English Language Arts Common Core State Standards

After reading the Common Core State Standards particular for reading I was amazed at what I read. I learned that over the last half of a century k-12 students have declined in sophistication and little attention has been paid to the students reading ability of reading complex texts. Due to this decline in the reading portion of education many high school graduates really suffer with the high expectations at the college reading level. I also found that reading CCSS are measured in three parts. 1. Qualitative dimensions of text complexity, 2. Quantitative dimensions of text complexity and 3. Reader and Task Considerations.  Levels of meaning are important in making sure the text complexity is appropriate for each grades standard. CCSS states that literary texts with a single meaning are easier to read that literary texts with multiple levels of meaning. Satire literature revolves around an underlying message, which is in contradiction with the author’s literal message. Similarly, informational texts with implicit or hidden messages are usually harder to read than texts that explicitly state the purpose. Structure is also another way to decipher the level of complexity in literary texts. According to CCSS low complexity literary texts relate events in chronological order while complex literary texts frequently use flashbacks, flash-forwards, and other manipulations of time and sequence.