posted message: I just wanted to share out this link to the daily "news" of my National Writing Project friends from Twitter. http://paper.li/dogtrax/nwp I know we are talking about the connectivity of social networks as a digital writing space. This kind of app platform is helpful (as is RSS) for connecting into the thinking and sharing of friends. A disclaimer: the only curating I do with http://paper.li/dogtrax/nwp is that I tell it which folks to follow. The app does the rest. I also use Ad Blocker so I don't see any ads. Kevin

posted message: Hey everyone Given the collaborative nature of this group, I want to ask for your help with the Common Core-influenced lesson plan I am developing for my sixth graders. It's actually an adaptation of a project I have done in other years, but with a more focused shift towards informational text reading and writing (w/ a creative touch). Here is a link to the document: http://goo.gl/WQXly I would LOVE to get critical feedback as comments on the Google Doc. Point to what works, what doesn't and add suggestions, please. Don't worry about going easy on me. I can take it! I'm working through this as a process and appreciate the help ... Thanks in advance, Kevin

posted message: I spent the afternoon with colleagues at my school, unpacking the guiding principles of our new Massachusetts Curriculum (adopted from the Common Core). It was a great activity in which we each were assigned a principle, and then identified key words and phrases to share out. I took our work and made a word cloud of what we noticed. If you are interested, you can see the word cloud and some more reflections of our work at my blog post: http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2011/10/29/unpacking-guiding-principles-massachusetts-common-core/

posted message: I recorded a podcast for the NWP Common Core group (in NWP Connect) that I shared at my blog. Just some thoughts, since this group has the Common Core ideas front and center in my mind: http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2011/10/16/podcast-some-thoughts-on-common-core/

posted message: This may be helpful: a livebinder of "crosswalks" by states showing transitions from state curriculum to new ones. But, I know my state (Massachusetts) has a newer document than the one referenced here. Still, it could be useful to see what's new, what's being adapted, and what's being left out. http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=170559

posted message: Last night, I had posted a link about NCTE and Common Core, but now I see that this is only a proposed resolution and not an accurate view of NCTE, so I removed that post. Sorry about that. I guess it shows that the issue is still unfolding, and also, that I needed to do another round of checking before sharing. My apologies.