|
The 7th Grade
Communication Arts Curriculum
| |
|
|
|
| |
Curriculum Calendar |
|
Learning Objectives |
| |
A week-by-week view of the major units in the Balanced Literacy curriculum. |
|
The detailed learning objectives that the Balanced Literacy curriculum helps students achieve. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Framework Standards |
|
Key Concepts |
| |
Take a look at how the Balanced Literacy curriculum has been aligned to new student learning standards. |
|
The educational concepts students will be learning in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Instructional Strategies |
|
Teaching Methods |
| |
The lessons teachers are using to help students meet the objectives of the Balanced Literacy curriculum. |
|
Workshop-style teaching in reading and writing forms the foundation of the Balanced Literacy curriculum. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Legal Compliance |
|
Model Practices |
| |
See how the new Balanced Literacy curriculum is helping the district meet its legal obligations. |
|
See what Kansas City School District teachers are doing to implement the Balanced Literacy curriculum. |
Philosophy
Reading and writing have been called the "new civil rights." These two sets of intertwined and integrated skills provide the foundation for learning in all content areas. It is the goal of the Communication Arts Curriculum to provide the framework for a comprehensive literacy program in which all aspects of reading and writing receive appropriate emphasis, and one in which guided and mediated contexts are used to help all readers and writers become critical thinkers, independent problem-solvers, self-monitors, self-evaluators and goal setters. The central question is "What must we do to ensure that all children learn to read and write?" There are some core beliefs and values that are inherent in the Balanced Literacy Framework and instructional approach:
- Teaching for understanding underpins all effective curriculum and instruction.
- Skills must be taught as part of relevant and meaningful literacy events.
- Low-achieving students need the same meaning-based instruction as high achievers.
- Conversation, collaboration, and learning through others are integral to learning.
- Children’s oral language is the basis for beginning instruction.
- Curriculum must be in part negotiated with students.
- Students must be apprenticed in the content and habits of mind of the discipline.
- Literacy learners must be immersed in a diverse variety of engaging texts and books that model beautiful language and the elements of story.
- Learning in literacy, as in all learning, is not a linear process, but proceeds in a cyclical fashion with facts and skills accumulated in the course of developing concepts and higher-order thinking.
- Students need to know not only the process of reading and writing, but also how reading and writing fit into their lives.
"Literacy is developed by engaging children in meaningful literacy events (reading and discussing favorite books, writing letters for relevant purposes and audiences) and in doing so helping them (through demonstrations, support, practice, celebration and evaluation) become better readers, writers, speakers and thinkers." (Routman, 2000)
The curriculum for Communication Arts in grades 6, 7, and 8 has been revised to be more closely aligned with the New Standards, the Show-Me Standards, and the content objectives assessed on the MAP. It is written with the implementation of Reading and Writing Workshop as its structure and has been further organized into cohesive units of study that complement each other conceptually and effectively address the need to prepare students for standardized assessments. The published suggested mini-lessons will adequately guide instruction to support academic achievement of the units of study. Teachers may extend as needed to be responsive to the specific needs of their students.
Rationale
1. Learning language is personal.
Students come to school with a wealth of knowledge and language. Their families and neighborhoods have helped to shape what they know, how they speak, and how they think. Students can best expand and develop their communication skills when their individual interests and talents are encouraged. Students should be guided to essential learning and encouraged to investigate and express those topics on a personal level. When both the search and the answers relate to the student personally, deeper understanding occurs.
2. Learning language is an active process.
Language skills develop through practice, every day and in every setting. Children naturally learn their language through experiences in the "real world" of communication. Students need opportunities to write, speak, and listen in many situations. Students need opportunities to read for entertainment, information, and personal growth through the use of books, magazines, and newspapers. They need opportunities to write letters, reports, stories, and poems. They need chances to listen to, appreciate, and compare the speech of peers, families, teachers, and public speakers.
3. Language growth is developmental.
Communication expands over a lifetime. As children mature, they develop skills that allow them to communicate successfully in many situations. In school, children increase their abilities to read and comprehend, to speak and write, using more complex sentence structures and an ever-widening vocabulary. School should provide appropriate instruction to enhance each child’s development.
4. Language has levels of "situational" appropriateness.
Families, neighbors, and communities shape the way we communicate. Students already understand that language can be used in different ways for different purposes. They should learn how to choose and use language appropriate for each situation.
5. Language provides symbols to make sense of the world.
Written and spoken communication is based on symbols, which help us to make sense of the world. By learning to recognize and use language symbols, students develop the complex skills they need to listen, speak, read, write, imagine, and create.
6. Language learning should be integrated across the content areas.
Language is the bridge that connects all subject areas. Students must learn to read, write, speak, and listen effectively in all subject areas. All teachers must reinforce effective communication skills.
7. Language learning should be taught as interdependent, integrated processes.
Language is learned best through purposeful and challenging interactions between students and teachers, in which reading, writing, speaking, and listening are interdependent. Language skills and knowledge develop more quickly and effectively when the pieces are not taught in isolation from each other. Students will build stronger language foundations and progress farther when they discover the relationships between reading, writing, and speaking.
8. Learning language is enhanced by the infusion of technology.
Technology is everywhere in our lives today. It is a powerful tool that allows us to communicate more quickly and effectively than ever before. Students respond to technology because it combines words, pictures, sound, and action. It proves expanded access to information for all students.
9. Language assessment should provide relevant feedback.
Effective assessment helps learners understand what they are to do, how well they have performed, and what they need to do to improve. Feedback from the teacher helps students to see the patterns of their growth.
- Item one
- Item two
|
