Whitehall-Coplay Director of Curriculum & Instruction Dr. Barbara Chomik spoke about the instructional shifts in the common core standards during the Education/Student Activities Committee meeting Oct. 22.

The instructional shifts are tailored to Webb's Depth of Knowledge, which is the basis of the Keystone Assessments and questions tested on the PSSAs.

The depth of knowledge contains four levels, including recall and reproduction, skills and concepts, short-term strategic thinking and extended thinking.

Chomik presented the six shifts that will take place in the English Learning Arts/Literacy and Mathematic common core standards.

The six shifts in English include balancing information and literary text, which will allow students to read a balance of non-fiction and fiction; knowledge in disciplines, which will allow students to build knowledge about the world through text; staircase of complexity, which will allow students to read grade-appropriate texts; text-based answers, which will allow students to discuss the work based on the text; writing from sources, which emphasizes the use of evidence from a source to inform and create an argument; and academic vocabulary, allowing students to constantly build vocabulary.

"We are in the process of adding more informational pieces," said Chomik.

The six shifts in mathematics include focus, which will narrow and deepen focus on concepts prioritized in standards; coherence, which connects learning across the grades so students can build new understandings on to foundations of previous years; fluency, which will helps students memorize simple calculations through repetition; deep understanding, allowing students to understand the concept and not just the procedure; application, using math properly when not prompted to; and dual intensity, which includes practicing and understanding.