Common Core Simplified

What Your First Grader Needs to Know

In Math, students will work with whole numbers and place value. They will group numbers into tens and ones, and learn to add and subtract up through 20.  They will use charts, tables, and diagrams to solve problems.



In English Language Arts (ELA), children will continue to learn the letters and sounds that make up words.  They will think, talk, and write about what they read in stories, articles, and other sources of information.  In writing, students will work on putting together clear sentences on a range of topics, using a growing vocabulary.



Math Examples:

6 bunnies sat on the grass. Some more bunnies hopped over. Then there were 14 bunnies.  How many bunnies hopped over?

Lucy has 12 apples. Julie has 9 apples.  How many more apples does Lucy have than Julie?

Write the numbers that fill in the blanks: 25, ___, 35, 40, ___, 50



ELA Examples:

  • Retell stories, including key details, and show that they understand the lesson or moral of a story.
  • Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text
  • Ask and answer questions about key details in a text
  • Name a topic and supply some facts about it





What Your Second Grader Needs to Know

In Math, students will extend their understanding of place value to the hundreds place.  They will use this to solve word problems, such as those involving length and other units of measure. Students will add and subtract numbers up to 20 and learn more about numbers up to 100. They will build a foundation for fractions by working with shapes.



In English Language Arts, students will think, talk, and write about what they read in a variety of texts, such as stories, books, articles, and other sources-including the Internet.  In writing, students will learn how to develop a topic and strengthen their skills by editing and revising.



Math:

  • Quickly add numbers together that total up to 20 or less
  • Solve one- or two- step word problems by adding or subtracting numbers up to 100
  • Understand what the different digits mean in a three-digit number
  • Add and subtract three-digit numbers
  • Measure lengths of objects in standard units, such as inches and centimeters
  • Solve addition and subtraction word problems involving length
  • Solve problems involving money
  • Break up a rectangle into same-size squares
  • Divide circles and rectangles into halves, thirds, and fourths
  • Solve addition, subtraction and comparison word problems using information in a bar graph
  • Write equations to represent addition of equal numbers



English/Language Arts:

Reading Literature

  • Retell stories and determine their central message, lesson, or moral
  • Recognize differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud

Reading for information

  • Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text
  • Explain how specific images or illustrations (such as a diagram of how a machine works) are useful

Writing

  • Introduce a topic and use facts and definitions to develop points
  • Give a concluding statement or section

 

What Your Third Grader Needs to Know

In Math, students will develop an understanding of fractions as numbers.  They will learn the concepts behind multiplication and division and apply problem-solving skills and strategies for multiplying and dividing numbers up through 100.



In English Language Arts, students will think, talk, and write about what they read in a variety of articles, books, and other texts.  In writing, students will pay more attention to organizing information, developing ideas,and supporting these ideas with facts, details and reasons.



Math Examples:

  • Students use understanding of place value to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100
  • Quickly and accurately add and subtract numbers through 1,000 using knowledge of place value
  • Multiply and divide numbers up through 100
  • multiply one-digit whole numbers by multiples of ten between 10 and 90.  For example 9x80 or 5x60
  • Determine a fraction's place on number line by defining the length and "cutting it" into equal parts
  • Understand two fractions as equal if they are the same size or at the same point on a number line



SAMPLE: Clear Creek School is fundraising.  They are selling cookie dough in tubs.  The prices are: Chocolate Chip dough $5/tub, Peanut Butter dough $4/tub, Oatmeal Cookie dough $3/tub. Answer the following-

  1. Jill sold two tubs of oatmeal cookie dough. How much did she raise?
  2. Joe sold 4 tubs of peanut butter dough and 4 tubs of chocolate chip dough. How much money did he raise in all.
  3. Jade sold only peanut butter cookie dough. She raised $32. How many tubs did she sell?
  4. Jermaine's mother loves oatmeal cookies. She has $20 to spend. What is the greatest number of oatmeal cookie dough she can buy. Show your work and explain your answers.



Reading Literature:

  • Recount stories and determine the central message, lesson, or moral, explaining how it is developed in the text
  • Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or characters
  • Ask and answer questions about what they read by referring directly to parts of the text
  • Use information gained from images or illustrations

Reading for Information:

  • Ask and answer questions about what the read by referring directly to parts of the text
  • Use information gained from images or illustrations

Writing:

  • Introduce a topic and use facts, definitions, and details to develop points
  • Provide a concluding statement or section
  • Group related information together
  • Use linking words and phrases to connect ideas, such as also, another, and but



Sample task:

Students are asked to read an essay about sharks and answer the following:

Which shark would you study if you were a shark scientist and why?

  • Decide what shark you would want to study.
  • Find the best shark facts to support your reasons
  • Explain your reasons. Be sure to use facts about hammerhead sharks and whale sharks to explain why you would study the shark you chose and not the other shark. You can use a graphic organizer to help you plan your writing. Remember to pick the best facts to support your opinion and not every detail you can find. You must explain how the facts support your opinion and each of your reasons.  Be sure to:
    • have an introduction that tells the topic and focus(opinion)
    • have body paragraphs with topic sentences and details to support each new reason
    • use linking words that connect your opinion with reasons and facts
    • write a conclusion that connects to your focus and reasons
    • used different kinds of sentences
    • use complete sentences
    • add an illustration the supports your focus

 

What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know

In Math, students will use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to solve word problems, with relation to measurement of volume, mass, and time.  Students will also learn more about fractions.

In English Language Arts, students will read more challenging literature, articles, and other texts, building their vocabulary.  They will be expected to explain what they have read by referring to details or information from the text.  In writing, students will organize their ideas and develop topics with reasons, facts, details, and other information.

Math Examples:

  • Use place-value understanding to round multi-digit numbers to any place
  • Recognize that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right
  • Use place value to find the product of two multi-digit numbers
  • Compare two multi-digit numbers based on meanings of the digit in each place, using the symbols<,=, or >

Fractions:

  • Break down a fraction into smaller fractions, with the same denominator, in more than one way (3/8=1/8+1/8+1/8=2/8+1/8)
  • Explain why a fraction is equal to another fraction
  • Add and subtract mixed numbers with the same denominators
  • Multiply a fraction by a whole number



Sample task:

Part 1: John is giving out chocolate to his friends. IF he wants to give each friend 2/3 of a chocolate bar and he has 13 friends, how many chocolate bars will he need to buy? Use words, a model, or an equation to justify your answer.

Part 2: William buys 4 chocolate bars and each bar weighs 1/4 pound.  Mary buys 2 chocolate bars and each one weighs 1/2 pound.  William claims that the chocolate weighs the same amount.  Mary disagrees. Who is correct? Use a model and words to justify your answer.

Reading Literature:

  • Determine the theme of a story, play, or poem from details in the text and summarize the text.
  • Compare and contrast the points of view from which different stories are told; know the difference between first- and third- person accounts.

Reading for Information:

  • Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
  • Interpret information in charts, graphs, or other visual sources of information; explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text

Writing:

  • Introduce a topic clearly and develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information
  • Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented
  • Group related information in paragraphs and sections and use formatting (such as headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful
  • Link ideas with categories of information, using words and phrases (such as another, also, and because)
  • Use precise language and subject specific vocabulary



Sample task:

Read texts including "All in a Day's Work," by Judith Pinkerton Josephson; "Seeing is Believing," by Mary Mortan Cowan Today; "Child Labor, " by Human Rights Watch; "Children and the Global Sweatshop," from Albion Monitor

Write an opinion piece explaining why you would or would not buy products made with child labor.

The essay should:

  • Introduce the topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which related ideas are grouped to support the writer's purpose
  • Give reasons supported by facts and details
  • Link opinion and reasons, using words and phrases
  • Give a concluding statement or section on the opinion presented

 

What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know

Students will advance in Math to work with decimals up to the hundreds place. Students will continue to work with fractions and expand their geometry and measurement skills, learning the concept of volume.

In English Language Arts, students will read more challenging literature and articles and build vocabulary. They will be expected to understand and clearly summarize what they have learned from readings and classroom discussions.  Students will write regularly and continue to develop the ability to gather, organize, interpret, and present information.

Math

Place Value:

  • Use place value understanding to round decimals to any place
  • Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 1- times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left
  • Read, write, and compare decimals based on the meanings of the digits in the tenths, hundredths, and thousandths place
  • Use place value understanding to figure out that, based on where the digits are located within the number, 0.115 Is less than 0.151
  • Recognize that a five in the thousandths place is only one tenth the value of a five in the hundredths place

Fractions:

  • Interpret a fraction as division of the numerator by the denominator
  • Add and subtract fractions with different denominators
  • Multiply a fraction by a whole number or another fraction
  • Divide fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by fractions



Sample Task:

Tito and Luis are stuffed with pizza! Tito ate one-fourth of a cheese pizza.  Tito ate three-eighths of a pepperoni pizza.  Tito ate one-half of a mushroom pizza.  Luis ate five-eighths of a cheese pizza.  Luis ate the other half of the mushroom pizza. All the pizzas were the same size.  Tito says he ate more pizza than Luis because Luis did not eat any pepperoni pizza.  Luis says they each at the same amount of pizza.  Who is correct? Show all your mathematical thinking.

English Language Arts

Reading literature:

  • Determine the theme of a story, play, or poem from details in the text, including how characters respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic, and students summarize the text
  • Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described

Reading for Information:

  • Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text
  • Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently

Writing:

  • Introduce a topic clearly , providing a general observation and focus, and develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information
  • Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented
  • Group related information logically and use formatting, such as headings, illustrations, and multimedia when useful
  • Link ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases, and clauses (such as "in contrast" or "especially")
  • Use precise language and subject-specific vocabulary



Sample task: Should the school day be longer?

Read at least two or three newspaper articles on extending the school day.

Assignment: Select a point of view, and write an essay supporting your opinion. Your goal is to persuade the reader to agree with your opinion, using convincing evidence from the articles. Gather and organize facts and quotes for and against your point of view. You will revise and edit to complete your work.