Curriculum
Language Arts
In my classroom I will be using a variety of programs to meet all of the ELA Common Core Standards. Here are a few: Capit Phonics, Action Reading, The Daily Five, Into Reading and Words Their Way.
The Daily Five Literacy Centers - Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Word Work, and Work on Writing
Read to Self
Students will have the opportunity to read books that are at their individual DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) level, books that relate to the theme of the week, or one that they checked out from the school library. This helps students gain confidence and enhances their reading ability.
Read to Someone
Students will read Reading Street leveled books aloud with a partner to build fluency. Afterwards, the students will discuss the book and complete a readers response page to enhance their reading comprehension skills.
Listen to Reading
Students will either listen to a book on the iPad, CD player or computer. I have subscribed to Raz- Kids, a classroom website that lets me assign books to students based on their DRA level. Students can either listen to stories and take a quiz or use the headphones and mic to record themselves reading. Students who listen to fluent readers helps them gain an understanding of how books should be read, with flow and excitement.
Word Work
Our district has adoped the Words Their Way program as our spelling/word study program.
Students will be tested in the beinning of the school year to see what spelling group they fall into. Students will then be grouped by need and given a list of words to work on each week. During center time the students will use their words to do a variety of activities such as sorting by spelling pattern, word hunts, and reflections. Students will also work with letter tiles, magnets or stamps to create words, practice the phonics skills of the week and high-frequency words that correlate with Reading Street.
For more information on Words Their Way view this parent brochure:
Work on Writing
Students will practice writing a variety of pieces such as personal narractives, expository, persuasive, poetry and research papers. Each week we will also focus on one of the six traits of writing which includes voice, ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions.
Small Groups
While the students are at their literacy centers for 75 minutes I will be running a small reading group. I will meet with up to four students at a time to work on the 5 areas of reading: Vocabulary, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Comprehension and Fluency. I believe in meeting with every child every day, and these reading groups will help me provide a more individualized instruction to help meet the needs of all of my students. On Mondays we will practice our new Words Their Way spelling pattern sort (phonics). On Tuesdays we will meet to develop our reading comprehension skills. On Wednesdays we will review the week's sight words and read the leveled readers. On Thursdays I will meet with students to have them read their leveled Reading A-Z book and discuss their CAFE goal progress. On Fridays I will assess students.
RTI
RTI stands for Response To Intervention. Every afternoon I will set aside time to meet with students who are not making the grade level benchmark in Language Arts or Math. I will use student data to determine what area(s) to focus on and set a goal with each child. Then, I will plan lessons/activities to help them reach their goal and meet individually or a small group of students who need to practice the same skill.
INTO Reading - District adopted Language Arts curriculum
My goal is to move children toward higher-order thinking and college/career readiness. This Common Core program will assist me in teaching your child weekly vocabulary words, high-frequency words, phonics, comprehension and writing. Check your child's newsletter for information on the weekly skills.
Math
Engage N.Y. - District adoped Math curriculum
Since the Common Core expectations for math have become much more rigorous, I will be using the district-adopted Engage N.Y.math program.
Science
FOSS - District adopted Science curriculum
In my classroom students will learn science through hands-on activities, learning centers, and exploration. Some of the topics students will be learning about this year include Weather, magnets, five senses, animals and their needs and plants. For more information visit:
Social Studies
Harcourt SS - District adoped Social Studies curriculum
The students will be diving into the following Units this year:
Rules and Laws
Where People Live
We Love Our Country
Our Changing World
Meeting People
The Marketplace
*Our Reading program focuses on a science or social studies topic each week, so those subjects will also be incorporated into our daily reading/writing.
