Upper Dublin School District

Grades 2, 4 and 5

February, 2014

Strengths• Good variety of genres

• Skills and strategies are organized well.

• Sequential, organized, but needs to be updated for the Common Core   

• Adherence to the RTII model

• Encouraging students to read independently and choose books at their level

• Variety of text styles utilized

• Integration of writing and spelling to reading program

• Great Books

• Reading Olympics

Adjustments To Address The Common Core

• Still working on these adjustments

• Grade level team got together and created more critical thinking reading responses.

• They expect the students to be able to cite evidence from the text to support their answers.

• USING THE SAME MATERIALS, BUT CHANGING THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE WRITTEN RESPONSE (citing evidence)…also using materials from the Common Core…plenty of research on their own

• Teaching lessons outside of reading series to target areas of need

Use of specific programs for reading, writing, and grammar instruction

• Harcourt Trophies Program for Reading, Writing and Grammar

• Harcourt Writing is very weak and scattered, so we have created our own lessons that focus on the 6 traits of writing.

• We also use an Authors Workshop approach to teaching writing.

• Reading Harcourt…skills organized, theme approach

• Writing- related to Harcourt, but using state standards

• Grammar…Harcourt

• Our reading program has integrated writing and grammar (Harcourt Trophies)

• Writing program is not PSSA/Common Core appropriate

Holistic Approach Versus Instruction Broken Down By The Topics

• Mostly a holistic approach. However a little of both approaches are used.

• Authors Workshop fuses everything together.

Writing Process

• 6 traits of writing

• Authors Workshop

• Private pieces

• Learning the different types of essays, narrative, persuasive, expository

• Teaching voice, content, organization, etc….no set curriculum, but plenty of research (writingfix.com)

• Variety of topics and styles are taught independently

• We work outside of the series to address three modes tested in PSSA

Texts That Are Being Used • Harcourt anthologies

• RAZ kids

During Daily 5, the children listen to leveled books. The site is set up to the child’s level or within 1 or 2 levels

Children use the highlighter to cite evidence and help them answer comprehension questions.

Take quizzesHigher level questions Lots of response activitiesChoose their own book - a lot to choose fromAlso use RAZ kids for Guided reading

• Daily 5 reading books

• Harcourt Trophies

• Novels used in RTII

Assessments

• DIBELS

• Harcourt Theme Tests

• RAZ Kids Quizzes

• DIBELS and DAZE, along with holistic tests after each theme in Harcourt

• Holistic tests from Harcourt modified by school district

Technology• They use technology often

• Interwrite boards daily for various activities.

• RAZ kids (desktop computers, I pads, and laptop)

• Video clips for background knowledge

• I pad Apps

• Vocabulary power points each week

• I use A to Z for online books and activities and rwadworks.org to obtain reading selections. I use more technology for math!!!!!

Poetry

• Weekly poetry is worked into the curriculum.

• Poetry is used for decoding practice, comprehension, fluency, figurative language

• Using figurative language (moth unit) and present poetry books for Open house!

• Not enough

• Supplemented by the individual teacher

Nonfiction• Guided Reading

• Read alouds with Science and Social Studies themes.

• Non-fiction choices offered during Daily 5

• Using a lot of nonfiction, using articles from readworks.org and reading

• a to z….text features/citing direct quotes and comparing articles.

• Major focus this year.

• Part of the reading series

• Part of science and social studies instruction

 

Cross-curricular Units

Lower Grades:

• Many units are cross-curricular, containing many reading, writing, science and social studies activities.

DinosaursMatterNative AmericansOceansEndangered animals

Upper Grades:

• Not really done

Elements Of The Language Arts Curriculum That Make It

Rigorous• Teachers add their own ideas to make it rigorous

• Rigor added in RTII