Adopted Curriculum Materials

Parent Information

Literacy:

What is Reading Workshop?

In Reading Workshop, class usually begins with a minilesson, in which the teacher shares a reading strategy that will help children become more powerful readers. Then children go off to read - and to work on their reading. Sometimes they are reading partner or book club books, other times they are reading independent books. Very young readers will read two or three books during a single workshop. Older readers will read one book over several days or a week. While the children read, the teacher works with small groups or confers with individual readers.

 The independent reading time of the workshop is the heart of the workshop. This is where most of the “magic” happens. Your child, from the first day of school, is set up to be independent during the workshop. During independent work time, students pull from the repertoire of strategies that they have learned in workshop.

 Your child will mostly read books from the classroom library and the school library. They’ll bring these books home every day to read as well. The children will be interested in a huge variety of books. Some will love sports books, others will love books about animals, others will love adventure stories. Let me know if your child has special interests, and we’ll do our best to encourage those interests through reading.

 Our reading curriculum is divided into units of study. A unit of study focuses on a set of reading skills. For instance, in a mystery book club unit, children not only read mysteries, they learn to read more closely, thinking hard about small details that authors layout as clues.

What is Writing Workshop?

In Writing Workshop, class begins with a minilesson, in which the teacher demonstrates a writing strategy that will help children become more powerful writers. Then children go off to work on their writing. Very young writers will write one or two pieces during a single workshop. Older writers will work on a piece over several days or a week. While the children write the teacher works with small groups or confers with individual writers.

Your child will write stories, essays, articles, books, and poetry in the writing workshop. They’ll learn about something called writing process. All professional writers follow a writing process. In writing process, writers collect ideas, they draft, they revise, and they publish. Sometimes they move through this process quickly, and sometimes they take more time for parts of the process.

Across the year, our writing curriculum is divided into units of study. A unit of study, might focus on fiction, or essay. At the end of most units of study, we’ll have a publishing celebration.

Presentations:

K-5 Bridges Math Program Presentation, September 26, 2017

Elementary Math, Bridges:  Family Resource Web Page

6-8 Big Ideas Presentation, September 26, 2017