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Uncommon Core: Where the Authors of the Standards Go Wrong About Instruction-and How You Can Get It Right
Leave instruction to the experts!
Uncommon Core puts us on high-alert about some outright dangerous misunderstandings looming around so-called “standards-aligned” instruction, then shows us how to steer past them—all in service of meeting the real intent of the Common Core. It counters with teaching suggestions that are true to the research and true to our students, including how:
Reader-based approaches can complement text-based ones
Prereading activities can help students meet the strategic and conceptual demands of texts
Strategy instruction can result in a careful and critical analysis of text while providing transferable understandings
Inquiry units around essential questions can generate meaningful conversation and higher-order thinking
Uncommon Core puts us on high-alert about some outright dangerous misunderstandings looming around so-called “standards-aligned” instruction, then shows us how to steer past them—all in service of meeting the real intent of the Common Core. It counters with teaching suggestions that are true to the research and true to our students, including how:
Reader-based approaches can complement text-based ones
Prereading activities can help students meet the strategic and conceptual demands of texts
Strategy instruction can result in a careful and critical analysis of text while providing transferable understandings
Inquiry units around essential questions can generate meaningful conversation and higher-order thinking
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 15, 2014
1 person is currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Michael W. Smith
31 books3 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Michael W. Smith is Professor of Literacy Education, College of Education, Temple University.
- Ph.D. University of Chicago. Special Field: Curriculum and Instruction.
- M.A.T. University of Chicago. Major Emphases: English and Education
- B.A. University of Chicago. Major: English
Michael W. Smith is Professor of Literacy Education, College of Education, Temple University.
- Ph.D. University of Chicago. Special Field: Curriculum and Instruction.
- M.A.T. University of Chicago. Major Emphases: English and Education
- B.A. University of Chicago. Major: English
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 9, 2021
Full of great ideas and examples!
July 5, 2014
Review of Uncommon Core:
If I needed an argumentative mentor text for adults- this would be it. The authors are very clear about their position regarding the standards and the authors of the standards- specifically David Coleman- and the perceived damage his interpretation of the standards are having (or could have) on instruction.
Basically, they target areas where they delineate what Coleman and Pimintell and Achieve have taken instructional recommendations too far afield of best practice. The areas they highlight are written about extensively in different chapters and basically include the following hot topics-
1. Close reading and connecting text to self
2. Background knowledge and pre reading instruction
3. Text-based questions and how we need more than this to result in strategic readers who can transfer skills and concepts across reading contexts
4. The importance of text-to-text connections and how we should sequence texts to facilitate skill and concept development.
5. How to choose books appropriately and NOT use the text exemplar list as an exhaustive, required reading list.
They offer alternative lessons and strategies that reflect best practice teaching where those of Coleman et .al., fall short. At the end they have a whole inquiry unit complete with essential questions and sequenced texts and lessons to help students get much more from Coleman's demo lesson on 'Letter from Birmingham Jail'. I liked these ideas and the exemplar of an integrated social studies ELA unit. It might be good to try with middle schoolers. The book seems to primarily target students in 6-12, though some elementary examples for strategy/best practice instruction are present in different parts of the argument when they present alternatives to Coleman.
So, basically this is as far 'left' as I have found thus far in my reading. They make themselves very clear about where they stand on all of it. They feel the standards are good, but they fear, as many of us do, the kinds of bad instruction that may be promoted through interpretations by those who do not know best practice instruction.
The book has some good reminders and might be a nice tool to help in our efforts to keep instruction focused on what constitutes effectiveness and what we know works for kids. I agreed with most of what was stated as it seemed to jive with my own philosophy. Some parts of the argument against Coleman I found rather harsh and I was not completely convinced that he intended certain interpretations to the extent that these authors might have wished. I bought the book to read their specific view. It would be very entertaining and informative to read a Coleman response, if there were one!
The last chapter has a summary of the best take aways and they clearly state their intent for this text-
Use this book to ..."speak against any initiatives that de-professionalize teaching and undermine the extent to which the CCSS can be a lever for progressive practice."
Enjoy!
If I needed an argumentative mentor text for adults- this would be it. The authors are very clear about their position regarding the standards and the authors of the standards- specifically David Coleman- and the perceived damage his interpretation of the standards are having (or could have) on instruction.
Basically, they target areas where they delineate what Coleman and Pimintell and Achieve have taken instructional recommendations too far afield of best practice. The areas they highlight are written about extensively in different chapters and basically include the following hot topics-
1. Close reading and connecting text to self
2. Background knowledge and pre reading instruction
3. Text-based questions and how we need more than this to result in strategic readers who can transfer skills and concepts across reading contexts
4. The importance of text-to-text connections and how we should sequence texts to facilitate skill and concept development.
5. How to choose books appropriately and NOT use the text exemplar list as an exhaustive, required reading list.
They offer alternative lessons and strategies that reflect best practice teaching where those of Coleman et .al., fall short. At the end they have a whole inquiry unit complete with essential questions and sequenced texts and lessons to help students get much more from Coleman's demo lesson on 'Letter from Birmingham Jail'. I liked these ideas and the exemplar of an integrated social studies ELA unit. It might be good to try with middle schoolers. The book seems to primarily target students in 6-12, though some elementary examples for strategy/best practice instruction are present in different parts of the argument when they present alternatives to Coleman.
So, basically this is as far 'left' as I have found thus far in my reading. They make themselves very clear about where they stand on all of it. They feel the standards are good, but they fear, as many of us do, the kinds of bad instruction that may be promoted through interpretations by those who do not know best practice instruction.
The book has some good reminders and might be a nice tool to help in our efforts to keep instruction focused on what constitutes effectiveness and what we know works for kids. I agreed with most of what was stated as it seemed to jive with my own philosophy. Some parts of the argument against Coleman I found rather harsh and I was not completely convinced that he intended certain interpretations to the extent that these authors might have wished. I bought the book to read their specific view. It would be very entertaining and informative to read a Coleman response, if there were one!
The last chapter has a summary of the best take aways and they clearly state their intent for this text-
Use this book to ..."speak against any initiatives that de-professionalize teaching and undermine the extent to which the CCSS can be a lever for progressive practice."
Enjoy!
April 10, 2022
Lucid and timely
April 6, 2015
As a new teacher, I think I found this book to be more insightful than some of the veteran teachers in my book study group. While I do feel that there was an unnecessarily heavy focus on David Coleman, this book provided an alternative look at the CCSS and how easy it is to integrate their expectations into what we already know is good teaching. The book spurred a lot of thinking for me personally about how to make my instruction better and how to create units for my students that will be engaging and will help them learn skills that will shape them into critical and conscientious readers.
If nothing else, skim over the bits about David Coleman and focus on the instructional practices that the authors discuss. That's where this book showed its worth for me.
If nothing else, skim over the bits about David Coleman and focus on the instructional practices that the authors discuss. That's where this book showed its worth for me.
October 6, 2016
This review is not for the content of the book, per se, because I don't read books and rate them on goodreads for how informative they are to my profession: I read and rate them for their aesthetic experience and their personal connection and their import and relevance.
So 5 stars for the most blunt academic shit flinging I've had the pleasure of reading: they destroy Coleman! That man had a family! As a literary text, it's gripping and heart breaking and brutal to watch them dismantle this man. My margins are 80% "note: see rosenblatt p. 56-58 re transactional reading" and 20% "OH FUCK SHOTS FIRED RIP COLEMAN"
So 5 stars for the most blunt academic shit flinging I've had the pleasure of reading: they destroy Coleman! That man had a family! As a literary text, it's gripping and heart breaking and brutal to watch them dismantle this man. My margins are 80% "note: see rosenblatt p. 56-58 re transactional reading" and 20% "OH FUCK SHOTS FIRED RIP COLEMAN"
stopped-in-the-middle
July 29, 2014If you are committed to the CCSS but you'd like to implement based on research instead of despite it, this is the book for you.
Plus, I'm referenced! Just two paragraphs and a table, but I made the index and the works sited. Woohoo!
Plus, I'm referenced! Just two paragraphs and a table, but I made the index and the works sited. Woohoo!
February 2, 2015
This book put words to all my feelings about the common core. I don't hate them, but it's missing some important aspects of reading and writing. Plus, the implementation of the core is scary. I loved how the book was easy to read and had practical strategies you could use in your classroom.
February 4, 2015
I love the emphasis on sequences of texts and the practical ideas I can use in my classroom immediately. Also, the reminder that context is so important to our work is refreshing.
June 13, 2014
It was OK--I didn't feel like I had any new information. Probably 2 1/2 stars.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews