Overview of California’s Common Core
Content Standards for English Language
Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies,
Science, and Technical Subjects
April 2012
Today’s Presenter
Marsha Tokuyoshi
ELA/Common Core Standards Coordinator
Contra Costa County Office of Education
English Language Arts
and Literacy Standards

Build toward student preparation for
college and career readiness in literacy by
the end of high school

Provide a vision of what it means to be
literate in the 21st Century

Develop the foundational skills in reading,
writing, speaking, and listening
Common Core State Standards Documents
College and Career Readiness Standards
Appendix A: Research Supporting Key Elements
Appendix B: Text Exemplars and Sample
Performance Tasks
Appendix C: Samples of Student Writing
Common Core State Standards Documents
Includes California’s additional 15%
5
Organization of the Standards
Three main sections



A comprehensive K-5 section
English Language Arts specific sections for grades 6-12
History/Social Studies & Science and Technical Subjects for
grades 6-12
Four strands within the main sections




Reading
Writing
Speaking and Listening (K-12 ELA only)
Language (K-12 ELA only)
Reading Strand
Reading
Literature & Informational
Text
1. Key Ideas and Details
2. Craft and Structure
3. Integration of
Knowledge
and Ideas
4. Range of reading and
level of text
complexity
Foundational Skills (K-5)
1. Print Concepts
2. Phonological Awareness
3. Phonics and Word
Recognition
4. Fluency
Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science,
and Technical Subjects (Grades 6-12)
Writing Strand
Writing
Arguments,
Informative/Explanatory,
Narrative
1. Text Types and
Purposes
2. Production and
Distribution of Writing
3. Research to Build and
Present Knowledge
4. Range of Writing
Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science,
and Technical Subjects (Grades 6-12)
Listening and Speaking Strand
Speaking
Listening
Listening & Speaking
Text
1. Comprehension and
Collaboration
2. Presentation of
Knowledge and Ideas
Language Strand
Language
Language
1. Conventions of
Standard English
2. Knowledge of
Language
3. Vocabulary
Acquisition
and Use
Organization

Subject Area

Grade Level

Strand
 Subheading
 Standard
Sample Page from CCCS - ELA
Strand
Subheading
Standard
14
Major Shifts—The Big 6






Literacy Standards for Content Areas
Increased Emphasis on Informational Text
Text Complexity
Writing Arguments
Focus on Collaborative Conversations
Integration of Media Sources
1. Literacy Standards for Content Areas
A single K-5 set of grade-specific standards


Most or all of the instruction students receive comes
from one teacher
Two content-area specific sections for grades
6-12



One set of standards for ELA teachers
One set of standards for History/Social Studies,
Science, and Technical Subject teachers
The literacy standards in History/Social Studies, Science, and
Technical Subjects are meant to compliment the existing content
standards in those disciplines.
2. Informational Text
CCSS-ELA Target for
Alignment
Grade
Literary
Informational
4th
50%
50%
8th
12th
45%
30%
55%
70%
This does not mean that 70% of 12th
grade ELA is informational, but that
across all subject areas the ratio is
70%.
3. Text Complexity

Reading standards place equal emphasis
on the sophistication of what students
read and the skill with which they read.

3 Dimensions
Text Complexity
Qualitative evaluation of the text
• Levels of meaning, structure,
language conventionality & clarity
knowledge demands
Quantitative evaluation of the text
• Readability measures and other
scores of text complexity
Matching reader to text and
task
• Reader variables (such as
motivation, knowledge,
and experiences)
• task variables (such as
purpose and the
complexity generated by
the task assigned and the
questions posed
4. Writing Arguments
Distribution of Communicative Purposes by Grade
in the 2011 NAEP Writing Framework
Grade
To
Persuade
To Explain
To Convey
Experience
4
8
12
30%
35%
40%
35%
35%
40%
35%
30%
20%
The Standards cultivate three
mutually reinforcing writing
capacities:
-to persuade
-to explain
-to convey real
or imagined experience
5. Focus on Collaborative Conversations
Speaking and Listening: Participation in Collaborative
Conversations
Grade 5 Example
1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led
with diverse partners
1. Come to discussions prepared, having read
or studied required material; explicitly draw
on that preparation and other information
known about the topic to explore ideas
under discussion.
6. Integration of Media Sources
Research and media skills are blended into the standards as a whole.
Reading Standards
for Informational
Text
Integrate information
presented in different
media formats
(visually,
quantitatively) as well
as words to develop a
coherent
understanding of a
topic or issue.
Speaking and
Listening Standards
Writing Standards
Use technology to
produce and publish
writing as well as to
interact and collaborate
with others;
demonstrate sufficient
command of
keyboarding skills to
type a minimum of
three pages in a single
sitting.
Include multimedia
components (graphics,
images, music, sound)
and visual displays in
presentations to clarify
information.
Major Shifts—The Big 6






Literacy Standards for Content Areas
Increased Emphasis on Informational Text
Text Complexity
Writing Arguments
Focus on Collaborative Conversations
Integration of Media Sources
California Additions

Analysis of text features in informational text
(grades 6-12)

Career documents included in writing (grade 8)

Penmanship (grades 2-4)

Formal presentations (grades 1-12)
Not included in the CCCS Document
Introduction
College and Career Readiness Standards
ELA Appendices
Appendix A: Research Supporting
Key Elements of the Standards
Appendix B: Illustrative Text
Appendix C: Samples of Student
Writing
Documents available at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cc/
Resources
Implementation Plan
For California
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cc/docu
ments/ccssimpsysplanforca.doc
A Look At KindergartenGrade 6: Transitioning
to the Common Core
Standards
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cc/document
s/ccssimpsysplanforca.doc
Conclusion of the ELA Overview
of the Common Core State Standards
“Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity.”
-Henry Hartman
Please join us for our upcoming webinar featuring
Math Overview of the Common Core State
Standards
View our archived webinar
Introduction to the Common Core State
Standards
http://cocoschools.org/edsvcs/commoncore.html
27
Conclusion of the ELA Common Core
State Standards Overview
For questions or more information, please
contact Marsha Tokuyoshi, ELA/Common Core
Standards Coordinator, Contra Costa County
Office of Education
mtokuyoshi@cccoe.k12.ca.us
(925) 942-3385
http://cocoschools.org/edsvcs/commoncore.html
28