When it comes to the CCSS, I am
quite surprised that there are only a few specific texts that are required or
recommended to teach. Nothing dictates that ninth graders must read Romeo and
Juliet. There is no requirement to teach Shakespeare in general. The literature
itself serves as a medium to teach analysis, critical thinking, and organizing thoughts
into a logical order. Informational texts create a more specific goal as students
need to be able to evaluate claims and arguments of texts while certain informational
texts are highlighted: the American Constitution, the Declaration of
Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and more. There is an emphasis on the
ability to recognize the importance of historical texts that created/formed the
USA.
The standards across all grades are
relatively similar. The type of analysis, critical thinking, and organization
becomes more complex as students proceed through secondary, but students are
only building on knowledge they have gathered from previous school years. Only
a few points have dramatic change while still keeping a general theme for the type
of analysis and goals for the students.
The NES emphasizes studying these
ideas and knowing how to make sense of pieces of text but there is a deficient perspective
of analyzing pieces for themes and arguments. Teachers are trained to recognize
meaning for pieces but are rarely taught historical texts that are required
according to the CCSS. Teachers are taught literature from a wider variety of
time periods, genres, and localities.
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