For educational purpose, CommonLit 360 program has earned its users and has also been structured perfectly. This program is a multi-faceted one designed to develop the students’ literacy skills based on their individual learning needs.
This article aims to tell about “CommonLit 360”, thus going further to analyze its characteristics, advantages and the actual use in teaching.
CommonLit 360: Overview
The CommonLit 360 is a free full year third grade to high school grade English language arts teaching resource. This program aims at equipping the users with a rich package of resources such as lessons and assessments and resources to be used for professional training of teachers.
CommonLit 360 curriculum is organized in such manner as to assist the tutors deliver skills that enhance the students of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
The curricular structure of the 360 programs revolves around abstract themes which act as the backbone of each module with deeper explorations of concepts and issues within.
Each unit of study centers upon cultivating student discourse by presenting various genres of texts, literary, informational and media.
Key Components of CommonLit 360
- Thematic Units: Each unit in the CommonLit 360 curriculum revolves around one central theme which attempts to help the learners connect dots between different texts or concepts.
- Comprehensive Lesson Plans: 360 is accompanied by ready-made lesson plans, taking the teachers through each unit. Plans include goals and activities, as well as assessments thus enhancing the educators’ teaching practices.
- Formative and Summative Assessments: Also included in the curriculum are different types of assessment tools which enable teachers to determine changes in students and modify their teaching strategies as necessary.
- Professional Development: CommonLit 360 makes provision for professional development materials designed to assist teachers in successfully carrying out the implementation of the curriculum.
CommonLit 360 is not simply a bundle of lessons but rather a well-integrated package that enables the learner to deliver effective teaching.
Why You Should Choose CommonLit 360 Curriculum?
The CommonLit 360 curriculum has been developed considering two parties: students as well as teachers. In fact, the product is built to solve the current problems in education which is a great fit for schools and districts intending to improve on their ELA programs.
1. Educational Standards are met
What stands out among the above-mentioned merits of Common Lit 360 is utilization of the curriculum in conformance with state and national standards. Not only is the curriculum designed considering certain states but also Federal Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
- CCSS Alignment: The 360 curriculum has been developed with a great deal of seriousness to meet the Common Core expectations of students. All learning activities have clear standards linking every lesson so progress can be seen at every juncture.
- Adaptability: The materials are also diverse enough to encourage teachers from all states since they will be able to meet the varying standards. Whether you are in a state that follows the Common Core or one with its own system, CommonLit 360 can be positioned to your needs.
2. Differentiated Instruction
CommonLit 360 appreciates that students do not all learn in the same way. In order to meet this need, the curriculum provides a range of options where a variety can be used to modify instruction.
- Multiple Text Levels: Every unit has different texts that are of varied reading levels so that all the students, including at risk students or those who may be looking for something more advanced, will have text that they can work with.
- Scaffolded Lessons: The 360 curriculum also has in-built scaffolded lessons that are structured progressively as per the level of the student. So that no learner is disadvantaged from achieving his or her goal, all possible entry behaviors for all learners are able to achieve that.
- Instructional Supports: In cases when certain concepts or skills may be challenging for some students, there are other effective instructional supports including guided reading questions, graphic organizers and vocabulary lists that teachers can use.
3. Engaging and Relevant Content
Additionally, a very attractive feature of CommonLit 360 is the appealing and up to date resources. The aim of the curriculum is to draw the attention of students in order to make them want to investigate relevant issues and questions.
- Near-Modern and Old Literature: Students are nourished with both near-modern and old literatures as the syllabus has both. This is beneficial and very vital because it keeps a student interested and aids in the comprehension of the environment.
- Making Connections with Topics: The intention of the 360 units is to help the students learn how the content covers current issues, thus engaging the students in more relevant work. Such correlations will help the students appreciate learning and even the relevance of such knowledge in practice.
- Other Materials Used in Commonlit 360 Classroom Lessons: Apart from the usual reading materials, the CommonLit 360 curriculum has incorporated the use of films, songs, and games into the structure which helps in capturing the attention of learners in a different manner.
As CommonLit 360 focuses on standards, meets the needs of every student, offers a range of activities, it is sure to add value to LAL programs.
What Ways Does CommonLit 360 Help Teachers?
Teaching refers to a very stressful job, and teachers have to look for materials that can assist them in seeing to it that they teach efficiently and stress free. Commonlit 360 is supportive to the teachers and thus helps them to avoid struggle in putting the curriculum.
1. User-Friendly interface
Among the most dominant features of 360 is that it has a very user-friendly interface. Everything that teachers are likely to need has been put in one folder so that navigation is not haphazard and the site is very functional.
- Core Features: Easy access can be defined as teachers being able to search quickly for the lessons they need, the assessments and the professional development resources, hence saving time and stress.
- Lesson Planning for Teachers: Can your instructional difficulties and your curriculum be efficiently represented using some system? It is a fact of life that students do not learn at the same rate.
2. Unlimited Access to Curriculum Resources
Introducing a new curriculum is not easy, however, a reasonable transition may be achieved with the help of CommonLit 360, which offers lots of training and support.
- Sample Webinars and Workshops: Teachers may also engage in live webinars and workshops. These sessions cover how the curriculum works, which is key in actual implementation, and share tips on how best to implement the curriculum.
- On-demand Webinar Content: In addition to training in real time, there are lots of Common Lit offer which are contained in 360 including videos and articles that teachers may access at their convenience.
- Community of Practice: Other teachers using Common Lit 360 can access online communities for the significant purposes of discussion, and information exchange, and sharing o professional knowledge. Such a network has been found to be valuable in enabling teachers to obtain views and answer queries from other teachers.
3. Recurring Learning Opportunities
Professional development features prominently in the 360 curriculum. Under this, the program provides professional development opportunities for the teachers, enabling them to hone their skills and update themselves with literacy instructional best practices.
- Instructional Videos: The teachers can utilize a wide range of instructional videos that include numerous instructional content, for instance, on classroom dynamics and management to use of differentiated instruction.
- Articles and Research: CommonLit 360 contains many articles and documents that deal with different genres of literacy teaching that every teacher needs to assist him or her in information gathering.
- Collaborative Learning: The general structure of the curriculum is designed to promote collaborative learning with chances for pooling resources, planning lessons and evaluating lessons offered.
CommonLit 360 is easy! It provides teachers with various resources, continual assistance and further education which makes the teaching process more efficient and promotes development.
Implementing CommonLit 360 In The Classroom
There are an abundance of resources that CommonLit 360 provides to educators, however to successfully use them common sense needs to be employed. The educators must consider how they are going to integrate the curriculum and what aspects of it are most relevant to the other programs.
1. Process of Planning and Preparation
In order to achieve the proper and practical use of the 360 curriculum some logistical processes must be put in place from the commencement. Teachers should learn and understand the curriculum and then develop strategies on how it is going to further their general goals of teaching.
- Reviewing the Curriculum: It is essential for the teachers to consider review the curriculum in advance of individual units of work. In doing so, these involve consulting lesson plans, necessary assessments and professional development materials.
- Aligning with Existing Programs: Such consideration should include how CommonLit 360 fits within their existing CommonLit 360 programs and what changes if any may need to be made to achieve this.
2. Classroom Management Strategies
For a teacher it is never that easy in implementing a new curriculum due to some hitches such as classroom management issues. One of the issues is how planning of the days concerns how lessons will be organized and behaviour management among the students.
- Lesson Structure: CommonLit 360 these lessons are flexible and span a lot of contents and may be lengthy in duration however teachers need to consider these aspects and issues especially pertaining time management. This may call for splitting of lessons into small portions or some various activities in order to retain the attention of the students.
- Behavior Management: Every teacher has to think of the possible ways of controlling learner’s conduct during the 360 lessons. Such decisions may relate to how limits are imposed, how rewards and incentives may be extended to students or even how active learning and breaks will feature in the lesson.
3. Assessment and Feedback
Assessment plays a critical role in the life of the CommonLit 360 curriculum. Teachers have to answer the question of how best they will make use of the assessment tools that ESAG has given them and how they will make utterances to the students.
- Formative Assessments: 360 has a number of such formative assessments which teachers can implement as the incorporation of each student progresses in the unit. These assessments have been made in such a way that their main purpose is instructional.
- Summative Assessments: Towards the end of each unit of instruction, teachers will carry out summative assessment in order to evaluate what students have learnt. These assessments get aligned to state expected outcomes and help in monitoring progress over a duration of time.
There is a clear requirement for planning, classroom discipline and organization, as well as the assessment techniques in order to implement CommonLit 360 effectively.
Conclusion
In conclusion, CommonLit 360 is an integrated and systematic curriculum that works extensively in the resources and tools required by the learners and teachers.
To address the various requirements of the learners, the CommonLit 360 curriculum has been divided into different sections that build growth in literacy through interesting themes, rich content and informative assessment activities.
As a whole, CommonLit 360 is a most useful tool for any school or district that wants to strengthen its English Language Arts program.
