This document proposes creating a handbook to help elementary teachers match Common Core reading and writing standards and activities. It notes that while coursework offers strategies, demands of testing and planning time make connecting the standards difficult. A broad search is needed to provide teachers comprehensive guides to routinely instill reading-writing connections suitable for student skills and aligned to curriculum. The handbook would offer practical strategies across content to elevate student writing about reading in various ways and improve instruction through a useful teacher tool.

1. Topic Selection Proposal:
Matching the Common Core State Standards with Elementary
Reading and Writing Prompts and Activities
Mike Reisinger
EDRG 697
Regis University

2. Topic Summary:
Connecting reading and writing in a way that
matches the Common Core State standards is a challenge that elementary teachers
may not be able to meet with ease. Although our EDRG 602 coursework offers
many usable and innovative options for connecting reading and writing, the high
demands of state tests, lack of class time and planning time may make it difficult to
find more strategies. Matching complex and demanding standards with reading and
writing prompts and activities takes research and time. In order to find a way to
align these new requirements with current curriculum and relevant elementary
student skills, a broad search for compatible and suitable activities and prompts
should be done in order to provide teachers with a more comprehensive guide to
instilling reading and writing connections routinely.

3. Statement of Relevance to Literacy
Curriculum and Instruction
With the new PARCC test, reading and writing and are now graded as one.
This seems to come naturally as we now know how the two are intricately
connected throughout our learning. Yet reading and writing strategies are often
dissected and graded separately in school curriculum. For schools that have a
looser format, there may be no foundation for connecting the two. The phrase
"write to learn" comes to mind. I find that although we are aware of the standards,
it remains difficult to appropriately, effectively and consistently apply high quality
writing to reading in a practical manner. A set of clear,
useful and practical teaching strategies that integrate
the two disciplines of reading and writing, would
greatly impact instruction. Curriculum that is already
in place would simply be used as a springboard to
elevate students into writing across content in a
Variety of ways.

4. Project Idea in Relation to Topic
A handbook of practical strategies for
teachers that combine reading and writing
would assist instruction and communicate
the connections of Common Core State
Standards with the classroom. Teachers
need a useful tool that is simple, makes
sense and requires little or no preparation
to teach. Contents, such as science, social
studies and literature, would further assist
teachers in quickly accessing suitable
strategies for their content areas as well.

5. Plan for Completion:
•Delve beyond our EDRG 602 coursework
•Research this topic
•Determine subtopics
•Create a handbook of practical strategies
for teachers to combine reading and
writing
• Include suggested grading rubrics and
tracking systems.

6. Statement: How it Will Improve
Teaching and the Professional
Community
When teachers are given a useful tool
that guides instruction and allows
for freedom of choosing activities in
accordance to relevance to content, this not only
improves instruction, but also increases student
exposure to a variety of approaches to reading and
writing. If we are to advance into this new age of
sophisticated literacy standards and skills, it would
behoove us to ensure that our students receive proper
instruction on how to write about what they read.