Language Arts in Willingboro Public Schools
In Willingboro, we believe in our students' ability to excel as readers and writers.
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NJSLS |
Reading Workshop |
The New Jersey Student Learning Standards define general, cross-disciplinary literacy expectations that must be met for students to be prepared to enter college and workforce training programs ready to succeed. The K–12 grade-specific standards define end-of-year expectations and a cumulative progression designed to enable students to meet college and career readiness expectations no later than the end of high school. Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year’s grade-specific standards, retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades, and work steadily toward meeting the more general expectations described by the standards. https://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/2016/ela/
Guided ReadingWe believe in supporting readers where they are. We know that students in all grades come to school with varying levels of knowledge and skills. Guided Reading is a practice which supports readers right where they are. Guided reading is small-group instruction where the teacher supports each reader's development of "systems of strategic actions for processing new texts at increasingly challenging levels of difficulty" (Fountas and Pinnell). During guided reading, students in a small-group setting individually read a text that has been purposefully selected at their instructional reading level. The lesson is designed to support students in building the "in-the-head" networks of strategic actions for processing increasingly challenging texts. Through guided reading, students learn how to engage in every facet of the reading process and apply that literacy power to all instructional contexts.
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In Willingboro, reading instruction is grounded in the research that shows that kids need to read a lot of texts, with high comprehension, in order to move up levels of text complexity. Therefore, much time and effort in our classrooms is focused around supporting independent reading. Helping students set reading goals and find books they enjoy reading is of great importance at every grade level. We want to ensure that all of our students build a sustainable reading life. Reading workshop is structured to allow for students to read (eyes on print) every day for up to 30 minutes a day. Reading volume is vigilantly watched. We highly recommend additional time for daily reading practice at home. There is mounting research evidence which suggests that volume of reading is linked to attaining higher-order literacy proficiencies (Allington, 2012; Brozo et al, 2008, Cipielewski & Stanovich, 1992). Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding (1988) researched the relationship between the amount of reading done and reading achievement. They found that the amount of time reading was the best predictor of reading achievement, including a child’s growth as a reader from the second to the fifth grade.
Writing WorkshopWe believe in a cohesive approach to the teaching of writing. The writing workshop model is used in classrooms across the district in grades K-12. In grades 1 through 4 teachers are using a curriculum piloted at Columbia University, Teachers College. In grades 5-12 our curriculum relies on the structure of workshop teaching. The writing workshop model includes three key components: the mini-lesson (explicit teaching and modeling), the independent work time (students writing time) and a share session (opportunities to share work and new learning). We believe in our students' ability to excel as writers!
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