Lorraine Griffith
Enveloped by the excitement of learning, Ms. Griffith became a National Core Knowledge consultant. During her summers away from the classroom, she traveled to schools across the country leading workshops that taught teachers how to write creative units that merge rich content with literature.
Ms. Griffith is a firm believer in providing children with a rich curriculum that helps them associate the words they read with vivid pictures in their minds. Encountering the word quixotic should conjure an image of Don Quixote and not just a memorized definition. Reading about a knight in shining armor should bring up the Middle Ages and the legends of King Arthur. In an effort to combine this focus on broad knowledge with a rich reading experience, Ms. Griffith began studying reading fluency. She has written reader's theater scripts for the Core Knowledge Foundation, taught workshops at CK conventions, and co-created "Toolkit Workshops" for teachers of Core Knowledge in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the co-author (with Dr. Tim Rasinski) of ten books that encourage children to voice the words of famous speeches, song lyrics, and poetry. Ms. Griffith believes that by reading with dramatic interpretation, students will internalize the words of history and better learn to comprehend what they read.
Blog
News
February 20 • In this Education Week webinar Lynne Munson talks about how the arts can play a powerful role in CCSS implementation. To register for the archived webinar, sign in here. Or view Lynne’s PowerPoint where she unveils high school-level TDQs comparing two works of art.
February 11 • This morning on Rick Hess’s Straight Up blog is a “thoughtful conversation” he had with Student Achievement Partners Founding Member Jason Zimba on CCSS, math in particular. Lynne Munson commented on the interview, and her views also can be read in today’s Common Core blog
December 17 • Check out Education Week’s article “Arts Education Seen as Common-Core Partner.” Education Week
July 18 • Common Core has announced that the New York State Department of Education has awarded the organization a third contract to develop 6th-12th grade mathematics curriculum and corresponding professional development aligned to New York State’s Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS). News release.
May 7 • Common Core receives glowing reviews for professional development offered in Beaufort County, NC. Read the full story in the Washington Daily News.
April 25 • Common Core’s Lynne Munson comments on the pressures of high stakes testing and the effect it can have on student learning in Roberta Munoz’s article “Make it of Break it: High Stakes Testing Pros and Cons” on Education.com
April 4 • Common Core has announced that the New York State Department of Education has awarded it two contracts to develop
Pre-Kindergarten-5th grade mathematics curriculum aligned to NY State’s Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS). News release.
April 3 • Common Core Creating Math Maps for New York State. News release.
March 27 • Common Core has announced that it is developing a series of CCSS-aligned K-8 curriculum maps in history and geography. News release.
March 21 • Check out Education Week’s coverage of Common Core’s “Truant From Schools: History, Science, and Art” event!
March 15 • Common Core releases data showing curriculum narrowing affecting all students.
March 9 • Common Core celebrates Virginia’s decision to abandon SB185, a bill that would have eliminated state mandated science and social studies testing for third graders. You can read more about this issue, and Common Core’s advocacy work, in this recent blog entry.
December 8 • Check out Education Week’s coverage of Common Core’s recent national survey of school teachers.
November 14 • Read Lynne Munson’s response to the latest NAEP results. Joanne Jacobs’s “Linking and Thinking on Education” and the Core Knowledge blog also highlighted her piece.