Language Arts
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Special Services, and School Improvement—
Mary K. Zarr
Phone: 847-963-3106
E-mail: zarrm@ccsd15.net
LITERACY—MISSION AND GOALS:
The Mission of the Literacy Program Department includes
and supports District 15's mission to produce world-class learners
by building a connected learning community.
The Goals of the Literacy Program Department support the
Board of Education goals and emphasize integrating technology across
the district, ensuring that District 15 students meet or exceed
state and world-class standards, excelling as an organization and
raising the benchmarks, building a connected learning community,
and becoming a world-class educational system.
The Literacy Program also supports the district's student performance
targets:
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Every student entering kindergarten
in District 15 reads at or above grade level when completing
second grade. |
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At least 90 percent of students who
have been in the district for one year meet or exceed all Illinois
learning standards. |
DISTRICT 15 LITERACY PROGRAM CURRICULUM AND BENCHMARKS:
The Literacy Program Curriculum is aligned to the Illinois
State Standards and Benchmarks as well as the District
15 Learner Statements. The Illinois State Goals and Standards
for Language Arts include State Goals 1-5:
State Goal 1: Read with understanding and fluency
State Goal 2: Read and understand literature representative
of various societies, eras, and ideas
State Goal 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes
State Goal 4: Listen and speak effectively in a variety
of situations
State Goal 5: Use language arts to acquire, assess, and
communicate information
DISTRICT 15 LITERACY PROGRAM CURRICULUM
District 15 uses a balanced literacy framework across all schools and grade levels (K-8). Students in grades 1-6 receive 120 minutes of instruction each day. Junior high students have two periods each day of reading/language arts instruction. All instruction provides a flexible combination of the following:
WORD STUDY:
Word study incorporates spelling, phonics (at lower grade levels),
and vocabulary development. Word study may be a whole-class or cooperative
group activity. Primary grades study high frequency words and patterns
words; in intermediate and junior high classes, word study frequently
supports curriculum content.
COMPREHENSION:
Comprehension includes both shared and guided reading. Shared reading
is generally a whole class activity with a high level of teacher support.
Shared reading involves problem-solving and supported reading. Guided
reading is usually done in small groups with less teacher support
and more student control of text. Guided reading gives teachers an
opportunity to see if students are applying the strategies taught
in shared reading.
FLUENCY AND INDEPENDENT READING:
Fluency instruction may be whole group, small group, or individual
instruction. Fluent readers are able to focus more attention on comprehension.
Independent reading helps students to become fluent readers by providing
time during the school day for them to practice reading. Students
choose and read books within their reading levels. Independent reading
time provides teachers an opportunity to meet individually and with
small groups of students to discuss their progress in reading.
WRITING: Learning to write begins in primary grades with shared,
guided, and independent writing. Topics for writing assignments
are balanced between teacher-assigned subjects and those that students
select themselves. Writing often takes place in a writer's workshop
format with the use of mini-lessons, writing, individual and small
group conferences, and sharing time as an effective model.
LITERACY PROGRAM RESOURCES:
The following resources are board-approved materials. They are
research-based and provide best practice for instruction so that
all students in District 15 have an opportunity to meet State Goals
and Standards as well as the District 15 performance targets.
- Harcourt Trophies reading program (K-6 mainstream classrooms)
- McGraw-Hill Lectura (K-3 bilingual classrooms)
- Scholastic Transitions program (Grade 3 bilingual classrooms)
- Houghton Mifflin Transitions programs (Grade 4 bilingual classrooms)
- Scholastic Guided Reading (LD/BD self-contained classrooms)
- Prentice Hall Literature program (7-8 classrooms)
Reading Consultant Specialists (RCS)
Classroom teachers are the critical component for effective literacy instruction. Each school in the district also has a reading specialist on staff to provide additional support and expertise. The reading specialist supports the Literacy Program to classrooms and serves as a resource to all teachers in a building.
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Grades K-2
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Grades 3-6
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- Assist in identifying students who qualify for intervention services
- Train and coach program assistants to work with intervention students
- Monitor progress of students in the intervention programs
to ensure effective instruction and achievement
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- Assist in identifying students who qualify for intervention services
- Directly service intervention students using the Soar To Success program
- Monitor progress of students to ensure effective instruction
and achievement
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Buildingwide
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- Provide support to teachers for the Harcourt Trophies program
- Co-teach balanced literacy and differentiated instruction lessons in the mainstream classrooms
- Meet with grade-level teams for planning and consultation
- Provide professional materials and readings to building staff and administrators
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A district-level literacy director and coordinator provide resources, training and support for teachers while continually assessing student needs, determining best practices, and evaluating current research to be sure that District 15 students are receiving the best possible instruction.
READING INTERVENTION PROGRAMS
Most District 15 students successfully learn to read in a regular classroom environment. For some students, learning to read is more difficult. Students who need additional reading support are identified in several ways, including test scores, classroom performance, teacher referrals, and reading inventory testing. The district proactively addresses the needs of these students at all grade levels with a variety of programs designed to help them learn and apply appropriate reading strategies. They include:
KIP (Kindergarten Intervention Program) and FLIP
(First-grade Literacy Intervention Program)—children who qualify
receive daily one-on-one instruction from trained paraprofessionals
under the supervision of the reading consultant specialist.
SAIL (Second-grade Acceleration in Literacy)—a combination
of small group and individual sessions taught by trained paraprofessionals
and reading specialists focusing on word recognition skills, phonics,
blending, fluency, and comprehension.
Soar To Success—designed to help accelerate growth
for children in Grades 3-6 who are one year or more below grade
level in reading comprehension. Soar To Success teaches reading
strategies such as clarifying, predicting, questioning, and summarizing.
Read 180—used in both elementary and junior high schools,
this technology-rich program uses computer-based individualized
instruction, whole group and small group instruction, and individual
reading to reinforce the reading skills the students need to become
successful grade-level readers.
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