Everything's a Conversation: Reading Away Isolation

In this excerpt from Chapter 2 of Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards: English Language Arts, Grades 9-12 (NCTE, 2011) 2010 Teacher of the Year Sarah Brown Wessling describes a transformation she experienced in her teaching of reading, and relates it to her understanding of text complexity in the Common Core English Language Arts Standards. She reassures other educators that regardless of their own teaching realities, "there is a place to begin."

In addition, a vignette shared by Danielle Lillge in this excerpt illustrates how a team of English language arts teachers from Oak Park, Illinois, has come together around the Common Core Standards with the commitment to change their instruction and improve student literacy.