At the Core

At last year's FOCUS and this week's OLA Conference many of us had the opportunity to learn more about the Common Core from Kathryn Roots Lewis, Director of Media Services and Instructional Technologies for Norman Public Schools and Ellen Duecker, Director of Libraries for Tulsa Public Schools. We learned that in a nutshell, the Common Core State Standards are new benchmarks for English language arts and math in grades K-12 that focus on developing critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills. The Oklahoma State Department of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards in June of 2010 and as of now, plans to fully implement the standards in the 2014-2015 school year.

Although divisive and hotly debated, the Common Core State Standards are currently guiding the school curriculum being taught in our Oklahoma classrooms. If you haven’t already, now is the time to start thinking about how you can best assist local educators and families as they navigate these new standards in the classroom and at home. After all, it’s what we do best—we meet the unique informational needs of our local community.  

What’s great is that we are already supporting the Common Core at our libraries. Early childhood programs, like 1-2-3 Play With Me and Mother Goose on the Loose, stimulate the learning process and promote early literacy and school readiness. Our 2014 summer reading programs Fizz Boom Read for children and Spark a Reaction for teens, along with other STEAM based programs, like LEGO Club, all support Common Core learning. We do some pretty fantastic stuff around here. Make sure to promote our current services, market their educational value, and continue to encourage a love of reading.

With a great foundation in place, it’s time to build. Reach out to the schools in your service area if you haven’t already. Talk to local teachers, parents, and your young customers to best understand how we can showcase our collections, programs, and reference services. The Common Core places a strong emphasis on incorporating more informational text, especially narrative non-fiction, across all subject areas. This is our chance to build book bundles, book talks, and mixed media displays that feature all of the wonderful informational materials that have been selected for our collections. Consider adding a non-fiction book to your next storytime or offering to start a new non-fiction book club in coordination with a local school. The possibilities are endless.

Chime in! Please feel free to share what are you doing (or what you would like to do in the future) at your branch to assist your neighborhood schools and local families when it comes to the Common Core.   

For more information about the Common Core check out this sampling of helpful resources:

http://www.corestandards.org/

http://ok.gov/sde/oklahoma-academic-standards

http://www.ala.org/alsc/ccss-resources

http://www.slj.com/category/standards/common-core/#_

http://commoncore.scholastic.com/home