English Language Arts Standards post 1

I have been writing a post on the Common Core English Language Arts standards for about a week now... and I have come to the conclusion that there are too many for me to write about and summarize in one post.  I suppose I will have to break it up into at least two posts. 

One thing I do want to include in this post is the suggested texts for Kindergarten and 1st grade.  A selection follows:

Kindergarten

• Over in the Meadow (John Langstaff)
• A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog (Mercer Mayer)
• Pancakes for Breakfast (Tomie DePaola)
• I Read Signs (Tana Hoban)
• Amazing Whales! (Sarah L. Thomson)

1st Grade

• Mr. Poppers Penguins (Richard Atwater)
• Little Bear (Else Homelund Minarik, illustrated by Maurice Sendak)
• Frog and Toad Together (Arnold Lobel)
• Starfish (Edith Thacher Hurd)
• Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean (Arthur Dorros)

A caveat is noted in the standards, "Children at the kindergarten and grade 1 levels should be expected to read texts independently that have been specifically written to correlate to their reading level and their word knowledge.  Many of the titles listed above are meant to supplement carefully structured independent reading with books to read along with a teacher or that are read aloud to students to build knowledge and cultivate a joy in reading."

I love many of these suggested books and I think it is wonderful to include a variety of literature in the classroom.  In fact, right now I'm adding many of these books to my daughter's Amazon wishlist.