The Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts shift the balance of literature in the elementary grades to 50 percent informational texts and 50 percent literature. This balance is important in preparing students for later grades and non-literary texts.

The Common Core Standards in English Language Arts are standards for a wide-range of literacies, including reading and understanding History, Social Science, Science and Technical subject texts. This focus helps students build knowledge through reading and writing in the disciplines, as they are able to analyze primary and secondary sources, reference material, and experimental results.

The Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts expands the study of literary non-fiction in later grades. This allows English Language Arts teachers to utilize their expertize to cultivate students' deeper understanding of complex and varied texts.

The Common Standards in Literacy provide opportunities for students to delve more deeply into more varied texts, especially literary non-fiction. These texts inform us about the world and people's thinking about it, including many of the founding documents of our nation.

Student collaboration is key to success in college and career, and the Common Core standards for Speaking and Listening include collaboration standards. These standards focus on collaboration in multiple settings and ask students to be prepared and respectful, and to engage in problem-solving in formal and informal situations.

What does it look like to read a high-quality work of literary non-fiction? This presents a picture of how to present an in-depth analysis and discussion of Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Examples are drawn from specific, well-argued paragraphs, with an explanation of the cognitive requirements of the Standards.

Students who attain to the Common Core writing standards will possess the ability to write to inform and make arguments. This will require student analytical writing, the ability to render complex information clearly and to write across multiple disciplines.