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Oral language development is an essential component for the elementary
instruction of reading and writing. Demonstrating comprehension
of a variety of printed materials is a major component of reading
instruction, along with using word analysis strategies and information
resources. The teaching of writing provides student growth in learning
how to plan, compose, revise, and edit in a variety of forms for
a variety of purposes. Students are taught using the various reading
programs in the elementary grades, being exposed to the Virginia
Standards of Learning daily. The Scott Foresman Reading series is
used in the elementary grades. It is a literature-based language
arts program designed to foster and to enhance literacy skills.
The stories used are unabridged, time-honored favorites organized
in six units for each grade level. Skills are drawn directly from
the literature and applied in lessons so that learning is authentic
and meaningful to the learner. The principals of the Scott Foresman
Reading series are:
- Children learn best when reading authentic literature.
- Children respond best when learning takes place in meaningful
context.
- Children grow in language development through an integrated
curriculum.
- Children participate actively as members of the community
of readers and writers.
- Children benefit from ongoing assessment that guides instruction.
The goal is to develop strong readers, writers, communicators,
and thinkers based on these guiding principals. The Standards
of Learning are taught while using the Scott Foresman Reading
series and leveled books as the students read fiction and nonfiction
literature and work on related skills. Best practices for teaching
literacy are being incorporated in K-5 schools. It is based on
the philosophy that students learn best when there is a balance
between listening, speaking, reading and writing. Lessons are
taught using a variety of integrated, hands-on activities, which
support the English SOL. In the elementary classrooms you will
find:
- Teachers emphasizing phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary,
comprehension and fluency.
- Teachers reading aloud to children modeling comprehension
strategies, sharing excellent literature and using literary
language.
- Students and teachers reading together from big books, poems,
songs or stories.
- Teachers guiding students who have similar reading behaviors
during small group reading instruction building on the students'
strengths.
- Teachers providing time for independent reading offering students
the opportunity to select and enjoy literature that they can
read on their own.
- Teachers providing mini-lessons for reading, individual conferences
for support and opportunities to reflect on comprehension strategies.
- Teachers demonstrating and modeling thinking as they teach
writing skills in whole group settings.
- Teachers and students sharing the pen as they create a piece
of writing that becomes a collection of reading materials.
- Teachers providing mini-lessons for writing, individual conferences
for support, and opportunities for reflection during writing
workshop.
- Students having the opportunity to write independently while
writing in journals or in response to literature.
- Teachers providing strategies for spelling and word study.
- Students using technology to publish their literary works.
Accelerated Reader is provided in elementary schools. This program
is designed as an incentive to read more and increase reading
comprehension. In the AR program, students choose books to read
based upon a personal computerized comprehension test, receive
a computer generated feedback report, and are recognized at varying
achievement levels as points are accumulated. Teachers and parents
also receive computer-generated reports on student progress. Some
of the reading support programs in Chesapeake include Reading
Recovery in grade 1 and Soar To Success in grades 3-5. Reading
Recovery is a first-grade early intervention program designed
to reduce reading difficulties based on the assumption that intensive,
high quality help during the early years of a child’s life
are most productive. Marie Clay, an educational psychologist from
New Zealand, developed this program. The goals of Reading Recovery
are to help children develop skills and strategies to read independently
and reach the average level of their fellow first graders. Soar
To Success is a small-group reading intervention program and is
research based. It uses authentic books, reciprocal teaching,
and graphic organizers in fast-paced lessons to help intermediate
students accelerate their reading. The program is designed to
be used to help students who are experiencing some reading difficulty
in grades three, four, and five. The two major goals of Soar To
Success are to:
- Accelerate student abilities as quickly as possible.
- Help students learn to apply and use the comprehension and
decoding strategies effectively as they read across the curriculum.
Assessment informs instruction to meet student needs. Some of
the assessment tools used are PALS screening, observation survey,
unit tests, reading and writing benchmark tests, and the state
assessments. Technology is an important tool in research, assessment,
and enhancing student’s learning in all areas.
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