November 29, 2013 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch Page 31 Common Core Shifts Language Arts Program Instructional Changes Outlined By TRAVIS BROWN STAFF WRITER Regional Digest FROM PAGE 30 offers free bicycle registration for Ocean City residents. Registration is quick and easy. It takes just a few minutes to record your personal information along with the identifying characteristics of your bicycle. The link for the bicycle registration program is easily accessible on the OCPD’s website. SNOW HILL – Much of the spotlight for the ongoing change to the national Common Core Curriculum (CCC) in Worcester County has followed changes to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). But there will be sweeping revisions to how English Language Arts (ELA) and literacy are handled as well, including an earlier focus on traditionally complex material. The instructional shift for ELA has “four cornerstones.” Snow Hill High School (SHHA) Principal Tom Davis and English teacher Jack Cleveland briefed the Board of Education Tuesday on what those new cornerstones will mean for students. “As far as writing is going, the focus is going to be on arguments rather than persuasion,” said Davis. The emphasis under Common Core will be 70-percent non-fiction material to 30-percent fiction material in high school. Cleveland isn’t worried about the new standards and compared adopting Common Core to “taking a new road trip.” The basics – car, road and destination of graduation – are all the same, he said. It’s just that the route has changed. “I think Worcester County has excellent teachers, we’ve been held to high standards, and we’re going to continue work hard to meet those standards and it’s a privilege to be able to work with all of you to do that, so thank you,” Cleveland said. The four cornerstones are Building Knowledge through Content Rich Non-Fiction, Reading, Writing, and Speaking Grounded in TextBased Evidence, Practice with Complex Text and Academic Language and Discipline Literacy Standards in Reading and Writing. Some of the most noticeable changes will be at what age students are introduced to certain texts. “Everything is kind of shifting down and it’s because of the rigor,” said Davis. “And I think it’s because of the global economy and we want to be competitive with everybody.” One example that he gave is that Hamlet, typically part of the ELA curriculum for seniors, might be taught as early as freshman year in high school now. Teachers aren’t just throwing students into the deep end, however. “In order for them to understand and deconstruct that complex text, they’re going to need skills,” said Davis. “And the skills that they’re going to need to have are, again, making inferences, establishing opinion and judgment, identifying purpose and understanding academic vocabulary. Vocabulary is another key focus coming out of the Common Core and the instructional shifts.” This shifting of perspective won’t be confined to texts but will touch on things like history and other forms of media. “I’m going to have kids not just looking at a film but also correlating it to the timeframe the film was created, perhaps, looking through the lens of the film maker,” said Cleveland, “not just in what they were seeing but what were the times the film maker lived in.” After hearing the breakdown of the new ELA, Board of Education member Bob Hulburd said that he continues to be excited with how Common Core will be shaping education in Worcester. Teaching students how to navigate challenging non-fiction both for entertainment and as a resource is something that Hulburd believes is critical for the global market that Davis mentioned. “The skills of being able to do that will just open the world of opportunity for the students,” he said. Hulburd expressed some concerns about the ratio of non-fiction to fiction under Common Core. But, according to Cleveland, the changes won’t deprive students in any way from important creative writing opportunities or the study of literature. Chapter Distinguished BERLIN – The Eastern Shore Chapter of Executive Women’s Golf Association was recently named as a Chapter of Distinction by national headquarters. The Eastern Shore chapter was one of three chapters to receive the award out of 120 chapters nationwide. The chapter was recognized for exceptional efforts in making a difference for members and the community. Some of the positive contributions the EWGA Eastern Shore chapter made include involving women in a game they can enjoy for life with a myriad of benefits such as exercise, stress reduction and “me time,” providing an outlet for members to make professional contacts and potentially grow their business, fulfilling a need by some to compete and making dreams come true for the winners of events and tournaments, giving members the opportunity to have fun, laugh, play and make friends for life, developing skills that can be used personally and professionally, and being a voice to the golf community through EWGA's advocacy efforts and the giving of time, talents and finances to causes that are important to the region. Outcry Leads ToState Farm Plan Fizzling Out By SHAWN J. SOPER NEWS EDITOR BERLIN – The Eastern Shore farming community breathed a collective sigh of relief last week after the Maryland Department of Agriculture announced it was postponing the implementation of the controversial Phosphorous Management Tool (PMT) and was going back to the drawing board on the controversial issue. The new tool developed by the University of Maryland would have determined acceptable levels of phosphorous in the state’s farm fields that leach into streams and tributaries and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. Under the proposal, if phosphorous levels taken at farm fields all over the state and particularly on the Eastern Shore exceeded the new standard, farmers would not be allowed to use organic chicken manure as farm fertilizer and would be forced to purchase much more expensive chemical fertilizers. The PMT appeared to be on the fast track for approval, despite overwhelming concern raised by the state’s farming community. Earlier this month, however, the Maryland Department of Agriculture announced it was postponing the implementation of the PMT after considerable public outrage was expressed at various public forums across the shore this fall and decided to go back to the drawing board with the plan. “The O’Malley-Brown Administration remains committed to adopting the PMT through rule making and developing an approach that further considers comments raised by policy makers and citizens alike,” said MDA Secretary Buddy Hance. “MDA is confident that the PMT science is sound, based on 20 years of evolving federal and state research to better understand soil phosphorous and managing risk of loss to our rivers and streams.” For Eastern Shore farmers and poultry growers, the MDA’s decision to postpone the implementation of the PMT was welcome news. Delmarva Poultry Industry (DPI) officials said this week with PMT was one of the most contentious issues facing Maryland farmers in recent memory. “No other regulatory or legislative issue in recent years has mobilized the agricultural community as much as this and our voices have been heard,” said DPI President Jenny Rhodes. “We appreciate Secretary of Agriculture Buddy Hance and Governor Martin O’Malley for listening to our concerns and allowing this matter to go back to the drawing board.” Mary Beth Carozza, an Ocean City Republican seeking the new District 38C seat, which includes much of Worcester and a part of Wi- comico, attended the hearings in Salisbury and Easton and supported postponing the implementation of the PMT. “After listening to individual families on their farms and attending the MDA briefings in Salisbury and Easton with approximately 400 concerned citizens at each forum, I joined in calling for the immediate withdraw of the proposed phosphorous regulations to allow time to work with the farm community on an economic evaluation as well as an extended phase-in based on sound science,” she said. “I also join with those elected officials who have expressed cautious optimism about the MDA’s decision to withdraw the proposed phosphorous regs and encourage the farm community and all constituencies to stay engaged and vigilant when MDA introduces new regulations in the future.” Many state lawmakers from the across the shore reflected the positions of their constituents on the proposed PMT regulations and voiced pleasure in the state’s move. “The department is making the right move by withdrawing them,” said Upper Shore Republican Sen. Stephen Hershey Jr. this week. “These regulations were not ready for prime time and they may never be. This is a victory for the farming community of the Eastern Shore. They fought back hard against these regulations.” MPT To Feature Combine Blessing SNOW HILL – Featured in an episode airing on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. will be the Blessing of the Combines in Snow Hill. Libby and Becky Payne and David Shockley are guides to this popular annual summer event, which honors the agricultural community while bringing more than 1,500 festival-goers to the town. MPT’s Maryland Farm & Harvest had its series debut in November 2013. The program puts a human face on Maryland agriculture, telling the stories of the people who grow food and fiber – from corn and soybeans to apples, poultry, milk and cheese. From locations statewide, the series chronicles the successes of and the challenges to the state’s No. 1 industry. The series airs on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on MPT-HD and is rebroadcast on Thursdays at 11:30 p.m. and Sundays at 6 a.m. Each show will also re-air on the secondary channel MPT2 on Fridays at 6 p.m.