Teaching the Common Core: Using Paired Text to Teach CCSS Anchor Standards in Reading

The Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts (CCSS) encourage recognizing connections across texts but offer little direction for incorporating this idea into curricula. The author suggests using paired text as a way to introduce intertextuality, especially across subject matter, and uses examples from physical science to demonstrate. An added bonus of using paired text is that it requires teachers to be readers, thus keeping them current with literature available to their grade level. The author provides resources with which to discover appropriate paired text for teaching the CCSS Anchor Standards.