The two-strand design in K–2 refers to the CKLA program’s organization, in these grades, around two distinct blocks of language arts instruction, each with its own set of activities, materials, and goals. The Skills strand emphasizes supporting children’s acquisition of the written code of English—its spelling patterns, grammatical rules, and conventions—and practicing and applying these skills in meaningful activities to ensure automaticity and fluency. The Knowledge strand emphasizes teacher read-alouds that expose children to complex texts (beyond most children’s reading levels) across a rich set of coherent and systematically ordered texts and topics. The materials are designed to build knowledge in areas of history, science, literature, and geography. The lesson activities also emphasize vocabulary acquisition, develop related comprehension skills orally, and build oral and written expression skills. In both strands, children engage with meaningful texts, reflect upon these texts, and apply various oral and written language skills. 

-CKLA Curriculum: Links to Research on Teaching and Learning