The Core Six Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence

The Core Six Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the Common Core Harvey F. Silver *R. Thomas Dewing *Matthew J. Perini A Review

Introducing the Core Six Regular use of the strategies in this book will help students become better at – – – Reading and understanding rigorous texts. Evaluating evidence and using it to support positions. Conducting comparative analyses. Finding important patterns and structures built into content. Mastering academic vocabulary and integrating it into speech and writing. – Understanding and contributing to meaningful discussions about content. – Using writing to advance learning and clarify thinking. – Writing comfortably in the key Common Core text types: arguments, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives (Silver, Dewing, & Perini, 2012, p. 1 -2).

Reading for Meaning • Reading for Meaning helps students develop skills proficient readers use to make sense of complex texts and read critically. • This strategy helps build these Common Core skills: v. Managing text complexity. v. Using and evaluating evidence. v. Developing the core skills of reading such as determining the main idea, making inferences, and analyzing characters.

Compare and Contrast • Compare and contrast teaches students to conduct a detailed comparative analysis. • This strategy helps build these Common Core skills: v. Conducting analyses of academic content. v. Conducting comparative readings of two or more texts. v. Integrating information from multiple sources.

Inductive Learning • Inductive learning helps students find patterns in structures built into content through an inductive process. • Students examine, group and label specific pieces of information to identify patterns. • This strategy helps build these Common Core skill: v. Finding patterns and making logical inferences. v. Supporting thinking with evidence. v. Mastering academic vocabulary.

Circle of Knowledge • Circle of knowledge is a strategic framework for planning and conducting classroom discussion. These discussions engage all students and encourage deeper thinking and thoughtful communication. • This strategy helps build these Common Core skill: v. Speaking, listening, and presenting. v. Integrating and evaluating information. v. Collaboration amongst peers.

Write to Learn • Write to learn helps teachers integrate writing into daily instruction and develops students’ writing skills. • This strategy helps build these Common Core skill: v. Higher-order thinking. v. Writing in the key Common Core text types. v. Writing for a wide range of tasks, audiences, and purposes.

Vocabulary’s Code • Vocabulary’s code is a strategic approach to vocabulary instruction used to improve students’ abilities to retain and use key terms. • This strategy helps build these Common Core skill: v. Mastering academic vocabulary. v. Improving literacy across all strands. v. Building background knowledge as a foundation for school, college, and career.