INTRODUCTION
The California State Board of Education has developed language arts standards that reflect California's commitment to language arts education. The English-Language Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve represents a strong consensus on the skills, knowledge, and abilities that all students should be able to master in language arts at specific grade levels. The ability to communicate well (to read, write, listen and speak) runs to the core of human experience. The sub-components of grammar, spelling, and handwriting should be included in all grades under the writing component. Language skills are essential tools not only because they serve as the necessary basis for further learning and career development, but also because they enable the human spirit to be enriched.
The Reading/Language Arts Framework for California Public Schools, a companion document to the standards, aligns the curriculum and instructional program to the English-language arts content standards. The framework serves as a guide for teachers, administrators, parents and other support personnel on when to introduce knowledge and how to sustain the practice of skills leading all students to mastery.
Although limited to only some California State Content Standards, Santa Clara County's Language Arts Content Standards in the Classroom is very useful in identifying strategies and assessments for the various standards.
In language arts, as in all curricular areas, Catholic values permeate the curriculum design process.
In order to promote literacy the following practices should be part of the language arts curriculum at all grade levels:
- Reading at home
- Use of school and community libraries
- Participation in silent, sustained reading daily
- Exposure to a variety of printed materials in many genres
- Use of reference materials
- Reading aloud to students daily
The Diocese of San Jose strongly urges cross-curricular instruction when utilizing the California standards for language arts. For example, certain language arts standards can be integrated into the social science curriculum through the use of historical fiction, dramatic presentations, creative writing and content writing. Other topics within the standards, such as creating a multiple paragraph expository composition, can be incorporated into social science and science. We recommend that each school make a conscious effort to design its curriculum based on its individual Mission Statement, Philosophy and Student Learning Expectations (SLEs), as well as the state standards.
Administrators and teachers should be thoughtful of how standards are addressed. The goal of standards-based planning is to ensure student learning by having a clear vision of what the student will be able to do as a result of the instruction. Therefore, administrators must provide time during the school year for teachers to develop lesson plans and to meet with colleagues to share and discuss the curriculum. Teachers should develop a simple, clear long-range plan (curriculum map) of the year's instruction to guide the weekly or unit planning. A long-range view helps to ensure that all appropriate standards will be addressed during the school year. Teachers may find that keeping a copy of the standards for each subject area with their lesson plans will make planning and assessment easier.
LANGUAGE ARTS/SOCIAL-SCIENCE COMMITTEE
Marian de MatteiSt. Lawrence Elementary and Middle School
Lisa DevlinHoly Spirit
Nancy DoyleSt. Lawrence Elementary and Middle School
Debbie JioSt. Joseph of Cupertino
Cindy KrauseQueen of Apostles
Karen LarsonSt. Mary, Los Gatos
Marijane LovellQueen of Apostles
Erin SandstromSt. Joseph of Cupertino
Diane ViraySt. John the Baptist
Charlene LemannDiocese of San Jose
Priscilla MurphyDiocese of San Jose
READING/LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM GUIDELINES
I. Time Allotments (per week)
GradeK12345678
350820820770680660620550550
II. General
A.Guidelines
1. The Reading/Language Arts Framework for California Public Schools Kindergarten through Grade 12 - 2007, which includes the English/Language Art Content Standards for California Public Schools, should serve as the explicit content that students need to acquire at each grade level, kindergarten through grade eight.
2.Reading, writing, listening, speaking, literature, grammar, spelling, and penmanship, should be blocked together and taught in meaningful context with an emphasis on integrating these subjects in a balanced literacy program.
3.The same reading series should be used in kindergarten through grade five. Likewise, the middle school, or junior high, should share a common series. Textbook selection in all sub-components should emphasize continuity within each school site. Trade books and literature circles should be incorporated in the language arts program.
4.Assessment is an ongoing process that allows the teacher to adjust instruction to meet student needs. A variety of assessment tools are necessary. Formative assessment is as valuable as summative assessment in evaluating student learning. Documentation of progress should be kept regularly and reported to students, parents and administrators.
5.The Reading Task Force recognized that "Schools must have an effective, rigorous, proven intervention program as part of their comprehensive literacy plan for instruction, with an emphasis on early intervention for children by mid-first grade." In-class interventions include organized one-on-one and small-group work, collecting diagnostic information more frequently, providing guided reading instruction, and enlisting extra tutorial help from instructional aides and cross-age tutors and parents. A second level of intervention occurs outside of class, involves more formal diagnostic assessments, and generally involves a specialist. Successful schools are committed to every student meeting high, clearly articulated reading expectations at each grade level. The expectation is that every student be reading at grade level by the end of third grade.
6.Faculties need to be continually in-serviced in good teaching practices. It is necessary that individual faculties decide on the needs for their school and pursue resources to provide continued staff development. As valuable as in-servicing is for individual faculty members, specific time must also be set aside for articulation among the faculty. Professional, planned dialogue focusing on student outcomes can promote and reinforce appropriate academic practices.
7.The annual reports of standardized tests should be used by teachers to inform instruction. The test results should be considered when planning the language arts programs.
8.Students scoring at or below the 30th percentile on the standardized test in reading should be in the intervention program. Second and third graders who score at or below the 30th percentile on the fall standardized test should be retested in the spring using the spring version of the standardized test.
9.All primary classrooms should incorporate word walls as part of the language arts program.
- Running Records.
- Running records should be taken on all kindergarteners during the second semester. Kindergarteners should be able to read a Level C book by June. They should be able to write three sentences by June. (See benchmarks.)
- Running records should be taken on all first graders at the beginning of the year and quarterly thereafter. Students not on grade level should be assessed more frequently. First graders should be able to read a Level 16 book by June. They should be able to write a five sentence paragraph with topic sentence, three supporting sentences, and a closing sentence by June.
- Running records should be taken on all second graders at the beginning of the school year and quarterly thereafter. Students not on grade level should be assessed more frequently.
- Running records should be taken on third graders scoring below the thirtieth percentile at the beginning of the year and quarterly thereafter.
- All schools have a membership in Reading A-Z.
- Please see Appendix C at the end of this section for Leveled Reading Correlations
III.Reading/Literature
A.Guidelines
1.All students should be introduced to an abundance of literature. Students should read and experience a variety of literature: multicultural writing, novel, short story, poetry, drama, biography, fantasy, essay, and non-fiction. They should recognize the formal structure of various printed materials.
2.A variety of materials should be available in all classrooms. Various teaching methods and strategies should be employed to ensure that the needs of all students are met.
3.Appropriate leveled texts and trade books should be available to students for independent reading.
4.A balanced literacy program regularly provides many kinds of reading and writing opportunities. These should include reading aloud, shared reading, literature circles, choral reading, Readers Theater, guided reading, independent reading, shared writing, interactive writing, guided writing and independent writing.
5.Students should be instructed in comprehension strategies when reading fiction and non-fiction. In addition to those strategies found in the standards, students should preview selections by using titles, headings, pictures, photographs, highlighted words, and captions to think about information and set a purpose for the document. Students should also know how to use visual aids, such as pictures, diagrams, charts, maps, and graphs, to help understand complicated material.
6.A flexible system for dynamic grouping of students at various times for specific instruction should be used. Groups are expected to be fluid. Classes should include a combination of whole-group instruction and needs-based, smaller groups.
B.Recommended Literature Texts
1.Houghton Mifflin California Excursions (K-6) 2009
Houghton Mifflin Company
13400 Midway Road
Dallas, TX 75244
(800) 733-2828
(800) 733-2098 Fax
Paula Pine
408-904-5039
2.Holt Literature and Language Arts (6-8)
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
(Harcourt Brace Javanovich, Inc.)
6277 Sea Harbor Drive
Orlando, FL 32887
(800) 228-4658
(800) 269-5232 Fax
Paula Pine
408-904-5039
3.MacMillian/McGraw Hill: California Treasures (K-6)
Chalayne Ainley
4.Pearson Scott Foresman: Pearson California Reading Street (K-5)
(800) 848-9500
William Quinn
(916) 961-8763
5.McDougal Littell California Literatue (6-8)
McDougal Littell
1900 S. Batavia Avenue
Geneva, IL 60134
(800) 462-6595
(800) 872-8380 Fax
Paula Pine
408-904-5039
6.Pearson Prentice Hall Literature: Pearson Literature Ca Reading and Language (6-8)
Prentice Hall
P.O. Box 2500
Lebanon, IN 46052
(800) 848-9500
(877) 260-2530 Fax
William Quinn
(916) 961-8763
7.Holt: Holt Literature and Language Arts
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
(Harcourt Brace Javanovich, Inc.)
6277 Sea Harbor Drive
Orlando, FL 32887
(800) 228-4658
(800) 269-5232 Fax
Paula Pine
408-904-5039
8.Glencoe – McGraw-Hill
Alison Ashcraft
IV.Writing
A.Guidelines
1.Students should write in a variety of forms at all grade levels. Literature should be used as a springboard for writing activities.
2.Students should be taught the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing).
3.Students should write for a variety of purposes and audiences.
4.The use of computers and writing programs is encouraged.
5.Appendix A, Writing Applications for Grade K-2, is a required supplement to the state writing standards for grades K-2 (pages 16 & 17).
6.Step Up to Writing is the adopted program in the Diocese for writing.
B.Writing Resources
1.Step Up to Writing
Sopris West
P.O. Box 1809
Longmont, CO 80502
2. Stack the Deck -
3.Jane Schaffer -
V.Grammar
A.Guidelines
1.Standard usage should be presented as part of the entire program of instruction in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Punctuation, capitalization, and sentence and paragraph construction should be presented as needed to aid the communication process.
2.An effective way to teach students how to use language correctly is to immerse them in the most effective models of good language use. Grammar is an important component of effective oral and written communication and should be taught in the context of writing, not in isolation.
3.Resources such as dictionaries, thesauruses, and grammar references should be available in the classroom for student access at all times.
B.Grammar Resources
1.Grammar Source Books
Write Away - Grade 2
Write on Track - Grade 3
Writers Express - Grades 4-5
Write Source 2000 - Grades 6-8
2.Great Source Dailies
Phonics 1-2
Spelling 1-6
Vocabulary 3-8
Analogies 1-8
Oral Language 1-8
Oral Language Plus 1-8
3.Great Source Education Group
181 Ballardvale Street
P.O. Box 7050
Willimington, MA 01887
(800) 289-4490
(800) 289-3994 Fax
4.Voyages In English (1-8)
VI.Spelling
A. Guidelines
1.Students at all levels will receive direct instruction in spelling strategies. These include sound/symbol patterns within words, proofreading skills, and the development of visual memory for high frequency words used in writing.
2.The actual structure of the classroom spelling program can vary. Some teachers will continue to use weekly spelling lists, while others will find daily mini-lessons on a smaller number of words to be more appropriate.
3.Those teachers using weekly lists should be sure that the words on them are truly of high utility to the learner, and not arbitrarily selected. Vocabulary words from the literature currently being studied, for example, are usually not appropriate for spelling.
4.Spelling programs should include self-corrected pretests.
5.Students MUST use manuscript writing when taking spelling tests.
6.Students should be held accountable for accurate spelling in all final drafts of writing.
7.All primary classrooms should incorporate word walls as part of the language arts program.
B.Recommended Spelling Texts
1.Spelling
Zaner-Bloser
P.O. Box 16764
Columbus, Ohio 43216
(800) 421-3018
(800) 992-6087 Fax
Stephanie Valentino
X 2508
2.Spelling
Scott Foresman and Company
P.O.Box 2500
Lebanon, IN 46052
(800) 552-2259
(800) 841-8939 Fax
William Quinn
(916) 961-8763
- Rebecca Sitton
VII.Phonics
A.Guidelines
1.Phonics and other decoding strategies are a means to an end - comprehension and the construction of meaning - not an end in themselves. Students must not be required to master phonics before encountering meaningful reading and writing activities.
2.Phonics is best taught within the context of reading and writing.
3.Students should develop the use of all three cueing systems when reading (graphophonemic, semantic, syntactic). These can be assessed through the use of running records.
4.Explicit phonics instruction should be completed by the end of grade two.
B.Phonics Resources
1.Month by Month Phonics
Systematic Sequential Phonics They Use Making Words
Cunningham & Hall
Carson-Dellosa
P.O. Box 35665
Greensboro, NC 27425-5665
(800) 321-0943
(800) 535-2669 Fax
VIII.Penmanship
A.Guidelines
1.Handwriting is formally taught in the early grades and should be incorporated into the language arts period. Practice must be given through writing for meaning. Self-assessment should be included.
2.Manuscript writing is taught in kindergarten, first grade and through the first semester of second grade. Ordinarily the transition to cursive writing should be made in the second semester of the second grade. However, it has been suggested that manuscript writing should be mastered before the transition is made to ensure competence in cursive.
3.The skill developed in manuscript writing should be retained through practice.
4.Control paper should be used in the primary grades.
5.Primary and soft lead pencils should be used in first through third grade.
6.The use of pens is usually initiated in fourth grade.
7.Individual copies of handwriting books should be supplied to all students in first through third grade.
8.The alphabet, conforming to the handwriting method being used, should be displayed in kindergarten through grade eight.
9.Practice must be given through writing for meaning. Self-assessment should be included.
B.Recommended Handwriting Texts
Many language arts programs have handwriting components included. If the program that the school adopts does not have a sufficient handwriting component, the following texts may be recommended:
1.Zaner-Bloser
P.O.Box 16764
Columbus, OH 43216
(800) 421-3018
(800) 992-6087 Fax
2.McDougal-Littell Handwriting
1900 S. Batavia Avenue
Geneva, IL 60134
(800) 462-6595
(888) 872-8380 Fax
Paula Pine
408-904-5039
IX. Language Arts Framework
A.Standards
1.English-Language Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, 1998
California Department of Education;
2.Standards for the English Language Arts, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve - $18.00
Available through:NCTE
1111 W. Kenyon Road
Urbana, SC 61801-1096
(217) 328-9645 Fax
ISBN 0-8141-4676-7
B.Resources
1.Available through:California Department of Education
CDE Press
1430 N Street, Suite 3207
Sacramento, CA 95814-5901
(916) 323-0823 (fax)
a.Reading/Language Arts Framework For California Public Schools, 2007
Item No. 1462$17.50 (plus tax)
b.Practical Ideas For Teaching Writing As a Process
Item No. 1221$18.00 (plus tax)
c.Recommended Literature, Kindergarten Through Grade Eight, 2002
Item No. 1553$38.00 (plus tax)
d.Strategic Teaching and Learning: Standards-Based Instruction to Promote Content Literacy in Grades Four Through Twelve
Item No. 1472$12.50 (plus tax)
2.The CaliforniaLanguage Arts Content Standards In The Classroom
Available through:Santa Clara County Office of Education
1290 Ridder Park Drive
San Jose, CA 95131-2398
(408) 453-6500
C.Organizations
1.Santa Clara County Reading Council
(Membership is $30, includes CRA Membership)
Kathy Noetner
4246 Meg Drive
San Jose, CA 95136-1958
2.California Reading Association
3186 D-1 Airway
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 435-1983
(714) 435-1269
3.National Council of Teachers of English
111 W. Kenyon Road
Urbana, IL 61801-1096
National Standards Available
4.Primary Voices
National Council of Teachers of English
111 W. Kenyon Road
Urbana, IL 61801-1096
APPENDIX A
Writing Applications for Grades K-2
The following applications supplement the state writing standards for grades K-2:
Kindergarten
- Make a picture and describe it
- Write his/her own name
- Participate in many group dictated writing experiences, e.g., daily news, stories, or reports
- Form most letters correctly
- Use temporary spelling in own writing
- Create a page for a class book
- Make responses in a journal
- Participate in pre-writing activities, e.g., brainstorming, discussion, or drawing
- Write in response to literature
- Write across the curriculum
- Illustrate writing
- Write for a variety of purposes
- Use kindergarten writing benchmarks (page 9) to assess end of year writing
First Grade
- Write daily
- Participate in many group dictated writing experiences, e.g., daily news, stories, or reports
- Form letters correctly
- Make labels and lists
- Make journal entries
- Use simple writing prompts such as fill-in sentences, story starters, story frames, and literacy patterns to write his/her own pieces
- Use simple webbing and word banks as prewriting activities
- Share his/her writing with others
- Use beginning mechanics and conventions of print (punctuation and capitalization) in his/her own writing
- Begin to move from temporary to conventional writing
- Write in response to literature
- Use newly acquired vocabulary in writing
- Write across the curriculum
- Illustrate writing
- End of year benchmark: writing a five sentence paragraph with topic sentence, three supporting sentences, and a closing sentence
Second Grade