K-5 Literacy Curriculum
"Before you turn to the ins and outs of curriculum, to the anchor charts and the comprehension strategies and the stories of children learning to read, pause for a moment to picture the face of a young person you teach - someone you know well . . . Does your face light up when you wave to her? And when you think of all of them, their quirky, tousled, grubby, intent faces looking up at you, do you feel a tug in your chest, that tug of feeling so responsible for them all, for how they'll succeed in school and beyond? I know you do. We feel it deeply. And this is what I want to say: that is the the core of all that matters in teaching. Without that care, the greatest curriculum in the world is only paper and a little dry ink." (Lucy Calkins, A Guide to the Reading Workshop, Heinemann, 2015)
Now, as you start to 'dig into' the curriculum resources below, please remember that the research is clear on the essentials of Reading and Writing Instruction:
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Above all, good teaching matters! Be a learner and grow your thinking about best practice in the company of colleagues. Remember that readers need teachers who demonstrate what it means to live richly literate lives, wearing a love of literacy on their sleeves.
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Learners need enormous amounts of time for reading and writing.
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Learners need opportunities to read high-interest, accessible books of their own choosing. They also deserve to write for real, to write the kinds of texts that they see in the world and to write for an audience of readers.
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Learners need explicit instruction in the skills of proficient reading and writing.
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Learners need to be immersed in a listening and storytelling culture where their voices are valued and heard.
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Learners need teachers to read aloud to them. They need opportunites to talk and write in response to text. This is true for both reading and writing workshops.
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Learners need support reading and writing nonfiction texts and building a knowledge base and academic vocabulary through information reading and writing.
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Learners need assessment-based instruction, including feedback that is tailored specifically to them. They need clear goals and frequent feedback re: their journey toward reaching their goals. Struggling readers and writers especially need instruction that is tailored to their specific strenghts and needs, as well as extra time and extra help.
Clarkston's elementary curriculum for Reading and Writing is based upon a Balanced Literacy approach. A balanced literacy program is built upon the following components. Each component of the balanced literacy program is essential to ensure that our learners become proficient readers and writers. Click on the links below to access information about Clarkston's balanced literacy program.:
Reading and Writing Workshop Curriculum. A yearly scope and sequence of grade level specific reading and writing and units of study, daily mini-lessons, and teaching resources can be found on the Oakland Schools' Atlas Rubicon. These MAISA units were developed by Oakland School consultants at the request of the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and are modeled on the curricular calendars and reading and writing units of study developed under the direction of Lucy Calkins at Teachers College, Columbia Universtiy. Click on this link for directions on how to access the units of study for reading and writing from the MAISA site for your individual grade level.