Curriculum & Instruction

ELA/Literacy Curriculum Updates:

The Focus curricula, from the Boston Public Schools Early Childhood Department, incorporates educational principles that enhance the overall growth and autonomy of young learners, integrating research-backed instructional methodologies while aligning to the Massachusetts and Common Core Curriculum Frameworks. 

Focus activities are designed to nurture students' emerging independence as both learners and responsible members of society, fostering connection, communication and collaboration skills. The framework was crafted to ensure synergy among its components, promoting students' proficiency in literacy and language, science and engineering, social studies, the arts, and social-emotional development. Literary and informational texts take center stage in each unit, serving as catalysts for conceptual learning, vocabulary enrichment, and the cultivation of critical thinking skills. Each unit incorporates dedicated Writing, in addition to integrating Social Studies and Science standards that are complemented by the CPS Science and S.S. units. 

In addition, all elementary students participate in explicit, daily, research-based phonemic awareness and phonics instruction, ensuring their proficiency of foundational literacy skills.

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This rigorous, research-based, knowledge-building curriculum was reviewed and revised by an interdisciplinary team of educators and district leaders to ensure all students have access to high quality, culturally responsive materials and practices. 


Amplify CKLA is a top-rated literacy program that offers explicit, systematic instruction in reading, writing, speaking and listening (Skills blocks) alongside knowledge-building content (Knowledge blocks) that deepen students' vocabulary, world knowledge and comprehension skills through units focused on world history, science, literature, and the arts.  


CKLA provides educators with the tools necessary to ensure all students, especially those furthest from justice, achieve and maintain strong academic outcomes. 




The Fishtank ELA curriculum guides students in acquiring knowledge, nurtures social-emotional skills, and builds pertinent vocabulary from carefully chosen texts that gradually increase in complexity. Each unit encourages students to expand their understanding of themselves, the surrounding world, and their capacity to instigate change. The selected texts facilitate discussions and writing activities that contribute to the development of students' agency, empathy, and ability to connect with diverse experiences. Essential Questions within each unit challenge students to think critically about the world from various perspectives, grapple with and explore pertinent social justice issues, learn about experiences different from their own, and reflect on their beliefs about the world. Fishtank's methodology aligns with the Science of Reading, emphasizing the gradual enhancement of students' knowledge and vocabulary through texts rather than focusing on isolated skill-based instruction. As students accumulate knowledge from the core texts and supplementary materials, they gain the capacity to independently engage and respond (both orally and in writing), with diverse and intricate media and literature. 



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Department courses strengthen students' knowledge, skills and academic independence, preparing them for lifelong success through an emphasis on critical thinking, reading, writing and discussion. All courses emphasize:

These translated guides to the MA learning standards help families understand what students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of each grade.