Thursday Workshops

What Does it Mean to be a Core Knowledge School

Alice Wiggins, CKF Vice President of School Consultation

For 8 weeks in the spring of 2011, Core Knowledge Vice President, Alice Wiggins traveled the USA visiting Core Knowledge schools along the way. Participants in this session will learn how these visits revised and refined understanding of what it means to be a Core Knowledge school and how the lessons learned are playing a key role in the creation of tools to support high-fidelity implementation of Core Knowledge.

Common Core State Standards for Math Preview

CKF Staff

Activities from our 1-day Common Core State Standards for Math (CCSS Math) workshop will be used to orient participants to the CCSS Math standards and will provide an understanding of the Core Knowledge Sequence alignment with the standards. Details on how to obtain full presentation materials, so that you can present the 1-day workshop for your school, will be included.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts Preview

CKF Staff

Activities from our 1-day Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS ELA) workshop will be used to orient participants to the CCSS ELA standards and will provide an understanding of the Core Knowledge Sequence alignment with the standards. Details on how to obtain full presentation materials, so that you can present the 1-day workshop for your school, will be included.

Using the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) Listening & Learning Kits

CKF Staff

Join us for an expert review of how to use the Core Knowledge Kindergarten and Grade 1 CKLA Listening & Learning kits.  This session, presented by one of our CKLA Editors, will provide guidance on design, components, and effective use of the kits. This session is also appropriate for those wishing to learn more about the kits.

Selecting Read-alouds to Support Common Core State Standards

CKF Staff

Effective implementation of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts requires integrating history and science content into the language arts block, increasing the use of informational texts through the elementary years, rich literature in the middle school years, and frequent read-alouds to leverage children's listening comprehension through middle school. Participants in this session will learn to select high-quality texts to meet these criteria. These texts not only address appropriate content, but are well suited to the read-aloud format, and include rich vocabulary and concepts.

Creating a Local Core Knowledge Network

Elie Gaines, Kim Marchisotto, and Tony Best

In 2009, a group of Arizona Core Knowledge teachers and administrators initiated creation of the Arizona Core Knowledge Network (AZCKN).  The group, which meets quarterly, is open to all Core Knowledge schools across the state and has become a productive forum for sharing ideas and resources.  Learn how to create your own Core Knowledge Network from the AZCKN founders, Elie Gaines, Kim Marchisotto, and Tony Best.

Rhythm, Rhyme, and Repetition: Using Music to Teach Social Skills, Phonemic Awareness, and Other Important Concepts

Cathy Bollinger

Participants in this session will enjoy a fun, high energy hands-on look at the benefits of using music to motivate and teach children. Supported by research on music and brain development, participants will learn some basics on how to incorporate songs into their day to promote important educational goals!

Why Behaviorally Challenging Students Act Up:  The Seven High Hit Reasons and How They Link to Intervention

Dr. Howie Knoff – Project Achieve

There are many reasons why students demonstrate angry, aggressive, and acting out behavior--or anxious, withdrawal, and “checking out” behavior--in their schools or classrooms.  The U.S. Surgeon General and Institute of Medicine have recognized that one in five students experience significant social, emotional, or behavioral problems during their school-aged years.  Yet, two-thirds or more of these students do not receive the social, emotional, or behavioral services needed to help address their difficulties --sometimes because schools do not understand why their problems are occurring.
     This presentation identifies the seven “high-hit” types of students who exhibit social, emotional, or behavioral challenges to the degree that they need strategic (Tier 2) or intensive (Tier 3) interventions.  Critically, most assessments only evaluate for two of these seven types.  Thus, all seven types of students are identified in this presentation, the interventions needed at the Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels in every school are outlined, and the high-success interventions that link to each of the seven types of students are discussed.

Teasing, Taunting, Bullying, Harassment, and Physical Aggression: Prevention, Strategic Intervention, and Crisis Management

Dr. Howie Knoff – Project Achieve

Teasing, taunting, bullying, harassment, and physical aggression are pervasive problems with children and adolescents across the country and in our communities today.  To address these problems, schools need comprehensive, evidence-based, and ecologically-sound assessment to intervention approaches at the prevention, strategic intervention, and intensive need or crisis management levels.  This presentation will discuss ways to use social skills training, peer-mediated approaches, school-wide accountability systems, school safety systems, and home-school collaboration to prevent or address these situations.  Especially emphasized will be the different approaches needed for bullies, victims, and bystanders.