Elementary Education

Primary classroom literacy instruction incorporates a Balanced Literacy Approach.  Phonemic awareness and direct phonics instruction is part of every classroom.  Best practices include Shared Read Alouds, Interactive Writing, Guided Reading Groups, and Readers and Writers Workshop.  Students engage in discussions, and write about the books they are reading.  They are introduced to a variety of genres which include literature such as fables, folk tales, and poetry.  Students also read informational texts, as well as biographies, and memoirs.

Guided Reading - is an instructional approach that involves a teacher, working with a small group of students who demonstrate similar reading behaviors and can all read similar levels of texts. The text is easy enough for students to read with the teacher support.

The classroom teacher meets with the students’ guided reading groups weekly to meet the needs of individual students. 

Writer’s Workshop is an interdisciplinary writing technique which can build students' fluency in writing through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing. Teachers coach students to write for a variety of audiences and purposes.   This method of instruction focuses on the goal of fostering lifelong writers. It is based upon four principles: students will write about their own lives, they will use a consistent writing process, they will work in authentic ways, and they will develop independence as writers.  Students have a large amount of choice in their topic and style of writing. The teacher acts as a mentor author, modeling writing techniques and conferring with students as they move through the writing process. Direct writing instruction takes place in the form of a mini-lesson at the beginning of each workshop and is followed by a minimum of 45 minutes of active writing time. Each workshop ends with a sharing of student work.

• K-5 Reading List by current grade
• K-5 Suggested Summer Reading by DRA Levels
• Summer Reading Log Entering Grades 3 to 5
• Summer Reading Log Entering Grades 1 and 2
• Summer Reading Log Entering K