School District of the Chathams English Language Arts Curriculum Presentation 2011

Our language arts program has been under construction!

Curriculum Revision of Grades K-5 ELA (English Language Arts) Core Content State Standards (www.corestandards.org) Adopted by New Jersey in June 2010 Curriculum documents revised summer 2010 Implementation of new documents 2010-2011 Purchase of Units of Study to support Writing Workshop Review/purchase of materials 2010-2011

Balanced Literacy Program Components include: Shared Reading Guided Reading Independent Reading Word Study Read Aloud Writing Workshop Writing Across the Curriculum Technology

What has changed? 2005 2010 Emphasis on literature Explicit teaching of skills in isolation Variation in topics taught by grade level Little integration of reading and writing in curriculum documents Balance of literature with informational text Integration of language arts Topics consistent across grade levels Integration of reading and writing throughout curriculum documents 2005 2010

Reflection… 2010 Curriculum Revision in English Language Arts represents documents that are… Consistent across grade levels Integrate the language arts Offer a balance of instruction in reading and writing Offer a balance between fiction and informational text; story writing and nonfiction writing skills

Our curriculum revision reflects the Common Core State Standards. Reading Units Reading Literature Reading Informational Text Independent Reading (Book Clubs, Literature Circles) Writing Units Writing about experiences (personal narrative, fiction) Writing about information (nonfiction writing, essays) Writing across the curriculum (RAFT)

Writing Workshop is a time to teach children how to write texts like other writers write- memoirs, stories, editorials, essays, poems- for an audience of readers, not just the teacher. teach children to write with meaning (above all else). Children are taught, explicitly, the skills and strategies of effective writing and the qualities of good writing. Children are provided with opportunities to cycle through the writing process.

Washington Avenue School students use Writers’ Notebooks or graphic organizers to find writing topics.

Our ideas begin as watermelons, but through the writing process,

we learn how to find the rich seeds within.

We use the writing process-

to plan, draft, revise and edit.

to share and even celebrate!

We use these strategies and skills to write across the curriculum

and to even demonstrate our writing proficiency on the NJASK

What parents can do… Provide opportunities for your children to write at home . Have writing materials, pens, pencils, notebooks and paper, available. Show an interest in what your child is writing at school and at home. Show your child how writing is a part of your life. Understand that writing is a life skill and the “small moments” that they are writing now will get them there.