CURRICULUM IN A NUTSHELL

A FAMILY GUIDE TO

SOUTH KINGSTOWN’S K – 5 CURRICULUM

Reading

Writing

Mathematics

Science

Dear Parent or Guardian,

Curriculum in a Nutshell was designed to provide families with an overview of the expectations and experiences their children will have as they progress through elementary school. This guide maps the development of skills and concepts in reading, writing, mathematics and science. It also outlines some of the assessments that may be used throughout a child’s elementary education.

This guide is also intended to serve as a resource, so that parents may become partners in their child’s education. By learning more about the curriculum, you will be able to enhance this learning through family discussions, a trip to the library, or sharing a bedtime story. When children see their families are interested in what they are learning in school, they will place a greater value on their schoolwork.

While our intent is to provide you with an overview of our curriculum goals, we realize this scarcely explains all that a child experiences in elementary school. We hope you will add to your understanding of these goals and experiences by attending open house at your child’s school and by talking with your child’s teachers and administrators.

With best wishes for a successful year,

Mary E. Kelley

Assistant Superintendent

READING

“To teach all children to read and write, we must teach each child to read and write.”

(Kame’enui, 2002)

South Kingstown has recently adopted a new English language arts curriculum. The reading component of this document draws upon the New Standards Primary Literacy Standards as well as the New Standards Performance Standards. It stresses a balanced approach to literacy with emphasis on the five major elements of reading instruction: phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

READING in a NUTSHELL

Reading has been defined as the process of understanding written language. It is a simple statement, yet it describes such a complex skill. Learning to read is essential, and the decisions we make regarding reading instruction must be based on solid research, exemplary teaching practices, and an understanding of how children develop as learners. What follows is a brief explanation of some terms you may encounter in your child’s literacy instruction and the various grade level expectations:

· Balanced Literacy - an instructional model that combines interactive read aloud, guided

reading, independent reading, and explicit instruction

· Comprehension - the understanding of the text read

· Fluency - the ability to read a text accurately and quickly, with smoothness

and expression.

· Guided reading - a teaching technique in which a student or students read –

mostly silently – a carefully chosen book at their reading level, and

the teacher supports, teaches, and evaluates as necessary

· Personal Literacy Plan - an action plan to ensure that all students become proficient readers who

read at grade level.

· Phonics - the relationship between the letters of the written language and the

individual sounds of spoken language.

· Phonemic awareness - sensitivity to and awareness of the fact that sounds make up spoken

words

· Reading level - the degree to which a student can read and comprehend a text.

Reading levels are independent, instructional and frustration.

* A personal literacy plan will be drafted for those students who are struggling with the essential

elements of literacy.

	PHONICS	PHONEMIC AWARENESS	FLUENCY	VOCAB- ULARY	COMPREHEN-SION	GRADE LEVEL FOCUS
K						Knowledge of letters and sounds
1						Understand print-sound code and begin reading with fluency and stamina
2						Deepen understanding of print-sound code and begin focus on comprehension and reading strategies
3						Focus on folklore, fables, and fairy tales. Nonfiction focus on autobiography, informational picture books
4						Focus on realistic fiction. Nonfiction focus on biographies and life-cycle animal books
5						Focus on historical fiction. Nonfiction focus on essays, diaries, journals.

Kindergarten concepts:

In kindergarten, our students begin to think and act like readers. They focus on early concepts of print, and they are provided with direct instruction in letter recognition and sight words, as well as letter and sound knowledge.

Through varied literacy instruction, kindergarten children learn to:

· Recognize and name the letters of the alphabet

· Recognize his or her own first and last name

· Understand letter/sound relationships

· Recognize and produce rhyming words

· Hold a book appropriately and turn the pages in the correct direction

· Follow the text with a finger, point to each word as it is read

· Retell a favorite story in their own words

· Use picture words to aid in comprehension

· Identify and discuss characters, settings and events in a story

· Read some words, including high frequency sight words (I, me, cat, big)

Assessments:

To assess these skills, teachers will use a variety of instruments ranging from Harcourt (the district reading series), to the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) and PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening).

Grade one concepts:

Literacy is the central focus of the first grade program. Throughout the year, students work on phonics, building sight vocabulary and on fluency. They begin to monitor and self-correct their reading errors. First grade instruction also emphasizes comprehension.

Using varied instructional methods, first grade students learn to:

· Understand and use letter/sound knowledge (decoding).

· Recognize an increasing number of high frequency words (the, one, said, each, like, from)

· Notice whether words make sense in context

· Make predictions about what might happen next

· Know the main parts of a book (title, author, page numbering, chapter headings, and table of contents

· Relate their reading to personal experiences

· Read different types of books – from fiction to non-fiction

· Talk about several books on the same topic

· Refer directly to parts of the text when presenting an argument

Assessments:

To assess these skills, teachers will use a variety of instruments ranging from Harcourt (the district reading series), to the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) and PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening).

Grade two concepts:

Literacy instruction at this grade level continues to focus on strengthening and extending reading skills. Throughout the year, students work to increase fluency and acquire significant vocabulary. There is continued emphasis on monitoring and self-correcting reading errors, accuracy and reading with phrasing and expression. In the second grade, instruction shifts to a stronger emphasis on reading for meaning of the whole story or sections of non-fiction text.

Through varied reading instruction, second graders learn to:

· Automatically decode one and two syllable words

· Use a variety of comprehension skills during reading to monitor for understanding (retelling, clarifying, predicting)

· Identify and discuss story elements such as character and setting

· Retell a story in time order sequence

· Understand the use of charts and graphs for non-fiction

· Make connections between texts and real life experiences

· Use evidence from the text to show understanding and to draw and/or support a conclusion

· Understand common idioms and figurative language (smart as a fox; can’t believe my ears)

Assessments:

To assess these skills, teachers will use a variety of instruments ranging from Harcourt (the district reading series), to the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) and PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening).

Grade three concepts:

The grade three literacy program further develops the skills and strategies necessary for reading and understanding texts, and it does this while continuing to nurture students’ interest in a variety of literature. Through a program rich in fiction and non-fiction, students continue to acquire vocabulary, and to apply multiple reading strategies, while fluently reading increasingly more complex texts. Third grade reading emphasizes three levels of comprehension: initial understanding (locating and retelling information), interpretation (making connections and drawing conclusions), and critical analysis.

Third grade students learn to:

· Use a variety of comprehension skills during reading to monitor for understanding (retelling, clarifying, predicting)

· Identify and discuss story elements such as plot, character, setting, theme and point of view

· Recognize and talk about the organizing structure of a book (table of contents, glossary, chapters, etc).

· Use evidence from the text to show understanding and to draw and/or support a conclusion

· Compare the observations of the author to their own when reading non-fiction texts

· Make connections between texts and real life experiences

· Draw simple conclusions from charts, graphs, maps, and diagrams

· Read twenty-five books representing a variety of fiction and non-fiction choices.

Assessments:

To assess these skills, teachers will use a variety of instruments ranging from Harcourt (the district reading series), to the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment).

Grade four concepts:

The fourth grade literacy program broadens the development of skills and strategies necessary for reading and understanding through the use of increasingly more complex texts. Through a program rich in both fiction and non-fiction, students continue to build extensive vocabulary and apply multiple reading comprehension strategies. Fourth grade reading expands on the skills taught in third grade through continued work in initial understanding (locating and retelling information), interpretation (making connections and drawing conclusions), and critical analysis.

Fourth grade students learn to:

· Use a variety of monitoring and self-correcting strategies (re-reading, reading ahead, visualizing, retelling, clarifying, and summarizing)

· Identify and understand an author’s purpose for writing, including to entertain, to inform, or to explain

· Identify and expand discussion of story elements such as plot, character, setting, theme and point of view

· Use evidence from the text to show understanding and to draw and to support a conclusion

· Make solid connections between texts and real life experiences

· Draw conclusions from information in charts, graphs, maps, and diagrams

· Read twenty-five books representing a variety of fiction and non-fiction choices.

Assessments:

To assess these skills, teachers will use a variety of instruments ranging from Harcourt (the district reading series), to the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment).

Grade five concepts:

In fifth grade, students are preparing for middle school, and the focus is on further increasing reading skills and comprehension strategies. Students at this grade level begin to examine persuasive writing techniques and the impact of an author’s viewpoint on a literary work. They also expand their reading to include more non-fiction such as essays and diaries, and in fiction, they analyze the various elements of a good story. Finally, grade five students refine their ability to cite evidence from a text, to make connections, and to draw conclusions.

Fifth grade students learn to:

· Continue to use a variety of monitoring and self-correcting strategies (re-reading, reading ahead, visualizing, retelling, clarifying, and summarizing)

· Identify and understand an author’s purpose for writing, including to entertain, to inform, to explain, or to persuade

· Identify and discuss story elements such as plot, character, setting, theme, point of view, and mood

· Continue to use evidence from the text to show understanding and to draw and/or support a conclusion

· Make increasingly more sophisticated connections between texts and real life experiences

· Draw conclusions from information in charts, graphs, maps, and diagrams

· Read twenty-five books representing a variety of fiction and non-fiction choices.

Assessments:

To assess these skills, teachers will use a variety of instruments ranging from Harcourt (the district reading series), to the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment).

WRITING

Writing is not just a matter of making lists and drafting entries and turning details into drafts, it is also a matter of keeping ducks in a city apartment, of watching a shaft of sunlight turn a bale of hay into gold, of remembering recess games and taunts. When we teach writing, we teach young people to live differently because they write,

(Calkins, 1991)

WRITING in a NUTSHELL

South Kingstown’s newly adopted English language arts curriculum outlines writing as a process. In the early grades, children are engaged in think-alouds and shared writing, strategies where the teacher does the actual writing while scaffolding a child’s language and ideas. This process helps students to understand what makes good writing, and provides them with needed support as they move from guided writing to independent writing. By the end of third grade, students are using the writing process in a variety of writing genres as they prepare for the Rhode Island Writing Assessment.

	Shared Writing*	Interactive Writing*	Guided Writing*	Independent Writing*	Prewriting	First Draft	Revise	Edit	Publish
K
1
2
3
4
5