Teaching the Common Core: Writing in Common: Lessons from Kentucky Middle Schools

Kentucky was the first state to adopt the CCSS, so how do middle school teachers there ensure that their students meet those Standards? Brenda Overturf takes us inside three successful classrooms from three schools where different curricula and different approaches have four things in common: Writing-focused professional development; the view that reading writing, speaking/listening, and language are interwoven and inseparable; teamwork; and an awareness that it takes time to reach a comfortable level of familiarity and competence with Standards implementation.