ELA A

The Kindergarten and First Grade ELA course is designed to develop foundational literacy skills and foster a love for reading and writing in young learners. Through a balanced approach of phonics, sight words, vocabulary development, and comprehension strategies, students will develop the necessary skills to become proficient readers and effective communicators.
 
Course Objectives:
1. Phonics and Word Recognition: Students will learn letter sounds, phonemic awareness, and decoding skills to read and spell words.
2. Sight Words: Students will develop a sight word vocabulary to enhance reading fluency and comprehension.
3. Vocabulary Development: Students will expand their vocabulary through exposure to a variety of texts and engaging activities.
4. Reading Comprehension: Students will learn and apply strategies to understand and interpret texts, including retelling, making predictions, and asking questions.
5. Writing Skills: Students will develop basic writing skills, including letter formation, sentence structure, and creative expression.
6. Listening and Speaking: Students will practice active listening and effective communication skills through discussions, presentations, and storytelling.
 
Teaching Methods: The course will utilize a combination of whole group instruction, small group activities, and individualized learning experiences to meet the diverse needs of students. Teachers will incorporate hands-on activities, interactive read-alouds, guided reading sessions, and writing workshops to engage students in meaningful learning experiences.
 
Assessment: To measure growth in reading, students complete a 1:1 reading assessment using the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Reading Assessment at the beginning and end of the semester. Throughout both units, we monitored student progress and performance through pre and post assessments, observations, class discussions, independent writing samples, small group work, and 1:1 conferences. To measure growth in writing, students complete a pre and post assessment aligned to The Writing Revolution approach. This explicitly teaches students the parts of a sentence and how to add more information to answer questions about the subject of the sentence. Assessment will be ongoing and varied, including observations, informal assessments, and formal assessments such as reading fluency checks, sight word recognition, and writing samples. These assessments will inform instruction and provide feedback to students and parents on progress and areas for growth.