The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8

What They Say, What They Mean, How to Teach Them
Jim Burke - Burlingame High School, Burlingame, CA
Corwin Literacy
The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8
August 2013 | 280 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781452277554
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ISBN: 9781452276038
Available from January 0001

Description

That version of the standards you wish you had

All over the nation, teachers and administrators are poring over the Common Core State Standards to come up with meaningful plans for raising student achievement.  But as clear as the standards are, they are more of a sundial than a GPS for pinpointing just what to teach and how to teach it.

Enter Jim Burke with The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8. It’s that version of the standards you wish you had: a roadmap of what each standard says, what each standard means, and how precisely to put that standard into day-to-day practice across English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.

Designed to provide schools, districts, and departments with a common language or set of reference points for effective school-wide implementation, The Common Core Companion clearly lays out:

  • Grades 6-8 standards side by side with key distinctions highlighted so teachers know what they must teach from grade to grade
  • All the different content-area versions of each standard arranged on one page to facilitate easy reference and school wide collaboration
  • Explanations of each standard on a corresponding page, written in accessible language, along with prompts and questions to help students learn and apply each standard
  • Essential content to cover and lesson ideas for modeling the literacy skills behind the standards
  • Instructional techniques for each standard based on Jim’s extensive teaching experience and current research on effective instruction
  • Complete glossary for each standard and adaptations for ELL students

Don’t spend another minute poring over the standards. Jim has already done that for you. Focus instead on how to teach them, using The Common Core Companion as your one-stop guide for teaching, planning, assessing, collaborating, and designing powerful reading and writing curricula.

“One cannot benefit from or use a document that demands more time than a teacher or administrator has each day. So I share with you, my fellow educators, the reformatted, parallel version of the standards I created to make the document itself more efficient, more usable, more helpful.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                         -—Jim Burke

Contents

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Getting to the Core of the Curriculum

  • Moving Forward--Together
  • A Brief Orientation to The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8
  • How to Use This Book
  • Accepting the Invitation

Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts

Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts

Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

The Complete Common Core State Standards: Decoded

  • Part 1. Reading
  • Key Ideas and Details
  • Craft and Structure
  • Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
  • Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
  • Part 2. Writing
  • Text Types and Purposes
  • Production and Distribution of Writing
  • Research to Build and Present Knowledge
  • Range of Writing
  • Part 3. Speaking and Listening
  • Comprehension and Collaboration
  • Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
  • Part 4. Language
  • Conventions of Standard English
  • Knowledge of Language
  • Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Resources

  • Resource A. Common Core Recommended Reading Lists
  • Resource B. Text Complexity Tool
  • Resource C. Planning Calendar Templates

Teacher Notes

Teacher Notes

About the Author

About the Author

Resources

Description

That version of the standards you wish you had

All over the nation, teachers and administrators are poring over the Common Core State Standards to come up with meaningful plans for raising student achievement.  But as clear as the standards are, they are more of a sundial than a GPS for pinpointing just what to teach and how to teach it.

Enter Jim Burke with The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8. It’s that version of the standards you wish you had: a roadmap of what each standard says, what each standard means, and how precisely to put that standard into day-to-day practice across English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.

Designed to provide schools, districts, and departments with a common language or set of reference points for effective school-wide implementation, The Common Core Companion clearly lays out:

  • Grades 6-8 standards side by side with key distinctions highlighted so teachers know what they must teach from grade to grade
  • All the different content-area versions of each standard arranged on one page to facilitate easy reference and school wide collaboration
  • Explanations of each standard on a corresponding page, written in accessible language, along with prompts and questions to help students learn and apply each standard
  • Essential content to cover and lesson ideas for modeling the literacy skills behind the standards
  • Instructional techniques for each standard based on Jim’s extensive teaching experience and current research on effective instruction
  • Complete glossary for each standard and adaptations for ELL students

Don’t spend another minute poring over the standards. Jim has already done that for you. Focus instead on how to teach them, using The Common Core Companion as your one-stop guide for teaching, planning, assessing, collaborating, and designing powerful reading and writing curricula.

“One cannot benefit from or use a document that demands more time than a teacher or administrator has each day. So I share with you, my fellow educators, the reformatted, parallel version of the standards I created to make the document itself more efficient, more usable, more helpful.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                         -—Jim Burke

Contents

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Getting to the Core of the Curriculum

  • Moving Forward--Together
  • A Brief Orientation to The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8
  • How to Use This Book
  • Accepting the Invitation

Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts

Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts

Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

The Complete Common Core State Standards: Decoded

  • Part 1. Reading
  • Key Ideas and Details
  • Craft and Structure
  • Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
  • Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
  • Part 2. Writing
  • Text Types and Purposes
  • Production and Distribution of Writing
  • Research to Build and Present Knowledge
  • Range of Writing
  • Part 3. Speaking and Listening
  • Comprehension and Collaboration
  • Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
  • Part 4. Language
  • Conventions of Standard English
  • Knowledge of Language
  • Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Resources

  • Resource A. Common Core Recommended Reading Lists
  • Resource B. Text Complexity Tool
  • Resource C. Planning Calendar Templates

Teacher Notes

Teacher Notes

About the Author

About the Author

Resources

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The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8

What They Say, What They Mean, How to Teach Them

Jim Burke
Cancel Print

August 2013 | 280 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Spiral 01/02/2026 9781452276038 $43.95
Lifetime 01/02/2026 9781452277554 $40.00

That version of the standards you wish you had

All over the nation, teachers and administrators are poring over the Common Core State Standards to come up with meaningful plans for raising student achievement.  But as clear as the standards are, they are more of a sundial than a GPS for pinpointing just what to teach and how to teach it.

Enter Jim Burke with The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8. It’s that version of the standards you wish you had: a roadmap of what each standard says, what each standard means, and how precisely to put that standard into day-to-day practice across English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.

Designed to provide schools, districts, and departments with a common language or set of reference points for effective school-wide implementation, The Common Core Companion clearly lays out:

  • Grades 6-8 standards side by side with key distinctions highlighted so teachers know what they must teach from grade to grade
  • All the different content-area versions of each standard arranged on one page to facilitate easy reference and school wide collaboration
  • Explanations of each standard on a corresponding page, written in accessible language, along with prompts and questions to help students learn and apply each standard
  • Essential content to cover and lesson ideas for modeling the literacy skills behind the standards
  • Instructional techniques for each standard based on Jim’s extensive teaching experience and current research on effective instruction
  • Complete glossary for each standard and adaptations for ELL students

Don’t spend another minute poring over the standards. Jim has already done that for you. Focus instead on how to teach them, using The Common Core Companion as your one-stop guide for teaching, planning, assessing, collaborating, and designing powerful reading and writing curricula.

“One cannot benefit from or use a document that demands more time than a teacher or administrator has each day. So I share with you, my fellow educators, the reformatted, parallel version of the standards I created to make the document itself more efficient, more usable, more helpful.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                         -—Jim Burke


Table Of Contents:

  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction: Getting to the Core of the Curriculum
  • Moving Forward--Together
  • A Brief Orientation to The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8
  • How to Use This Book
  • Accepting the Invitation
  • Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts
  • Quick Reference: Common Core State Standards, 6-12 English Language Arts in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
  • The Complete Common Core State Standards: Decoded
  • Part 1. Reading
  • Key Ideas and Details
  • Craft and Structure
  • Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
  • Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
  • Part 2. Writing
  • Text Types and Purposes
  • Production and Distribution of Writing
  • Research to Build and Present Knowledge
  • Range of Writing
  • Part 3. Speaking and Listening
  • Comprehension and Collaboration
  • Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
  • Part 4. Language
  • Conventions of Standard English
  • Knowledge of Language
  • Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
  • Resources
  • Resource A. Common Core Recommended Reading Lists
  • Resource B. Text Complexity Tool
  • Resource C. Planning Calendar Templates
  • Teacher Notes
  • About the Author

Recent Product Reviews:

CCSS were not approved in Texas.
Professor Rodrigo Joseph Rodriguez, English Dept, University Of Texas-El Paso
Extremely clear and useful! I had previous students explore the book to see what they though and they were all upset it wasn't out when they took the class. They've ordered copies on their own.
Dr Lisa Arter, English Dept, Southern Utah University
“I love what Jim Burke has done to make the Standards less threatening and more useful for teachers. In particular, the indicators for what students and teachers should be doing, given the Standard, are extremely helpful; as are such a clear glossary and illuminating examples. All in all, The Common Core Companion is bound to be enormously useful and thus dog-eared!”
Grant Wiggins, President, Authentic Education, Hopewell, NJ
“Fundamentally different from other Common Core books, The Common Core Companion is s a user’s guide designed by a teacher who actually uses the standards in his daily work with students. Jim Burke gently demystifies the Common Core State Standards and offers a practical tool for curricular alignment. I think you will find The Common Core Companion helps schools help themselves.”
Carol Jago, Member, Common Core State Standards Feedback Committee
“I have never read a book for teachers so well laid out and highly useful. I predict administrators across the country will purchase this book for their secondary teachers to use in their staff meetings, individual department meetings, their PLCs, and for individual teachers to use as Burke puts it as ‘a personal compass to navigate the complexities of the Common Core Curriculum.’”
Debbie Silver, Ed.D., Author of Drumming to the Beat of Different Marchers and Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8

Recommendations