TXMary2 Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Classics like, To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye are among books that are being dropped from public education. They are being removed to make room for non-fiction books. The two referred to in the article sound like propaganda type books to me. What do you all think of this move? http://www.telegraph...curriculum.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 There is a thread here about it http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/444163-core-curriculum-reading-standards-change-yuck/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2pandc Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 I wasn't a huge fan of classics when I was in high school. I loved to read, but I don't remember loving a single book that I read in school. However, "Suggested non-fiction texts include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California's Invasive Plant Council." Are you kidding me? Invasive plant control and insulation levels? Can we get anymore dry? This is by far the strangest thing about common core I've ever heard. One more reason I will probably homeschool through high school. We were kicking it around to let them return to public school then if they wanted to play sports or have a larger varity of classes. (Small town without many co op type options...but a couple dual-credit college opportunities) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violamama Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 You might have already seen this, but here's a more conspiracy theorist view of the state of the ps core. Not sure I agree it's all nefarious and driven by $$$ but here's the article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/12/07/americas-next-education-crisis-and-who-benefits/?tid=pm_local_pop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I don't think the nonfiction books mentioned in the article sound like propaganda at all. I think they sound extremely boring. I *do* agree with the idea that high school students need to learn to deal with dense, complex text which is really only found in dense, complex nonfiction. However, this could easily be accomplished by having them read these sorts of things in conjunction with their history and science classes. Then they could leave the classics alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 That's what they're supposed to be doing. Some schools are shoving it onto the English teachers instead of spreading it around like it's supposed to be, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 You might have already seen this, but here's a more conspiracy theorist view of the state of the ps core. Not sure I agree it's all nefarious and driven by $$$ but here's the article: http://www.washingto...id=pm_local_pop Very interesting article, thanks for linking it! Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Our schools have adopted the Common Core this year, and my 9th grader has read a ton of classics this year. We've had fun with him telling me the plot and me telling him the title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Reminds me of the beginning of The Dawn Treader, where Eustace is described this way: He liked books if they were books of information and had pictures of grain elevators or of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools. or later when he doesn't recognize the dragon because He had read non of the right kind of books. I doubt anyone here questions the value of good non fiction books. But I also suspect that stories are what most of us would say shape the character, the thinking, the person who reads. Story is essential and is often an excellent medium for communicating information or "facts". Seeing the excellent books that our library system and public schools clear out each year (to our benefit as they land at thrift stores and used book shops), I suspect that the mandated reading lists will be anemic at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineW Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Our schools have adopted the Common Core this year, and my 9th grader has read a ton of classics this year. We've had fun with him telling me the plot and me telling him the title. Our local school district has also implemented the common core, and I don't see any signs that the classics are disappearing. My first grader just finished the first section of the Junior Great Books program as part of his "Just Right Reading" class. I do see the elementary students moving away from textbooks and toward better nonfiction reading selections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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