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BPS LITERACY PROGRAM AND INSTRUCTION GRADES K
-5
Basic Elements of an Effective Literacy Program
1. Primary Literacy Team: The school has a Literacy Implementation Team (LIT) that insures the effective development and implementation of the school's literacy program. The LIT includes representatives of the administration, teachers from all service groups (regular education, bilingual education, special education, Title I), paraprofessionals, related service providers, and the librarian. The LIT administers the process to identify those students who are having the greatest difficulty learning to read, and ensures the provision of "safety net" interventions. The LIT examines all of the school's resources and develops a plan to maximize the potential contribution of every member of the school community to the goal of literacy for all students. The LIT 's plan becomes part of a school's Comprehensive School Plan. The LIT is a subcommittee of the School Site Council.
2. Effective Core Instructional Program: Good first teaching is essential to the success of a quality literacy program. A strong literacy program begins in a print-rich kindergarten and continues throughout the grades. Every day children read and have read to them several books; they explore the writing process, and build a foundation of strong oral language. There is a focus on literacy development in all subjects and in all grades throughout the school day. The Language Arts program emphasizes the ongoing integration of the six language arts (reading, writing, listening, speaking, presenting and viewing). Teachers and administrators work together to implement the citywide learning standards and to assess the individual progress of each student. Successful literacy instruction is characterized by:
- Reading Aloud
- Shared Reading
- Guided Reading
- Independent Reading
- Word Study
- Modeled Writing
- Interactive Writing
- Shared Writing
- Guided Writing
- Independent Writing
3. Assessment and Data Collection: A successful literacy program continually monitors and documents student progress. Teachers employ effective and efficient strategies to assess students' reading and writing (e.g. running records), and continually adjust their instruction based on their findings. In addition to looking at student performance data, the school also examines other data (attendance, special education referrals, referrals to health agencies) to identify students who may be experiencing difficulty in reading and writing and the problems that may be creating these difficulties. Important student data is available to all teachers and moves with students from grade-to-grade.
4. Safety Net Strategies: The school utilizes safety net strategies for students who are experiencing difficulty learning to read. These strategies may include tutoring by trained volunteers or paraprofessionals, early literacy groups, after-school programs, and highly structured one-to-one intervention programs. Some of these programs include explicit skill instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding and comprehension skills) that is sequential and multi-sensory.
5. Professional Development: Teachers, the principal, and paraprofessionals are engaged in ongoing professional development activities tailored to their needs and the needs of students. They learn research-supported instructional strategies. They engage in opportunities to reflect on their own practices and readings (study groups). They have opportunities to make structured visits to one another's classrooms. They participate in common planning time, peer observations, demonstration and practice lessons, coaching and mentoring opportunities, and other professional development activities.
6. Home-School Partnerships: Schools implement one or more strategies to help parents become successful partners in their children's literacy development. Examples include the Keep Book program, parent-to-parent visiting programs, and parent newsletters. Successful programs often focus on the following: helping parents create a literate environment at home; promoting high-quality verbal interactions between parent and child; modeling reading and writing at home; facilitating the location of adult literacy programs for parents; and offering suggestions about homework, reading and writing activities, and using the library.
7. Connections to Community Resources and Agencies: The school collaborates with community agencies, community schools, higher education institutions, and pre-school service providers to support students' overall literacy development, to increase volunteer involvement in schools, and to diminish the many health, social, and emotional problems that undermine reading success.
1. Reading Aloud
Reading aloud introduces students to the joys of reading and the art of listening. Students develop understanding of the patterns and structures of written language and learn new words and ideas. Through reading aloud students learn about and locate models of particular genres or forms of writing. They understand that the language of books is different from spoken language. Reading aloud offers the reader many opportunities to model reading strategies.
2. Shared Reading
Shared reading with an enlarged text, overhead or a text everyone can see provides an opportunity for all students to successfully participate in reading. Students and teachers share the task of reading the text which otherwise might prove to be too difficult for most children. During the reading, teachers identify and discuss the conventions, structures, and language features of written texts. The teacher demonstrates the reading process and strategies that successful readers use. The story is revisited many times and attention is drawn to phonics elements for blending words, sight words for creating word collections, unfamiliar words, as well as other skills that students need.
3. Guided Reading
The purpose of guided reading is to promote independent reading by helping students develop effective reading skills and strategies, fluency and confidence. Students are matched to appropriate instructional texts (read with 90-95 percent accuracy) determined by performance on a running record or reading inventory. During the lesson the teacher works with small, homogeneous reading groups that are flexible and change regularly based on students' needs. Because guided reading groups are comprised of students at similar stages of reading development, they present ideal opportunities for systematically teaching skills and strategies. Students read texts on increasing levels of difficulty, with each step providing opportunities for the kind of problem solving strategies that build independent reading systems. Students are prompted to use a skilled reader's strategies (predicting, questioning, confirming, checking, rereading and self-monitoring).
4. Independent Reading
The more students read materials they can read, the more they improve and progress toward independence. Teachers designate a specific daily time for independent reading and provide the rules for quiet reading. Independent reading provides students with the practice needed to gain fluency and independence. Students have access to a wide range of literature from which they can make choices. Teachers need to teach students how to choose books at their independent level to read successfully. Students need to read independently, not only books but also other printed material in the classroom. (E.g., poems, songs, pieces composed through interactive and shared writing, signs, directions, charts and posters). They read to themselves or with partners. Students may draw and write about the stories they read independently.
5. Word Study
Word study provides students with the opportunity to become aware of sounds in words and how they relate to symbols in written language. Word study prepares students to become familiar with Word Study (continued) both the visual aspects of letters and words and the phonological pattern of words. Beginning readers are taught the alphabet, the relationship between sound and letters, blending of sound-letter links, high frequency words as well as regular patterns. Students need a repertoire of strategies for recognizing words, including the use of phonics, context, word family patterns, and structural analysis that they can apply flexibly in a variety of contexts. When students cannot decode a word in context, the teacher models a number of different strategies, such as reading ahead a bit, using context clues, rereading, sounding out the word, or thinking of words that resemble parts of the unknown word.
6. Modeled Writing
Modeled writing is a think-aloud process. Teachers model their own writing processes including rethinking, revising, and editing. Students observe the teacher sort through various options and questions and making choices appropriate for the intended purpose and audience. Teachers show their own planning strategies, demonstrating that even expert writers work tentatively, revise often, and still may need to start over&endash;and over. Teacher demonstration and articulation of the process of writing is critical to student's understanding.
7. Interactive Writing
The teacher guides group writing of a large-print piece, which can be a list, a chart, pages of a book, or another form of writing. The teacher models and demonstrates the writing process and also shares the pen with the students. The text is constructed word-by-word with all students participating in various aspects of the writing. The teacher selects letters, words, or other writing actions for individual students to do. The piece of writing is read many times by the group during the process and as shared reading.
8. Shared Writing
During shared writing time, students share experiences and interests with the support of the teacher, to generate ideas and language for composing the text. Acting as scribe, the teacher helps them shape their words and ideas into a coherent message. The teacher coaches the process of putting ideas into written language. Editing and proofreading as a class, provides students the opportunity to practice strategies for self-correction and meaning making. Shared writing enables all students to participate and helps them to gain confidence when writing independently.
9. Guided Writing
Teacher demonstration and articulation of the process of writing is critical to student's understanding. During guided writing, students construct individual pieces of writing (with teacher and eventually peer guidance, assistance, and feedback). A guided writing session consists of a mini-lesson, writing/conference time, and sharing. The goal of guided writing is continuous growth in the writers as they learn more about the writing process.
10. Independent Writing
Independent writing provides an opportunity for students to practice using the writing strategies they have learned in modeled writing, shared writing and guided writing. Students write for authentic purposes, for different audiences and use a variety of styles. They write their own messages and stories, helping each other at times. They use journals to reflect and respond to what they are learning. They independently write their own version of a familiar text and illustrate, label, and write speech bubbles of what the characters would say. They are taught how to use the resources in the room to find words they cannot write independently. Teachers conference with students and encourage them publish their work. Observing independent writing helps the teacher plan for guided writing mini-lessons and suggests teaching points to raise during interactive writing.
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Agassiz School Literacy Program Grades K-5 Success for All is a comprehensive approach to restructuring elementary schools to ensure the success of every child. The program emphasizes prevention and early intervention to anticipate and solve any learning problems. Success for All provides schools with research-based curriculum materials;extensive professional development in proven strategies for instruction, assessment, and classroom management; one-to-one tutoring for primary grade children who need it; and active family support approaches.
CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT
The Success for All curriculum is based on current research on the ways children learn to read and write. At the heart of the program is 90 minutes of uninterrupted daily reading instruction. Beginning in first grade, children are grouped across classes and grades by reading level, giving most teachers the opportunity to work intensively with students at one reading level. Assessments are administered every eight weeks to ensure adequate progress is being made and to determine if tutoring or family support services are needed. Cooperative learning, embedded throughout the program, focuses on individual accountability, common goals, and recognition of group success.
The Early Learning Program (prekindergarten and kindergarten) emphasizes oral language development using
thematic units, children's literature, oral and written expres-sion, and learning centers. Pre-reading activities promote the development of concepts about print, alphabet famil-iarity, and phonemic awareness. Peabody Language Development Kits provide additional experience in language.The program is adaptable to full-or half-day schedules.
Reading Roots is the beginning reading program used in Success for All. It emphasizes a balance between phonics and meaning, using both children's literature and a series of interesting, enjoyable stories in which phonetically regular student text is enriched by teacher-read text. Students engage in partner reading and writing activities. Fast-paced, motivating lessons use puppets, sounds, chants, whole-class responses, and metacognitive skills training to build comprehension, fluency, and confidence in reading. Lee Conmigo provides the same program for students learning to read in Spanish. Components of Success for All
Reading Wings, for students reading at the second through sixth grade levels, is built around a school's existing novels, anthologies, or basals. It emphasizes cooperative learning activities in which students work in teams to improve strategic reading and comprehension skills and investigate literature. Alas para Leer provides the same strategies for Spanish readers. Writing is emphasized throughout the program as a method for creative expression and responding to literature. Students plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish compositions with feedback from teachers and peers.
ONE-TO-ONE TUTORING
One-to-one tutoring is the most effective educational intervention known. In Success for All schools, children experiencing difficulties learning to read &endash; especially first-graders &endash; receive daily one-to-one tutoring designed to reinforce classroom instruction from certified teachers or well-qualified instructional assistants. The tutor diagnoses student needs and tailors instruction to meet those needs.
FAMILY SUPPORT AND INTEGRATED SERVICES
Since a child's readiness to learn is often based on needs extending beyond the classroom,each Success for All school creates a Family Support Team to work closely with students, parents, and the community. This team typically includes the principal or assistant principal and program facilitator, as well as social workers, counselors, attendance monitors, teachers, and volunteers.
The Family Support Team plans activities to involve parents in their children's education, such as workshops on reading with children at home. The team also develops plans to meet needs of individual students having difficulty, closely monitors attendance, and integrates community and school resources.
FACILITATOR
Every Success for All school has a full-time facilitator, a certified teacher who helps faculty and staff implement the program. The facilitator provides teachers with counsel, support, and informa-tion through classroom visits, coaching, and frequent meetings. He or she organizes and monitors data from eight-week assessments and acts as liaison between teachers, administrators, tutors, family support staff, and parents to ensure that each child becomes a successful reader.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Professional development for Success for All requires three consecutive days of training for all teachers before the program begins. Success for All trainers return to the school for three two-day visits during the first year to work with the principal, facilitators, and teachers to build a strong implementation.Four additional days focus on the development of the Family Support and tutoring programs. Success for All trainers are available for telephone consultation during the year. Facilitators follow up on initial training with classroom visits, coaching, and team meetings.
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State Learning Standard 1 - Students will use agreed-upon rules for informal and formal discussions in small and large groups.State Learning Standard 2 - Students will pose questions, listen to the ideas of others, and contribute their own information or ideas in group discussions and interviews in order to acquire new knowledge.
State Learning Standard 4 - Students will acquire and use correctly an advanced reading vocabulary of English words, identifying meanings through an understanding of word relationships.
State Learning Standard 5 - Students will identify, describe, and apply knowledge of the structure of the English language and standard English conventions for sentence structure, usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.
State Learning Standard 6 - Students will describe and analyze how oral dialects differ from each other in English, how they differ from written standard English, and what role standard American English plays in informal and formal communication.
State Learning Standard 7 - Students will describe and analyze how the English language has developed and been influenced by other languages.
State Learning Standard 8 - Students will decode accurately and understand new words encountered in their reading materials, drawing on a variety of strategies as needed, and then use these words accurately in speaking and writing.
State Learning Standard 9 - Students will identify the basic facts and essential ideas in what they have read, heard, or viewed.
State Learning Standard 10 - Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the characteristics of different genres.
State Learning Standard 11 - Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of theme in literature and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.
State Learning Standard 12 - Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.
State Learning Standard 13 - Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the structure, elements, and meaning of nonfiction or informational material and provide evidence from the text to support their meaning.
State Learning Standard 14 - Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the structure, elements, and theme of poetry and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.
State Learning Standard 15 - Students will identify and analyze how an author's choice of words appeals to the senses, creates imagery, suggests mood, and sets tone.
State Learning Standard 16 - Students will compare and contrast similar myths and narratives from different cultures and geographic regions.
State Learning Standard 17 - Students will interpret the meaning of literary works, nonfiction, films, and media by using different critical lenses and analytic techniques.
State Learning Standard 18 - Students will plan and present effective dramatic readings, recitations, and performances that demonstrate appropriate consideration of audience and purpose.
State Learning Standard 19 - Students will write compositions with a clear focus, logically related ideas to develop it, and adequate detail.
State Learning Standard 20 - Students will select and use appropriate genres, modes of reasoning, and speaking styles when writing for different audiences and rhetorical purposes.
State Learning Standard 21 - Students will demonstrate improvement in organization, content, paragraph development, level of detail, style, tone, and word choice (diction) in their compositions after revising them.
State Learning Standard 22- Students will use knowledge of standard English conventions to edit their writing.
State Learning Standard 23 &endash; Students will use knowledge of standard English conventions to edit their writing.
State Learning Standard 24 &endash; Students will use open-ended research question, different sources of information, and appropriate research methods to gather information for their research projects.
Learning Standards 25 &endash; Students will develop and use appropriate rhetorical, logical, and stylistic criteria for assessing final versions of their compositions or research projects before presenting them to varied audience.
Boston Public Schools Citywide Learning Standards and Curriculum Guidelines The BPS Curriculum Guides in English/Langauge Arts (Grades 1-5) are downloadable to your computer ONLY as Microsoft Word documents. To read them, press the chalkboard icon below, save the document to your computer when prompted and then open it in the Microsoft Word Software Program.
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BPS Curriculum Guide & Citywide Learning Standards: English/Language Arts Grade 4 |
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