LANGUAGE ARTS LITERACY

CURRICULUM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REVISED 2007

 

Woodbine School District

 

 

Language Arts Literacy Curriculum

 

 

Adopted __2007-2008 School Year_

 

 

 

 

Superintendent:   Mrs. Lynda Anderson-Towns

 

 

 

Committee Members

 

Grade K-2

Mrs. Candace Young

 

Grade 3-4

Mrs. Courtney Hearon

 

Grade 5-8

          Mrs. Sharon Popper

 

Special Education/Basic Skills:

          Mrs. MaryAnne Barile

 

          Mrs. Sharon Gunn

 

          Ms. Pauline Hopp

 

          Mrs. Karen Rinck

 

Consultant:

         Ms. Rosemary Howell        
                           Language Arts Literacy

 

Overview/Philosophy

 

 

 

Language is the primary instrument for making sense of the world and a means to connect with others.  (New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards).  Literacy is viewed as the ability to think as well as to know how to acquire knowledge for thinking and communicating. Literacy is recognizing one’s own purposes for thinking and communicating and being able to use one’s own resources to achieve those purposes.  Literacy is developed through reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing. 

 

According to Gambrell and Mazzoni in Principles of Best Practice: Finding the Common Ground (1999), becoming literate in the twenty-first century involves the development of four basic abilities.  These include independently using strategies to construct meaning, using texts to build conceptual understanding, effectively communicating and intrinsically valuing reading and writing

 

Key members of the learning community, including parents, teachers, students, administrators and citizens, must collaborate in their support for effective literacy practices for all students.  This is important to help students effectively meet the challenges of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards.  It is equally important to prepare students to function successfully in a literate society.  To achieve this dual purpose, both the strategies and structures of the literacy classroom must be reflective of the best practices in literacy instruction.

 

Strategies for becoming effectively literate should be an integral part of every-day experience.  Students and teachers need to be comfortable with using the common language of readers and writers.  This includes teachers modeling effective literacy behaviors.The classroom climate should be one in which “risk-taking in safety” is encouraged so responsible decision-making and problem-solving behaviors can be developed.  Students should actively participate in their literacy development by making choices about selection of topic, text, and tasks.  Social interaction should be integrated into all aspects of literacy instruction and extended across all curriculum areas to enhance understanding (Fletcher 1993; Lane, 1993).

 

In the area of classroom organization and structures, adequate blocks of time must be available for sustained attention to meaningful tasks involving authentic use of literacy behaviors.  The program should be balanced with adequate attention being given to reading, writing, speaking, viewing and listening, both within the language arts time block and across the curriculum. The importance of both the processes and products of literacy must be noted.  In developing a literate classroom, instructional materials should be varied and should complement authentic literacy tasks. Real books, articles, and artifacts of literacy should dominate classroom literacy experiences, rather than basals or textbooks (Fisher, Flood & Lapp, 1999; Roser & Hoffman, 1999).  Skills critical to literacy development, such as grammatical usage and conventions of print, must be taught within the context of legitimate literacy tasks, rather than in isolation.  Teachers must incorporate direct instruction into classroom literacy experiences, rather than merely assign work or “mention” instructional strategies or techniques (Bromley, 1998).

 

A variety of approaches and materials ensures that all students can be successful in becoming literate.  Effective classroom organization offers opportunities for student choice through self-selection of reading materials, writing topics and literacy centers.  Essential components of a balanced literacy program include writers’ workshop, readers’ workshop, guided reading, literature discussion groups and word study.

 

Research-based instructional practices maximize and accelerate literacy development.  Flexible grouping of children within the classroom by ability, interest, task, etc. will accommodate individual needs.  (Reutzel, 1999).  Assessments matched to and reflective of the literacy activities are part of every-day instruction.  Multi-dimensional assessments incorporate a variety of ways for students to demonstrate literacy knowledges (Winograd & Arrington, 1999; Cunningham & Allington, 1999).

 

Within this framework, all members of the classroom community will successfully use the language arts to communicate, analyze, evaluate, gain knowledge and enrich their understandings of events and ideas.  Students will also gain the necessary competencies to think critically and become self-directed learners who can be successful in an ever-changing global society.

 

 

Goals

 

So that they achieve the benefits and characteristics of members of a literate society, Woodbine Elementary School has identified the following goals for students:

 

·        Develop an intrinsic value for all aspects of literacy: reading, speaking, listening, writing and viewing.

·        Acquire the attitudes and habits of literate persons.

·        Use strategies to analyze, interpret, and creation texts.

·        Use literacy tools to extend understanding, gain new information and create original works.

·        Collaborate with others in the construction of meaning. 

 

Our vision is to develop a community of learners who value literacy and use it in their everyday lives for pleasure, purpose and enrichment, both for themselves and for the world around them.

 

 

 

Curriculum Framework

 

Instruction in Language Arts Literacy will formally begin in Kindergarten and proceed through eighth grade.  Reading and writing instruction will be integrated to maximize opportunities for literacy learning to be developed.  Integration of content and strategies across the curriculum will be incorporated at all grade levels.

 

In the primary grades (K-2), curriculum materials will be integrated so as to allow literacy to emerge as part of every-day experience.  Core literature will be selected to correlate with thematic units of study that bridge social studies, science and the related arts.  Additionally, blocks of time for Writers’ Workshop, Readers’ Workshop, Guided Reading and word work/spelling will be provided within the daily schedule.

 

In the middle grades (3-4), blocks of time for literature discussion groups, readers’ workshop, guided reading, writers’ workshop, word work/spelling will be provided within the daily schedule.  Integration of literary tasks with other content areas will be incorporated wherever feasible.

 

 In the upper grades ( 5-8 ), opportunities for flexible scheduling will be provided to create sustained blocks of time for completion of literacy tasks.  Readers’ Workshop, Writers’ Workshop, core literature study, Guided Reading, literature discussion groups and word work/spelling will provide structures for individualization of instruction and accommodation of diversity within the language arts classroom.  Integration of literature with units of study in other content areas will be utilized as appropriate.

 

Special education teachers at all grade levels may need to adapt and modify the literacy program for their students based on individual needs and IEP specifications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGE ARTS LITERACY

  EXPECTATIONS AND ELABORATIONS

 

 

 

 

Kindergarten – 2^nd Grade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kindergarten

First Grade

Second Grade

 

Language Arts Proficiencies

And Elaborations

 

 

Oral Language

Proficiency #1:  Develops the ability to use oral language to understand, communicate and express ideas

 

Reading

Proficiency #2:  Develops attitudes and strategies for becoming a life-long reader 

 

Writing

Proficiency #3:  Develops attitudes and strategies for applying writing in a variety of life situations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kindergarten – First Grade – Second Grade

LANGUAGE ARTS LITERACY

PROFICIENCIES AND ELABORATIONS

 

Proficiency level for each behavior below reflects the expected standard of achievement by the end of second grade.

 

 

	K	1st	2nd
1.      Enjoys listening to/reading books	I	D	C
2.      Participates in shared literacy experiences	I	D	C
3.      Listens attentively when others are speaking	I	D	C
4.      Articulates clearly with expression	I	D	C
5.      Successfully uses language orally to express ideas	I	D	C
6.      Listens, understands and follows multi-step directions	I	D	D
7.      Develops confidence in speaking	I	D	C
8.      Uses appropriate forms of language.  (See Appendix A for list of grammatical structures.)	I	I/D	D
9.      Adjusts listening for a variety of purposes in different settings		I	D
10. Recognizes elements of verbal and non-verbal communication such as eye contact, volume, gestures and visual aids			I
11. Uses fix up strategies to aid in listening comprehension asks for help restates/cross checks with speaker		I	D
12.  Uses a variety of strategies and activities to access prior knowledge such as brainstorming, listing, discussing, drawing, role playing and note-taking for finding and developing ideas for speaking			I

                                                                                                                             

 

		K	1st	2nd
Attitudes/Habits
1.      Selects reading or listening center as a choice/enjoy reading independently		I	D	D/C
2.      Self-selects appropriate books			I/D	D
3.      Develops appreciation for various genres of literature			I	D
4.      Recognizes genre features and compares work by different authors				I
5.      Develops an appreciation for literary works of a variety of authors and illustrators reflecting different cultures, ethnicities, genders and ages		I	D	D
6.      Works cooperatively with others in varied grouping structures, such as pairs, small groups, whole class, etc. on assigned literacy tasks			I	D
7.      Collaborates with peers in constructing meaning from texts			I	D
8.      Draws on personal experience for reading			I	D
Strategies
1.      Understands that print carries meaning		I	D	C
2.      Recognizes name in many contexts		I/D	D/C	C
3.      Understands/uses conventions of print in reading:
-directionality		I/D	C	C
-one-to-one correspondence		I/D	D	C
-letter-sound association		I/D	D/C	C
-punctuation		I	D	D/C
4.      Responds to questions, text, pictures		K   I	1st   D	2nd   C
5.      Identifies upper-case letters of alphabet		I	D/C	C
6.      Identifies lower-case letters of alphabet		I/D	D/C	C
7.      Applies cueing systems (sources of information):
-uses meaning cues (semantics)			I/D	C
-uses picture cues			I/D	C
-uses structural cues (syntactics)			I/D	D/C
-uses visual cues:
-initial/medial/final consonants			I/D	C
-consonant diagraphs/blends			I/D	C
-vowels and vowel diagraphs			I/D	C
-clusters, chunks, word families			I/D	C
-onset, rime			I/D	C
8.      Understands and uses structural patterns in words to decode (e.g., contractions, compound words, variant endings)       [see Appendix B for listing of structural patterns from Word Matters, Pinnell & Fountas, 1998]			I/D	D
9.      Uses cross-checking			I/D	D
10. Self-corrects for meaning			I/D	D
11. Reads fluently:
-uses phrasing			I/D	D
-uses expression			D	D
-interprets punctuation			I/D	D
-develops awareness of conventions (e.g. italics, bold, print, elipses, etc.)				I
12. Recognizes vocabulary in context		I	D	C
13. Figures out new vocabulary from context		I	D	D