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English Language Arts

English Language Arts Framework

English Language Arts

What We Want
The Ritenour School District’s English Language Arts program, together with families and the community empowers students to excel as readers, writers, and critical thinkers both now and in the future. The Ritenour ELA program is committed to provide students with reading and writing experiences in which they discuss, interpret, celebrate, share, and think critically in order to deepen understanding, communicate meaning, and apply learning across all contents in ways that are relevant to the world we live in.

What We Know

  • Direct instruction and modeling must take place for students in reading and writing
  • Students need to practice reading and writing everyday in a low risk environment where they have some choices.
  • It is important to connect reading to listening, speaking, and writing to provide avenues for students to share about their reading.
  • The goal of reading is comprehension.
  • Writing should occur across all content areas.
  • Students need texts at increasing levels of complexity over time.
  • Text complexity involves 3 different measures: the quantitative, the qualitative and the reader to task.
  • Based on research, the workshop approach is best practice in Literacy instruction.

What We Believe
English Language Arts Instruction must:

  • Provide a balanced approach for students to be successful in the world.
  • Develop and enhance critical thinking skills
  • Provide a foundation for continuous learning both now and in the future.
  • Integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening as one skill

English Language Arts Instruction in Reading must:

  • Provide experiences with a variety of materials for multiple purposes, in a variety of settings.
  • Expand one’s understanding of the world and its people, and thus one’s concept of self.
  • Create understanding through authentic experiences that grow in depth over time.

English Language Arts instruction in Writing must:

  • Empower students to express their voice, feelings, ideas, experiences and knowledge.
  • Create opportunities to share and celebrate their writing in multiple platforms.

  Teacher Resource: Center for Collaborative Classrooms ELA Resource