ELA ELEMENTARY CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
WE MEET AGAIN IN APRIL
FEBRUARY 5TH NOTES
February 5th the elementary curriculum team met after the late start.
Please see below for a brief synopsis of our time together. We will be sending out a Google Form to solicit additional information from each grade level.
Thank you for all you do for students!
Kelly Manning, ELA Content Leader & Margo Mann, District Instructional CoachGRADE LEVEL NOTES
KINDERGARTEN
During our curriculum review meeting, the kindergarten team discussed:
the pacing of the units
organization of the units
number of sessions per unit
unit scales
ways to share updates with teachers across the district:
overview of each unit
any changes made to pacing or order
reasons why any changes were made
If you have questions or comments, please email a member of the kindergarten curriculum team.
Amanda Alton, Prairie View Kindergarten
Christina Anzalone, Discovery Kindergarten
Nicole Boatright, Peine Ridge Kindergarten
Jolene Moeser, Duello and Stone Creek Literacy Coach1ST GRADE
Overall first grade feels good about the reading and writing pacing guide and the scales within in the units. We discussed creating a scope and sequence for shared reading that correlates with word skills, language conventions, and phonemic awareness. Not having enough instructional time to teach all components of balanced literacy and non-negotiables set by the district was discussed.
If you have suggestions or questions please feel free to email:
Amanda Canty, Heritage Primary 1st Grade
Lynn Morris, Greentree 1st Grade
Amanda Roettger, Crossroads 1st Grade
Karrie Fast, Peine Ridge and Wabash Literacy Coach2ND GRADE
Hello and Happy February! During our February ELA curriculum meeting, we looked at the pacing and order of the units of the curriculum. We examined what is going well and what is not working as well. We discussed changes that could be made to the DRA protocol in the literacy handbook for report card purposes. We also discussed the challenges of meeting all of the district non-negotiables each day due to time constraints.
What we know for sure:
Planning as teams and planning out the whole unit as opposed to a week at a time has proven effective.
Using the units with fidelity increases students’ knowledge of common language and results in students’ progress.
DRAs and running records are time-consuming, yet beneficial to instruction and help to plan instruction.
If you have any questions or concerns, please choose one of the following:
refer to the literacy handbook, read the blog, watch the WSD videos, or contact one of the members of the curriculum team.
Fonda Kennedy, Lakeview 2nd Grade
Michelle McKinley, Stone Creek 2nd Grade
Dr. Lisa Mikes, Wabash 2nd Grade
Carrie Luedde, Discovery Ridge and Prairie View Literacy Coach3RD GRADE
Third-grade curriculum team discussed reordering the units of study. We talked about moving the Research Clubs before Writing about Research so that the units align. We talked about moving Poetry as the last reading and writing unit and gathering resources specifically for poetry. With the changes of the Character Unit later in the year, we discussed adding some character work into our Mystery Unit. The next time we meet we will be discussing the scope and sequence of language conventions and word skills. Any questions concerning resources, please reach out to Kelly Manning or your literacy coach. If you have any comments or questions feel free to reach out to us.
Malerie Cole, Duello 3rd Grade
Kate Marren, Discovery Ridge 3rd Grade
Kay Strobbe, Prairie View 3rd Grade
Penny Auld, Heritage Intermediate and Lakeview Literacy Coach4TH GRADE
The 4th-grade team discussed how we felt ELA curriculum was going this year. We looked at the pacing of Reading and Writing units, identified areas that we felt were working, as well as areas that needed to be improved upon. We are considering the possibility of switching the Poetry and Historical Fiction book club unit. If you have questions or feedback as we work to make some changes, we would love for you to share!
Emily Eck, Heritage Intermediate 4th Grade
Nikki Haley, Peine Ridge 4th Grade
Amy Hoover, Crossroads 4th Grade
Amanda Brueggeman, Crossroads and Heritage Primary Literacy Coach5TH GRADE
The 5th grade curriculum team met to discuss the pacing of our units, what is working, and what is not working. Within these parameters, we determined that our units tend to work best if we teach reading before writing with in our day, as well as teaching the reading unit prior to the paired writing unit. In addition, we are considering the idea of staggering our reading and writing units to go as such: F, NF, F, NF, F . We will be wanting your feedback regarding this possible adjustment. A concern that was shared amongst the team was the inconsistency with the DRA scoring and the progression of students. On the other hand, when Lucy’s Units are utilized with fidelity, the students’ growth is undeniable. The importance of using the units, progressions, common language, checklists, and assessments are evident. As a reminder, we are teaching test prep within each unit as we go. The test prep unit was taken out to emphasize the need to teach it comprehensively throughout, rather than in isolation.
If you have questions or feedback as we work to make some changes, we would love for you to share!
Ellen Eikel, Lakeview 5th Grade
Rebecca Heppermann, Heritage Intermediate 5th Grade
Sarah Pickle, Wabash 5th Grade
Laura Cento, Boone Trail and Greentree Literacy CoachKelly Manning
Email: kellymanning@wsdr4.org
Website: https://teachingandlearningwsd.blogspot.com/
Location: One Campus Drive
Phone: 314-503-2936
Twitter: @ktimsmanning