Literacy Statement

An effective literacy program offers a balance of challenge and support while building children’s confidence in their emerging abilities as readers and writers.  Our goal is to develop fluent, capable readers who enjoy the process and learn from it, drawing from a diverse array of literature.  Helping students become writers who can express their ideas cogently, clearly, and creatively is another important goal.  We view reading and writing as a developmental process and understand that a child’s progress is seldom even or linear. It is common, for example, that a student’s leap ahead in learning is followed by a consolidating phase or an apparent plateau. We also find that students cannot be easily placed in a single category along the learning continuum. As such, our instruction is guided by regular formal and informal reading assessments.

While no two developmental journeys are identical, students often exhibit a range of skills and understandings. The following reading/writing continuum describes the basic path to literacy in the Beginning and Lower Schools.

In third grade, students will be officially introduced to both simplified and traditional Chinese characters about their structures and meanings as an introduction to literacy. In third grade, students also start practicing asking and answering yes/no and WH questions to form short conversations. Students will be expected to recall vocabulary learned in the past through regular quizzes, individual projects, games, etc. They will participate in authentic conversation about ordering food at a Chinese restaurant during their field trip in May. 

Writer's Workshop

Writer's workshop emphasizes the importance of student engagement and the interaction between readers and text. It provides differentiated instruction in writing. Writer's Workshop focuses on the teaching of writing strategies. The purpose of Writer's Workshop is to foster a love of writing. Students develop an ability to write confidently in many forms for a variety of audiences and purposes. 

In the classroom this looks like a mini lesson devoted to one aspect of writing, followed by guided practice where the teacher works with groups of kids, and time for students to practice the skills independently.

Specific components of this grade level are described below.

Writing Mini-Lessons

The writing mini-lessons provide opportunities to demonstrate specific writing tools, concepts and techniques for the whole class. Examples of writing or modeling of writing may be used for the students to see how writer's make decisions and work towards specific goals or ideas. Different types of writing may be modeled, such as expository, narrative, poetry, etc. or a lesson on a skill such as adding supporting details, using editing marks, using quotation marks, or writing a paragraph. Mini-lessons are intended to be brief (5-10 minutes) and be applicable for all the writers in the classroom. Students then have the opportunity to use the information in their own writing during independent writing time.

Guided Writing

Guided writing goups can be used to help develop a specific area of writing for a small group or writers who are working on the same skill or strategy. Students who would benefit from some additional time working on some aspect of writing would be invited to join a teacher to practice the writing tool or technique they need. Guided writing groups are often short term and the groups are flexible and changing, forming with whatever individuals need the same specific support at a given time.

Independent Writing

Independent writing is the heart of the writing workhshop, and is a time when the students apply what they have learned in the mini-lesson or guided writing group. The students work on self-selected writing topics, or topics related to a specific project. During this time, some students may be working quietly on a draft with headphones to focus their thoughts on their writing, some students may be conferring with partners or a teacher, some may be meeting in a guided reading group, some may be revising an almost finished piece, and some may be preparing a piece for publication. This part of the writing workshop is the longest, as it is the time when the students are practicing their skills as writers.

Writer's Circles

Writer's circles vary in size and purpose. The whole class may meet together for a large writer's circle, or they may be made up of a few students. During these times, the students may be sharing a draft in progress to get feedback and ideas on where to go next with it. At other times, students may be sharing their published pieces with one another and share compliments and specific aspects of the writing they enjoyed.

Writing Conferences

Writing conferences happen during the independent writing time. A student and teacher will meet one-to-one to discuss a work in progress, or look over a piece that's ready to publish. This is an opportunity for the teacher to talk with the student about the writing process, ask questions, and provide feedback, not only about the conventions (spelling, punctuation, etc.) but the elements of writing taught in the mini-lesson such as developing and organizing ideas,story elements, etc. It is also a chance to assess the writer's strengths and develop goals for the next steps in developing as a writer.

Literacy Statement

An effective literacy program offers a balance of challenge and support while building children’s confidence in their emerging abilities as readers and writers.  Our goal is to develop fluent, capable readers who enjoy the process and learn from it, drawing from a diverse array of literature.  Helping students become writers who can express their ideas cogently, clearly, and creatively is another important goal.  We view reading and writing as a developmental process and understand that a child’s progress is seldom even or linear. It is common, for example, that a student’s leap ahead in learning is followed by a consolidating phase or an apparent plateau. We also find that students cannot be easily placed in a single category along the learning continuum. As such, our instruction is guided by regular formal and informal reading assessments.

While no two developmental journeys are identical, students often exhibit a range of skills and understandings. The following reading/writing continuum describes the basic path to literacy in the Beginning and Lower Schools.