Literacy

District 11 Educational Support Services
Literacy & Language Arts

Welcome

"The literacy leaders in the district share the vision that well-developed literacy skills for all students in District 11 are crucial to students’ academic achievement while in school and their career success beyond the classroom. District 11 teachers at all grade levels, supported by Literacy Resource Teachers and English/Language Arts department chairs in our schools, provide a viable and guaranteed curriculum delivered with research-based best practices in reading, writing, speaking, and listening."
~ Vince Puzick, K-12 Literacy & Language Arts Coordinator puzicvb@d11.org

Even 15 minutes of reading per day can lead to three months of additional growth - enough for a considerable number of students to catch up or exceed grade-level expectations (especially if the reading is purposeful and accompanied by judicious inclusion of vocabulary development."
~ Robert Marzano, 2004

Higher Order Literacy Demands
"American schools need to enhance the ability of children to search and sort through information, to synthesize and analyze the information they encounter."
~ Richard Arlington,
Pres. of International Reading Association for 2005-2006

“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories.
Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. ... For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.”
~ Kofi Annan
Diplomat, Seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, 2001 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

"Literacy is not a luxury, it is a right and a responsibility. If our world is to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, we must harness the energy and creativity of all our citizens."
~ President Clinton on International Literacy Day, September 8, 1994

Can You Read It?
"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Txes M&A Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe." (Anonymous)

News

The Elementary Curriculum Committee continues its work to align a rigorous standards-based curriculum to support all students in District 11. For 2008-09, we will continue to hone and focus the pacing guides. We will also work in user's groups for each of the reading series used in District 11. Specifically, teachers will meet according to the reading series they use in their buildings: MacMillan McGraw Hill' Treasures, SRA's Imagine It!, Pearson's Reading Street, and Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt's Storytown.

For 2008-09, the Middle School Curriculum Committee will focus its efforts on developing short-cycle assessments for literacy development. In addition, the Committee will examine our current practices for writing instruction and assure that writing instruction in the middle school classrooms reflect the best instructional practices for the development of effective writers.

The High School Curriculum Committee will also focus on developing short-cycle assessments. Another challenge for the High School Curriculum Committee will be to continue the alignment of the Junior year curriculum to the ACT assessment. We will also explore the writing instruction in our high classrooms to assure that we are developing effective writers for the 21st century demands in both post-secondary educational and employment opportunities.

All Literacy Resource Teachers meet once a month in “cluster groups” and discussing best practices in writing instruction to ensure that students meet the challenges of an increasingly rigorous writing thread as they progress in our District. Elementary LRTs are working on supporting literacy instruction and student learning in an RTI framework. That work includes the development of a 3rd Grade Action Plan for 2007-08 and a long-term literacy plan for 2007-2011. Secondary LRTs are exploring interventions in an RTI framework and ways of delivering research-based grammar and mechanics instruction.

What We Believe

Mission

The Language Arts Curriculum Committee

ensures that each school has a voice in aligning curriculum and in creating common assessments, and
promotes high quality, cohesive instruction to prepare students for the 21^st century.

Vision

Language Arts leaders in District 11 will provide guidance, training, and collaborative support to D-11 Language Arts and English teachers as they develop an aligned, rigorous, and standards-based language arts curriculum delivered with research-based instructional practices.

Values and Beliefs

Literacy demands are increasing in our society in almost all occupations; we must prepare our students to interact effectively with a variety of text and media.
Reading is essential to life and increases life’s enjoyment. All skills and content areas depend on language arts skills.
All kids can learn to read and write.
Language Arts should be interconnected with all content areas.
Language Arts should be balanced between reading and writing.
Language Arts instruction should be mindful of its link to life skills.
We teach language arts to enable students to learn more about themselves, especially as they are mirrored in the characters and situations about which they read.
We teach language arts so students can clearly communicate with the outside world: their ideas, values, beliefs, crises, ideals, questions and criticisms.

Standards-Based Instruction

The Colorado Reading and Writing Standards express what Colorado students should know and be able to do:

to become fluent readers, writers, and speakers;
be able to communicate effectively, concisely, coherently, and imaginatively;
recognize the power of language and use that power ethically and creatively; and
be at ease communicating in an increasingly technological world.

Teachers in Colorado Springs School District 11 are deliberate in their lesson plan design to consciously embed literacy standards in their units.

Curriculum

K-12 Literacy Curriculum - An overview of the suggested curriculum and emphasized standards, resources, and teaching strategies are provided for each month within each grade level on the chart below. Details for each monthly unit will be posted prior to the beginning of each quarter or month.

Yearly
Overviews

Curriculum Standards, Resources, and Instructional Supports

Grade K Pacing	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May
Grade 1 Pacing	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May
Grade 2 Pacing	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May
Grade 3 Pacing	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May
Grade 4 Pacing	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May
Grade 5 Pacing	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May

Middle School Courses - For more information on course requirements and Frequently Asked Questions, visit the Middle School Literacy & Language Arts Virtual Counselor.

Grade 6	Grade 7	Grade 8
Reading 6.1 6.2	Reading 7.1 7. 2	Reading 8.1 8.2
Language Arts 6.1	Language Arts 7.1	Language Arts 8.1
Language Arts 6 Adv	Language Arts 7 Adv	Language Arts 8 Adv 1
IBMYP Language Arts 6	IBMYP Language Arts 7	IBMYP Language Arts 8
Pre AP Language Arts 6	Pre AP Language Arts 7	Pre AP Language Arts 8 1
SAIL Reading/Lang Arts 6	SAIL English 7	SAIL English 8 SAIL Eng/History 8

English/Communications Electives

News Reporting Yearbook 1 2 3 4	Literacy Tutorial 6	Drama Workshop
Dramatics 1 2 3 4 5 6	Literacy Tutorial 7	Drama Techniques
Forensics 1 2 3 4 5 6	Literacy Tutorial 8	Advanced Drama

Pacing Guide and Teacher Supports

Quarter 1 Checklists:

Reading Writing

Quarter 1 Checklists:

Reading Writing

Quarter 2

Checklists:

November

Quarter 2
Checklists:

December

Quarter 2 Checklists:

January
Pacing

Quarter 3
Checklists:

February

Quarter 3
Checklists:

March

Quarter 3
Checklists:

April - May
Pacing

Quarter 4 Checklists:

Quarter 1 Checklists:

Reading Writing

Quarter 1

Checklists:

Reading Writing

Quarter 2

Checklists:

November

Quarter 2

Checklists:

December

Quarter 2 Checklists:

January
Pacing

Quarter 3
Checklists:

February

Quarter 3
Checklists:

March

Quarter 3
Checklists:

April - May
Pacing

Quarter 4 Checklists:

August
Pacing
Quarter 1 Checklists:

Quarter 1Checklists:

October
Pacing
Quarter 2

Checklists:

November

Quarter 2
Checklists:

December

Quarter 2 Checklists:

January
Pacing

Quarter 3
Checklists:

February

Quarter 3
Checklists:

March

Quarter 3
Checklists:

April - May
Pacing

Quarter 4 Checklists:

High School Courses - Highlighted courses include online curriculum. For more information on course requirements and Frequently Asked Questions, visit the High School English Virtual Counselor. 9th Grade Pacing Guide 10th Grade Pacing Guide

Reading Interventions

Literacy for a Lifetime 1 2 3 4 5 6	Reading Improvement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	ESL Reading 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Reading & Skills Clinic	Reading Tutorial 1	Reading Improvement 1 2 3 4

English / Language Arts Courses

Advanced Skills Composition 1 2 1H 2H	English Global Literature & Composition 3 4	Modern Fiction Future Fiction
English 1 2 3 4 5 6	English 1 Honors 1 2 3 4 5 6	English Technical Emphasis 3 4 5 6
Sr. Literature Composition 121 122	English AP 7 8	Sr. Literature & Communications 1 2
Journalism 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Creative Writing	Creative Writing/Rhetoric 1 2
Drama Workshop 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Acting Techniques 1 2 3 4	Colorado: Past-Present-Future 1 2
AVID 91 92 101 102 111 112 121 122	Basic Communications Skills 2	Government & Literature 1 2
ESL English 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Mass Media 1 2	World Literature
Forensics 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Sr. Literature 1 2	Literature from the Bible
IBMYP English 1H 2H 3H 4H 5H 6H 7H 8H	IBMYP Theater Arts 1 2	IB Theory of Knowledge 1 2
Intermediate Theater	Stagecraft 1 2	Technical Theater 1
Advanced Acting	Theater 1 2	IB Theater Arts 1 2
Yearbook 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	History & Literature: World & US 3 4 5 6	Language Composition AP1 2
English for Professional Development 1 2	Mythology	Earthwatch 1 2
Sr. English Workshop 1 2	From Novel to Film	Logic & Persuasion
Southwest Studies 1 2	Express English 1 2	General Speech
American Literature 1 2	Seminar in Advanced Research	English Basic Updates 3 4

Pacing Guides and Teacher Supports

Grade 9 English 1 2	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May
Grade 10 English 3 4	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May
Grade 11 English 5 6	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May
Grade 12	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March	April - May

Assessment

The following assessments are used throughout the district:

DIBELS - Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills is used to measure reading and retell fluency for students in grades K-5.
TOWRE - Test of Word Reading Efficiency is used at the middle school level to measure a student's word reading accuracy and fluency.
SRI - Scholastic Reading Inventory is a reading comprehension test to monitor a student's growth in comprehension over time.
D11 Quarterly Assessments - also called benchmark tests, these district-created assessments measure student achievement against a norm. The assessments are designed to have a high correlation with the State Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) test and are used to measure student preparedness for CSAP in quarterly stages.
Short-Cycle Assessments - These tests are created at the school or district level and are designed to give quick feedback on students' mastery of skills over a one to two week period.
CSAP - The Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) is a standards-based assessment designed to provide a picture of student performance on state academic content standards and to provide a context for improving public education. Every student in grades 3-10 will be evaluated in reading and writing. Additional testing will be given in math for grades 5-10 and in science for the 8th grade.
End of Course Exams - Measure students' knowledge and skills level in specific language arts courses. High school subjects not tested by the CSAP are tested via end of course exams.

Parent Resources

K-5 Essential Skills Brochure - Reading, Writing, and Math
Kindergarten