Trending
During the 2018-19 school year, a team of teachers, instructional coaches, principals, and central office staff convened to deeply study the Iowa Core literacy standards and scientifically-based best practices in literacy instruction. Through this study, the team determined that we needed to make a big shift in the way we teach our students to read. Learning to read is not a natural process; it needs to be taught, and there is a large and growing body of research that breaks down how children learn to read and the instructional strategies that can be used to teach this essential skill. We needed our instruction to more closely align to the Science of Reading, a body of research from the fields of education, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and neuroscience, that explains how individuals learn how to read and best practices for reading instruction. Our team at Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) determined Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) to be the materials that would best fit this need.
CKLA is focused on two important aspects of literacy: explicit instruction of the skills needed to read words and building background knowledge and vocabulary to support students' understanding of what they read. This means that by the end of second grade, students will have been taught how the 26 letters in the alphabet are used to represent 44 sounds and the more than 150 spellings for these sounds. At the same time students are learning all these skills to ensure they can decode words as they are reading texts, they are also building knowledge around a wide range of topics through teacher read alouds and class discussions. Some of the topics at K-2 include Native Americans, the five senses, Astronomy, early world civilizations, cycles in nature and westward expansion.
By the time students enter third grade, the instruction shifts more to students doing their own reading (along with teachers reading aloud portions of text as well) to learn about these important topics. Students in grades 3-5 read, write, speak and listen to gain knowledge and practice their literacy skills in text that becomes more and more complex over time. Animal classification, the viking age, poetry, American Revolution, chemical matter and the Renaissance are some of the topics students learn about in these grade levels.
In addition to the learning that all students experience through core instruction in their classroom, MCSD also supports individual needs through a variety of additional opportunities. Our Title I teachers provide additional instruction in foundational decoding skills for students who need more time to learn the full code of the English language. Our English Learner teachers provide additional language instruction to students who are learning English in addition to other languages they may speak at home. Our Extended Learning Program teachers provide opportunities for students who are ready to extend their learning beyond the concepts that are in the classroom.
Literacy instruction at MCSD begins with strong core instruction for all students and is supported by additional supports designed with each student's needs in mind. It is through this system that we are building strong readers who will be productive and engaged citizens in a diverse world.
------
Erica Finders is the PK-6 Curriculum Professional Development Leader for Marshalltown Community School District. She can be reached at efinders@marshalltown.k12.ia.us. The district educates over 5,000 students to have the skills for a rapidly changing world. Learn more by visiting www.marshalltown.k12.ia.us.