Shared Beliefs
Creating structures that nourish students to become readers and writers who think deeply, love books, have high expectations for themselves, and are prepared for college, career, and life is the ultimate goal for our learners. This culture of literacy must be grounded in a shared belief system
Text
We believe that using rich and authentic text to read, write, and think critically is vital to the development of lifelong literacy skills. Integrating relevant, engaging, and authentic text into the curriculum is an essential part of literacy instruction, and using authentic reading develops better readers. Teachers and readers must have access to books, articles, magazines, newspapers, infographics, digital resources, etc. that are authentic and connect to a diverse group of readers. Robust classroom libraries and purposefully curated school library collections provide access to authentic and diverse text. We create life-ready citizens when we flood students with authentic text and real-world literacy experiences.
Choice
We believe students should have the time to read something of choice every day. Giving learners choice allows them to explore new ideas, spark their curiosity, and enhance their motivation. Students are motivated to read when offered choice, and motivation can lead to deeper understanding. Students who read become stronger readers. Choice is facilitated through deliberate instructional decisions, robust classroom libraries, and purposefully curated school libraries. Access to high-quality, authentic text that allows for choice is essential for developing lifelong readers.
Discourse
We believe every learner needs time to engage in discourse every day in all content areas. Discourse is the act of speaking or writing to communicate. Talk is thinking. When students are given opportunities to talk and write about text, across any discipline, they make stronger connections that enhance learning. It is through discourse that students learn to share their thinking, justify and defend ideas, accept differing opinions, and communicate effectively. Having daily opportunities to engage in discourse across the instructional day strengthens literacy skills and builds lifelong learners.