National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing

University of California, Los Angeles

Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
Copyright 2013 The Regents of the University of California
The work reported herein was supported by grant number #S283B050022A between the U.S. Department of Education
and WestEd with a subcontract to the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST).
The findings and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the positions or policies of CRESST, WestEd, or the U.S. Department of Education.
FROM THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM:
A SERIES OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS
FUNDAMENTALS
OF LEARNING
RESOURCE #2
AUTHORS:
MARGARET HERITAGE, BARBARA JONES, GLORY TOBIASON, AND SANDY CHANG
ORGANIZATION
INTRODUCTION
FRAMEWORK
INSIGHTS INTO THE FUNDAMENTALS
IN PRACTICE
REPRESENTATIVE TOUCH POINTS (WITH THE CCSS)
DISCUSSION TOOL
BACKGROUND READING
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FROM THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM A SERIES OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS 3
INTRODUCTION
This resource is the second in a series produced by the Center for Standards and Assessment Implementation. The
series goal is to assist teachers and those who support teachers to plan teaching and learning for diverse learners
from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This publication provides a framework, the Fundamentals of
Learning (FOL), to assist teachers in transitioning to the classroom practices called for in the CCSS.
The content of this resource is drawn from leading theory and research about learning and assessment and from an
examination of the CCSS. A section on background reading is included at the end.
Since it is the students who actually DO the learning, this resource focuses on three fundamental aspects of learning
that underpin classroom practice for K-12 students attainment of the CCSS.
The Fundamentals are:
(1) Making Meaning
(2) Participating and Contributing
(3) Managing Learning
Future resources will address how teachers can use the FOL framework to plan lessons from the CCSS that enable
students to successfully engage in these Fundamentals of Learning and reach the high expectations that have been
established by the standards.
FUNDAMENTALS OF LEARNING RESOURCE #2 4
The Fundamentals of Learning are the means through which learners achieve the Content Standards during their
daily learning opportunities in the classroom. Because of this, they have implications for all aspects of planning and
teaching, including content, learning activities and tasks, resources, language used, the role that both students and
teachers take in the learning process, and the culture of the classroom. The graphic below shows the integrated
nature of the Fundamentals in student learning.
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TALS OF LEA
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LEARNER
PARTICIPATING &
CONTRIBUTING
MAKING
MEANING
MANAGING
LEARNING
FRAMEWORK
FROM THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM A SERIES OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS 5
Meaning making refers to the process of making sense of information,
experiences, and ideas through the use of creative, critical, and metacognitive
thinking skills. When students employ these thinking skills, they are able to
evaluate information, reason, solve problems, analyze and construct arguments,
make decisions, and regulate their own learning.
When students are engaged in meaning making, they draw on their prior
knowledge by asking themselves what they already know about a topic or
concept and how this knowledge connects to what they are currently learning.
They activate this knowledge as the basis for creating new knowledge.
Students also make meaning of the codes in which knowledge is expressed
language, symbols, and texts. Languages and symbols are systems for
representing and communicating information, experiences, and ideas. People
use languages and symbols to produce text of all kinds: written, oral/aural,
and visual; informative and imaginative; informal and formal; mathematical,
scientifc, and technological.
MAKING MEANING
INSIGHTS INTO THE FUNDAMENTALS
THINKING CRITICALLY,
CREATIVELY, AND
METACOGNITIVELY
CONNECTING PRIOR
KNOWLEDGE TO
NEW LEARNING
USING LANGUAGE,
SYMBOLS, AND TEXTS
THINKING CRITICALLY,
CREATIVELY, AND
METACOGNITIVELY
ENGAGING WITH
OTHERS IN LEARNING
TAKING PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY
FOR LEARNING
CONNECTING PRIOR
KNOWLEDGE TO
NEW LEARNING
COMMUNICATING
IDEAS, FEELINGS,
PERSPECTIVES, AND
UNDERSTANDING
ADAPTING
LEARNING TACTICS
USING LANGUAGE,
SYMBOLS, AND TEXTS
RELATING TO
OTHER PEOPLES
IDEAS, FEELINGS, AND
EXPERIENCES
PERSEVERING
WITH CHALLENGES
MAKING
MEANING
PARTICIPATING AND
CONTRIBUTING
MANAGING
LEARNING
Three main components of each Fundamental are shown below:
FUNDAMENTALS OF LEARNING RESOURCE #2 6
Managing learning involves self-direction and taking initiative. In the process of
managing their learning, students see themselves as active, capable learners
who can make sense of, take risks with, and work on increasingly complex
problems. When working with others, they know when to lead, when to follow,
and when and how to act independently.
Students who manage themselves are mindful, resourceful, reliable, and
resilient. They establish personal goals, make plans, monitor progress, and
adapt their learning tactics when they need to do so.
They have strategies for meeting challenges and gain satisfaction from
persevering to meet the high expectations they set for themselves.
MANAGING LEARNING
TAKING PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY
FOR LEARNING
ADAPTING
LEARNING TACTICS
PERSEVERING
WITH CHALLENGES
Engaging with others in learning involves working cooperatively to acquire
information, share and discuss ideas and interpretations, and obtain feedback.
Participating in and contributing to learning communities allows students to
see learning as a co-constructed process in which mistakes are understood
as potentially valuable opportunities for further learning. As students explain,
clarify, and critique their own and others ideas, their cognitive engagement
increases and they develop a sense of belonging and shared responsibility
for learning.
The depth and quality of student learning is greatly infuenced by the capacity
and opportunity to effectively communicate ideas, feelings, perspectives, and
understanding. Additionally, the learning community is enriched and made more
relevant as students contribute their personal experiences. Through thoughtful,
extended discourse, by making suggestions, and by expressing their opinions
and understanding, students actively participate in their learning and the
learning of others.
Student learning is enhanced when students are able to interact effectively
with a diverse range of people, in a variety of contexts, through various modes
of communication. By listening to others, by reading what others have written,
by observing others, and by being open to others viewpoints, students
can develop empathy and beneft from learning that may be outside their
own experience.
PARTICIPATING & CONTRIBUTING
ENGAGING WITH
OTHERS IN LEARNING
COMMUNICATING
IDEAS, FEELINGS,
PERSPECTIVES, AND
UNDERSTANDING
RELATING TO
OTHER PEOPLES
IDEAS, FEELINGS, AND
EXPERIENCES
FROM THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM A SERIES OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS 7
Below are some indicators of what the Fundamentals of Learning might look like in practice.
As you prepare to implement the Common Core State Standards, use these indicators to refect on your own
practice and think about what you do well and what you might need to strengthen.
WHAT WOULD THE LEARNING FUNDAMENTALS
LOOK LIKE IN CLASSROOM PRACTICE?
Ask questions of themselves, the teacher,
and others
Take time to think
Tackle real and interesting problems and
devise solutions
Reason and justify thoughts
Draw on personal knowledge and experience
Take an active role in the processes of learning
Give thoughtful, extended answers
Contribute to and beneft from the learning of
others
Discuss and explore ideas
Gain insights from others similarities and
differences
Work in groups of different sizes and
compositions and with various individuals
Cooperate and take the lead as appropriate
in groups
Feel able to make suggestions
Be interested in their learning
Show perseverance in learning
Be refective about their own learning
Be (or become) confdent in learning
Be resourceful about learning
Take risks
Learn from mistakes
STUDENTS ARE LIKELY TO:
MAKING
MEANING
PARTICIPATING AND
CONTRIBUTING
MANAGING
LEARNING
IN PRACTICE
FUNDAMENTALS OF LEARNING RESOURCE #2 8
Make connections between new and
prior learning
Integrate assessment and instruction
Alter and adapt plans in response to learners
Revisit learning plans with students
Balance teaching approaches (didactic and
student-initiated; practical and theoretical)
Allocate suffcient time for deep learning
Structure the classroom for participation
Engage in sustained discourse with students
Show themselves as learners
Be sensitive observers of their students
Assist students to monitor their own learning
Provide feedback to students
Be willing to make changes
Work collaboratively with colleagues
Align to the CCSS
Be comprehensible
Draw on authentic contextsrelated to
things that are happening in the local and
global community
Relate to students existing knowledge
and experience
Broaden and deepen students learning
Be seen by students as relevant
Enable students to fnd personal expression
Sustain students interest
Be (or become) interesting to students
Help students make connections within and
across standards
Meet students present and prospective needs
TEACHERS ARE LIKELY TO:
CONTENT IS LIKELY TO:
MAKING
MEANING
MAKING
MEANING
PARTICIPATING AND
CONTRIBUTING
PARTICIPATING AND
CONTRIBUTING
MANAGING
LEARNING
MANAGING
LEARNING
FROM THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM A SERIES OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS 9
Come from a range of resources: local,
national and global
Draw on diverse perspectives and forms
of communication
Include a range of media
Be sourced not only by teachers, but also by
students, parents, community members, and
others
Encourage collaboration
Be shared among students
Be perceived as relevant and useful
Expand students approaches to learning
Take students into real, authentic contexts
Be purposeful and worthwhile
Have high cognitive demand for all
students
Lead to deep learning
Engage students interest
Be for both individuals and groups
Allow for differences
Be fexible and adaptable
Be dynamicactivities that lead to and
generate other activities unforeseen
Include student refection
RESOURCES ARE LIKELY TO:
ACTIVITIES AND TASKS ARE LIKELY TO:
MAKING
MEANING
MAKING
MEANING
PARTICIPATING AND
CONTRIBUTING
PARTICIPATING AND
CONTRIBUTING
MANAGING
LEARNING
MANAGING
LEARNING
FUNDAMENTALS OF LEARNING RESOURCE #2 10
Focus on learning
Generate inquiry and new ideas
Feel like a place where students have a say
Encourage questions, contributions, suggestions,
and learning from mistakes and successes
Enable risk taking
Value every students contribution
Embrace fexibility
Support refection
Focus attention on thinking in the
content areas
Be used in extended discourse
Invite students to participate in learning
Refect the routines and norms of the learning
community
Be used for resolution of disagreements
and acknowledgement
Be used in internal regulation
Be used for communicating intentions, for
negotiation, and expressing learning processes
THE CLASSROOM CULTURE IS LIKELY TO:
LANGUAGE IS LIKELY TO:
MAKING
MEANING
MAKING
MEANING
PARTICIPATING AND
CONTRIBUTING
MANAGING
LEARNING
MANAGING
LEARNING
PARTICIPATING AND
CONTRIBUTING
FROM THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM A SERIES OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS 11
The Fundamentals of Learning are represented in the CCSS documents. In the ELA standards documents, the
connections between the fundamentals and the standards can be clearly found in the section a portrait of students
who meet the standards (p. 7), as well as in the anchor and grade level Content Standards. In mathematics, the
fundamentals clearly are refected in the Mathematics Practice Standards (pp. 6-8). These sections of the CCSS
documents frame the process of students achieving the Content Standards.
The representative touch points listed here present some main ways in which the CCSS are refected in the
Fundamentals of Learning. Below are excerpts from the CCSS documents (www.corestandards.org) organized by
learning fundamental.
REPRESENTATIVE TOUCH POINTS WITH THE CCSS
MAKING MEANING
Students who are Making Meaning in English Language Arts:
Question an authors or speakers assumptions and premises and assess the veracity of
claims and the soundness of reasoning (PS4)1
Employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and
language use (PS6)
Read literature representative of a variety of periods, cultures, and worldviews (PS7)
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specifc claims in a text, including the validity of
the reasoning as well as the relevance and suffciency of the evidence (CCRA.R.8)2
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, refection, and
research (CCRA.W.9)
3

Evaluate a speakers point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric
(CCRA. SL.3)
4

Students who are Making Meaning in Mathematics:
Create a coherent representation of the problem at hand (MP3)
5

Attend to the meaning of quantities, not just how to compute them (MP3)
Routinely interpret their mathematical results in the context of the situation and refect on
whether the results make sense (MP4)
Know that technology can enable them to visualize the results of varying assumptions,
explore consequences, and compare predictions (MP5)
Examine claims and make explicit use of defnitions (MP6)
Step back for an overview and shift perspective (MP7)
See complicated things, such as some algebraic expressions, as single objects or as being
composed of several objects (MP7)
FUNDAMENTALS OF LEARNING RESOURCE #2 12
Students who are Participating and Contributing in English Language Arts:
Independently discern a speakers key points, request clarifcation, and ask relevant
questions (PS1)
Listen attentively (PS2)
Share their knowledge through writing and speaking (PS2)
Adapt their communication in relation to audience, task, purpose, and discipline (PS3)
Make their reasoning clear, and constructively evaluate others use of evidence (PS5)
Actively seek to understand other perspectives and cultures (PS7)
Communicate effectively with people of varied backgrounds (PS7)
Evaluate other points of view critically and constructively (PS7)
Prepare and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with
diverse partners, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively
(CCRA.SL.1)
Students who are Participating and Contributing in Mathematics:
Understand the approaches of others to solving complex problems (MP1)
Justify their conclusions, communicate them to others, and respond to the arguments of
others (MP3)
Explain a faw in an argument (MP3)
Listen or read the arguments of others, decide whether they make sense, and ask useful
questions to clarify or improve the arguments (MP3)
Communicate precisely to others and use clear defnitions in discussion with others and in
their own reasoning (MP6)
Give carefully formulated explanations to each other (MP6)
PARTICIPATING AND CONTRIBUTING
FROM THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM A SERIES OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS 13
Students who are Managing Learning in English Language Arts:
Become self-directed learners (PS1)
Seek out and use resources to assist learning (PS1)
Read purposefully and listen attentively (PS2)
Set and adjust purpose for reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use as
warranted by the task (PS3)
Tailor online searches to acquire useful information effciently (PS6)
Select and use technological tools and mediums best suited to their communication goals
(PS6)
Demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an
unknown term important to comprehension or expression (CCRA.L.6)
6
Students who are Managing Learning in Mathematics:
Monitor and evaluate progress and change course if necessary (MP1)
Plan a solution pathway rather than simply jumping into a solution attempt (MP1)
Continually ask, Does this make sense? (MP1)
Persevere in solving problems (MP1)
Explain to themselves the meaning of a problem and look for entry points to its solution
(MP1)
When solving a problem, maintain oversight of the process, while attending to the details
(MP8)
Continually evaluate the reasonableness of their intermediate results (MP8)
1 PS refers to Portrait of Students meeting the standards; and the number refers to the ideas order of appearance in the section of the CCSS document.
2 CCRA refers to Career Readiness Anchor Standards; R refers to Reading; and the number refers to the standard number from which the text was excerpted.
3 W refers to Writing.
4
SL refers to Speaking and Listening.
5
MP refers to the Math Practice standards; the number refers to the standard number from which the text was excerpted.
6
L refers to Language.

MANAGING LEARNING
FUNDAMENTALS OF LEARNING RESOURCE #2 14
MORE ABOUT LESS ABOUT
MAKING
MEANING
Generating and Using Knowledge
Authentic Contexts
Making Connections Among Ideas
A Focus on Deeper Learning
Using Language and Symbols to Learn
Generating Thoughtful Questions
Supporting Arguments with Evidence
Assessment that Informs Teaching and Learning
Appropriate Cognitive Demand for Each Student
Learning
Just Acquiring Knowledge
Only Classroom-Based
Learning Only Discrete Ideas
Just Superfcial Learning
Using Only Didactic Teaching
Getting the Right Answers
Reciting Rote Arguments
Assessment that Ranks Students
Uniformity of Learning Activities
Teaching
This tool is for use by teachers and by those who support teachers for refection and discussion.
Derived from the Fundamentals of Learning, it highlights the emphases needed in classroom practice to
implement the CCSS effectively.
Here are some questions for you to think about as you use this tool:
Is my classroom practice consistent with the more about column?
In what ways?
How does it differ?
What might I need to work on in preparation for implementing the CCSS?
DISCUSSION TOOL
FROM THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM A SERIES OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS 15
MORE ABOUT
MORE ABOUT
LESS ABOUT
LESS ABOUT
PARTICIPATING AND
CONTRIBUTING
MANAGING
LEARNING
Decision-Making by Students and Teacher
Student-Initiated Learning
Collaboration with Others
Valuing Other Perspectives
Thoughtful Responses
Teacher as Mediator or Participant in Conversations
Personally Signifcant Content
Refecting On and Learning from Mistakes
Intellectual Curiosity and Risk-Taking
Learning to be a Life-Long Learner
Developing the Capacity to Learn
Adapting to Unknown Situations
Students Recognizing Mastery/Success
Students Articulating their Learning Status
Refecting on Learning
Valuing Generative Struggle and Confusion
Decision-Making Only by Teacher
Entirely Teacher-Initiated Learning
Exclusively Individual Learning
Tolerating Other Perspectives
Race to the Answer
Teacher as Lecturer
Generic Content
Avoiding Mistakes
Rigid or Overly Scripted Lessons
Just Learning for the Here and Now
Just Storing Existing Knowledge
Focusing Only on Immediate Concerns
Teacher Declaring Mastery/Success
Teacher as the Sole Expert on What
Students Know
Checking a Box and Moving On
Avoiding Cognitive Struggle
FUNDAMENTALS OF LEARNING RESOURCE #2 16
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BACKGROUND READING