A closer look into our ELA classroom:

»Interactive Read Alouds will promote the joy of reading, develop student vocabulary, and increase their ability to think, talk, and write about texts that fully engage their interest.

»Mini-Lessons will be concise, purposeful lessons with a practical application in a specific area of literacy. Each mini-lesson engages students in an inquiry that leads to the discovery and understanding of a general principle. Each of the four types of reading mini-lessons includes management, literary analysis, strategies and skills, and writing about reading)

»Spelling using Words Their Way is a developmental spelling, phonics, and vocabulary program. An assessment is given to determine where to begin instruction. Based on assessment results students are given words to study to discover the common attributes. In this manner, students are actively constructing their knowledge of spelling patterns. Students learn features by completing activities such as word sorting, word hunts, games and drawing, and labeling.

»GRAIR (Guided Reading and Independent Reading) will consist of building independent readers who can read fluently with comprehension. Students will read teacher-selected texts in small groups. These texts are at the students’ instructional reading level and the students read the whole text. In guided reading teaching is responsive to individual student strengths and needs.

»During writing, students will write to express, discover, record, develop, reflect on ideas, and problem solve. This will take place in short response tasks, on-demand writing prompts as well as through a series of essays. Additionally, students will learn different forms of writing for specific purposes such as to inform, persuade, or entertain.

References:

https://www.fountasandpinnell.com/classroomresources/

Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2000). Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary and Spelling Instruction. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.