Literacy/Language Arts
The South Windsor Public Schools literacy program adheres to the beliefs articulated by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the International Literacy Association (ILA):
“All students must have the opportunities and resources to develop the language skills they need to pursue life’s goals and to participate fully as informed, productive members of society. …Curriculum and instruction must provide ample room for the innovation and creativity essential to teaching and learning.”
The primary goal of the literacy program is to produce reflective, critical and creative thinkers through the language experiences of reading, writing, speaking and listening. Teachers meet the needs of learners by creating an interpretive community in which students are engaged in transforming information and experiences into knowledge and understanding.
Thoughtfully selected shared and mentor texts provide students with a wide variety of models for reading and writing. All students work with meaningful, grade-level fiction and nonfiction texts, in addition to practicing and applying literacy skills and concepts to other authentic texts, chosen based on interest, reading level, and/or thematic relevance. Strategic guided and small group reading pairs students with texts at their instructional level and provides a ladder for continuous literacy progress. Students construct and share meaning derived from texts through discourse and written response. Extended written pieces develop through a process, including prewriting, rehearsing, composing, conferring, revising, editing and sharing. Teachers incorporate varied and strategic instructional strategies to support the individual needs of students, continually scaffolding learning to involve reading and producing increasingly complex texts.
The Connecticut Core Standards for English Language Arts outline seven critical “capacities” or “habits of mind” of a “literate individual.”
Helping students to exhibit these capacities and “increasing fullness and regularity as they advance through the grades” is central to our literacy program.
Demonstrate independence
Build strong content knowledge
Respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline
Comprehend as well as critique
Value evidence
Use technology and digital media strategically and capably
Learn to understand other perspectives and cultures
Skills and Student Outcomes
What students should know and be expected to do by the end of the unit
Reading: Foundational Skills
Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print
Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables and sounds
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words
Literature and Informational Text
Ask/answer questions about key details in a text
Retell details from a text and demonstrate understanding of central message/lesson or main topic
Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas or pieces of information in a text
Identify the meaning of words and phrases in text
Know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text
Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text
Use illustrations and details in a text to describe its characters, setting, events or key ideas
Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text
Compare and contrast the experiences of characters in stories in two texts
Read literature and informational texts of appropriate complexity for grade level benchmark
Writing and Language
Communicate ides in writing
Demonstrate a command of the grade level conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking
Demonstrate a command of the grade level conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing
Speaking and Listening
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups
Additional Resources
Where to go for additional information and support
