The Apple Shouldn't Fall Far from Common Core: Teaching Techniques to Include All Students

The purpose of The Apple Shouldn’t Fall Far From Common Core: Teaching Techniques to Include All students is to offer teacher candidates, teachers, teacher educators, administrators, and other education professionals evidence based interventions to use when developing and implementing common core state standards or adopted state standards to children considered at-risk, English Language Learners, and students having disabilities. Certain evidence based interventions are offered in this book with the hope that readers will utilize the chapter author(s)' experiences and knowledge to inform their own practices. The evidence-based interventions selected for this book are considered common across the different accreditation bodies and critical for common core implementation. Other evidence based interventions have been selected for this book because they are important to the professional discourse and present additions to the more mainstream teaching, such as differentiation of instruction, universal design of instruction, and adaptions to the lessons, such as accommodations are presented.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Chapter 1: Eating Our Way to the Common Core: The Need for UDL by Denise Skarbek and Karen Hahn Chapter 2: Differentiated Instruction by Fern Aefsky Chapter 3: There’s more to Accommodations than Extra Time and Peer Buddies! by Karen Hahn, Denise Skarbek, and Patricia Parrish Chapter 4: This Is Where It’s “AT”: Using Assistive Technology with Students with Disabilities by Holly S. Atkins, Sylvia Rockwell, and Candace Roberts Chapter 5: English Language Learners and Common Core State Standards by Keya Mukherjee Chapter 6: The Struggling Reader and the Common Core by Lin Carver Chapter 7: Grades 3-8 Math Strategies for Students At-Risk, English Language Learner (ELL), and Students with Disabilities byDeborah Anne Banker, Angelo State University and Nancy A. Cerezo Chapter 8: Educational Leadership by Fern Aefsky Chapter 9: Accessing Common Core Curriculum for ELL, Students with Disabilities and Students Considered At-Risk Using Reflective Thinking by Denise Skarbek

About the Author :
Denise Skarbek is professor in education in the Graduate Studies at Saint Leo University, where she teaches coursework in exceptional student education. Her research interests include youth violence, sexual abuse, special education, and teacher education, particularly in the areas of teacher reflection, safe schools, and technology and its impact on children with special needs.

Review :
Overall, this is a worthwhile resource for educators looking to implement CCSSM with all students. I have been waiting for a book like this to help me lace together the planning and implementation of Common Core Standards to my diverse student population! This is the ultimate, ALL-inclusive go-to guide for beginning and veteran teachers alike. Not only does it encompass every aspect of educating each child; no matter the difficulty or disability they may have using the mandated CCSS curriculum, it also delivers explicit examples of the ‘how-to’ in a user-friendly format. It is a well-researched, practical, and enlightening read for ALL including administrators who would be wise to actively participate in its use as a book study for staff development. As CCSS becomes the framework k-12 educators need to embrace, so is the requirement for a more rigorous curriculum presentation to all students in each content area. The Apple Shouldn’t Fall Far From the Common Core: Teaching Techniques to Include All Students, provides strategic schemes for educators to consider the characteristics and academic learning needs of students with disabilities, and how to select appropriate accommodations that meet the specific learning needs of student. The examples provided of how to use reflective thinking steps for selecting effective accommodations for students with disabilities are simply brilliant. Apple Shouldn't Fall Far From the Common Core: Teaching Techniques to Include ALL Students is a practical, real-world resource for educators of all experiences levels. It easily serves as a tool to bridge instructional philosophies and intervention approaches to produce best practices that meet the needs of both typically developing and struggling students. A valuable book the brings together the Common Core Standards, Universal Design, Differentiated Instruction and RtI to support reading/ language arts and content area instruction for struggling students. This book provides teaching techniques that allows ALL students to access the general education curriculum. A connection of theory to practice is described by everyday challenges that educators face with real life solutions to ensure all students are successful with college and career ready standards.