With much gnashing of teeth and
pulling of hair, education is once again trying a new initiative – Common Core
State Standards (CCSS). CCSS hopes to
make clear what our students are expected to learn as well as “The
standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting
the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and
careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities
will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.” (http://www.corestandards.org/)
It’s
not the mission of CCSS that is making teachers moan, rather it’s the idea that
we’ve all been down this road before and this is just the next, newest, brilliant
idea. As a library media specialist and
Holocaust educator, I see the CCSS differently.
CCSS reading standards talk about creating a “staircase” of complexity
in what students are able to read K-12 so they are ready for college and career
reading. CCSS presents an amazing
opportunity to use primary sources from the Holocaust to provide students with the
complex text to become better readers whether it’s diary entries, letters,
poetry, or documents.
In the Echoes and Reflections: A Multimedia Curriculum on the Holocaust and
its companion IWitness, you can find a multitude of primary resources and
ideas. Search for topics from over 9,000
search terms. Even better, there are 1,000
survivor testimonies and thought-provoking lessons to go along with all of these resources. CCSS for
reading gives teachers permission to use complex text to make students better
readers. “Echoes and Reflections” and “IWitness” provide that complex text as well as multiple perspectives through ample
primary sources. Both make the Holocaust
more relevant to our students and ultimately to their success.
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