Iowa Core Discussion

Here are the top five word lists recommended by Francie Alexander, Chief Academic Officer and publisher of primary programs for Scholastic Education. Use them for vocabulary instruction in your own classroom!

Sources: Wiktionary (en) reversed(1); xdxf project (sdict) reversed(2); Audio: Shtooka Project. frn_misc.showTooltipMessage(i, '1 word in your history', 5000); Add to wordlist...  My First Wordlist 1 word in your history Click here to open link My First Wordlist

Mastery of world languages and the weaving of global awareness into core subject areas are key components of their definition of success. Yet too often, as in President Obama's call to arms this week, the notion that part of a world-class education includes knowing something about the world gets left out of the reform rhetoric. It's time to include global competency—knowing how to compete, communicate and collaborate with the world—as a core 21st century skill that all students, indeed, have a right to learn

For example, the educators community in Iowa uses #IowaCore for their discussions related to that subject. The group might have a real-time discussion, say, from 5-7 pm on a Tuesday afternoon, with participants hash-tagging their contributions so the thread appears in one column for people who follow that particular hashtag. Since a single brief tweet can contain a link to a richly textured site, essay, wiki or other content that lends far more depth to a subject, statement or inquiry, the limiting factor of 140 characters can become an asset, streamlining the dialogue in this format to essentials.

Yet in spite of growing awareness of the importance of developing global skills, few students around the world have the opportunity today to become globally competent.

Literacy — defined by Meltzer, Smith, and Clark as the ability to read, write, speak, listen, and think effectively — enables students to learn and to communicate clearly about what they know. Being literate gives people the ability to become informed, to inform others, and to make informed decisions (2001). Literacy is synonymous with learning. The partnerships between reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing — connecting with the ever-increasing knowledge base for each content area — provide the means for thinking among and between concepts and ideas. It is an active process.

By its nature, literacy is social. In being effective critical members of a literacy community, students collaborate with others. Whether it be engaging the ideas of an author or actively discussing and debating issues about their lives with their peers, this collaboration helps students gain an appreciation of themselves, others, and the world. There is a cumulative advantage to the reciprocity of sharing ideas. The more students engage in literacy, the deeper their conceptual understanding and motivation to learn becomes.