohelp
thestudentsgetalotofpracticewithmasteringtheirpunctuation,capitalization,andspelling.
Themorepracticethestudentsgettheeasieritwillbeforthemtocatchtheirmistakes.
Movingontoorganization,Johnsorganizationisatlevel2.9.Johnreceivedthisgrade
becauseeventhoughhisessaydoesshowanorganizationalstructure,therearenumerousflaws

whenitcomestotransitionalstrategies.YoucantellthatJohnreallydidorganizehisessaybut
themainproblemisthatitishardtoread.Theorderoftheessayiscorrectitisjusthowhedid
nottieeverythingtogether.Ontheotherhand,Mariasorganizationlevelisat3.0.Maria
receivedthisgradebecausethereisanadequateintroductionandconclusion.Sheusesgreat
transitionaltiesandstatesinthebeginningoftheparagraphwhatthewholeparagraphwillbe
about.Inconclusion,asateachertryingtohelpmystudentsimprovewiththeirwritingqualityin
regardstoorganization,mysecondmethodwouldbetoteachthestudentsdifferenttransitional
strategies.Iwouldalsoteachbystudentshowtodeliveraneffectiveintroductionandconclusion.
Thesearethemostimportantaspectsinaessaytoshowtrueorganization.
Lastly,wemoveontostatementofpurposeandfocus.Johnsstatementofpurposeand
focuslevelisat3.5becausehisresponseisfocusedandhisopinionsarestatedclearlyforthe
mostpart.Johnsessayreceivedsuchahighgradebecausehehadaverystrongthesis.Onthe
contrary,Mariasstatementofpurposeandfocuslevelisata2.8,especiallywithregardstoa
minordriftinfocus.Mariasopinionisstatedbutitisunfortunatelyinsufficientlysustained.
Mariasthesisisnotpresentwhichiswhyshedidnotreceivea3.Inconclusion,asateacher
tryingtohelpmystudentsbecomeuptoparwiththeCommonCore,thefinalmethodof
teachingIwoulduseistoteachmystudentshowtomakeadetailedoutlinebeforeactually
writingtheessayout.MakinganoutlinefirstisverybeneficialandIwillmakethiscleartomy
studentsandteachthemhowtomakeaproperonetoimprovetheirwriting.
Inmyopinion,IthinkthatusingtheCommonCoreStandardsisfartoodifficulttoteach
andevaluatestudents.Itissettingsuchahighbarforstudentstoreachthatitsometimesseems
impossible.Noteverybodywritesthesame,andIdonotthinkitisfairthateverybodyisheldto

thesamestandards.Achildcanreceivesuchahorriblegradejustforwritinginacompletely
differentway.IhopethatsomewherealongthelinethattheCommonCoreStandardswill
change,IjusthopeitchangesbeforeIstartteachingmyownstudents.