LITERACY MISSION, GOALS, VISION & VALUES

The Mission of the Literacy Department includes and supports District 15's mission to produce world-class learners by building a connected learning community.

The Goals of the Literacy Department support the vision & values set forth within District 15’s Strategic Plan.

Our Strategic Plan Vision
Preparing students to be critical thinkers, effective communicators, engaged community members, self-reliant, resilient, & healthy individuals who are equipped for continued success.

Our Strategic Plan Values

• Innovation
• Prepare students for future success
• Meet the needs of every child every day
• Healthy and supportive culture
• Rigorous, personalized learning
• Equity and inclusivity

DISTRICT 15 K-6 LITERACY CURRICULUM (Core Instruction- Tier 1)

District 15 uses a multitext literacy approach and framework across all general education K-6 classrooms. According to Fountas & Pinnell, leading experts in the field of literacy teaching and learning, a multitext approach allows readers to “build effective and flexible literacy processing systems” through “varied, well-written, engaging, accessible, and plentiful” amounts of texts.

Beginning in the Fall of 2018, District 15 began a multi-year literacy curriculum revision and implementation plan. Using board-approved materials from the Fountas & Pinnell Classroom system, teachers are continuing to cultivate their craft of literacy teaching while also gaining expertise with the implementation of new materials. The following contexts of literacy are part of this multi-year literacy implementation. You can expect your District 15 student to engage in reading, thinking, talking, and writing about texts every day, through these literacy contexts as implemented by grade level.

READING

Interactive Read Aloud (K-6)

Through a daily Interactive Read Aloud, teachers read a selected text to the whole class, occasionally and selectively pausing for thoughtful conversation. Students think about, talk about, and respond to the text as a whole group or in pairs, triads, or quads. Students actively process the language, ideas, and meaning of the text. Interactive Read Alouds are the “heart” of literacy teaching and learning, as they build a community of readers among these shared books.

Shared Reading (K-3)

During Shared Reading, teachers and students read aloud an enlarged version of an engaging and enjoyable text. These “big books” provide opportunities for students to expand their reading competencies through engaging in reading, thinking, and talking about the enlarged text as a whole group. By participating in multiple reads of the same text over the course of a few days, students develop in all aspects of the reading process.

Readers’ Workshop with Reading Minilessons (K-6)

Through a Readers’ Workshop instructional framework, students engage in a daily reading minilesson as a community of readers and thinkers. Following the daily minilesson, students have opportunities to practice and apply their ongoing understandings to their independent reading with books of their choosing. In addition to daily independent choice reading time, students also have opportunities throughout the week to meet for small group instruction with the classroom teacher.

Independent Reading (K-6)

“The purpose and the goal of literacy instruction is to create lifelong learning readers who have the power of choice and enjoy the pleasure of reading” (Fountas and Pinnell). Within a Readers’ Workshop instructional framework, students engage in daily independent reading time with books of their choice. It is during this time that students are able to apply their literacy learning, while also developing and increasing their experiences with texts over time.

Guided Reading (K-6)

Guided Reading is a powerful literacy context in which a teacher brings a small group of learners together for instruction who have similar reading behaviors, understandings, and needs. It is only in this context of literacy, that a teacher uses leveled text. The carefully selected text and planned lesson is designed to engage readers in explicit reading instruction and support in areas such as fluency and comprehension.

Word Study (K-6)

Word study plays a critical role in expanding and refining students’ reading and writing powers. This context is taught both out-of-text through explicit instruction, and in-text through implicit instruction. Students receive instruction across Nine Areas of Learning within word study, including Early Literacy Concepts, Phonological Awareness, Letter Knowledge, Letter-Sound Relationships, Spelling Patterns, High-Frequency Words, Word Meaning/Vocabulary, Word Structure, and Word Solving Actions. Word study combines both whole group instruction and small group/individual application. Word study in Kindergarten through Grade 3 is implemented with Fountas & Pinnell Classroom materials. Word study in Grades 4-6 is implemented with Words Their Way. See Words Their Way Word Study Program for more information.

Book Clubs
Book Clubs gives students an opportunity to come together in a small group for an in-depth discussion of a book they have chosen to read. These discussions are student-led. Book Clubs help students to share and extend their thinking and learn about themselves as readers. Student choice is a critical and empowering part of this small group literacy context.

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 minilessons, writing, individual and small group conferences, and sharing time as an effective model. District 15 currently utilizes Kid Writing in Kindergarten and the Scholastic Traits Writing program in Grades 1-6.

DISTRICT 15 TIER 2 LITERACY INTERVENTION

Reading Consultant Specialists (RCS)

Classroom teachers are the critical component for effective literacy instruction. Each school in the district also has a reading specialist(s) on staff to provide additional support and expertise. The reading specialist supports classroom literacy instruction and serves as a resource to all teachers in a building.

District level literacy coordinators 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 may require an additional layer of support. The district proactively addresses the needs of these students at all grade levels through the use of the Leveled Literacy Interventions System (LLI) and through the use of Soluciones for our multilingual students in grades K-2.

The Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention System (LLI)

Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) is an intensive, small-group, supplementary literacy intervention for students who may need an additional layer of support. The goal of LLI is to advance the literacy behaviors of students.

The LLI systems are designed to:

• Deepen and expand comprehension
• Increase the variety and amount of text that students can successfully read
• Build knowledge while keeping students engaged
• Aid students in becoming manipulators of words
• Capture student’s thinking through writing about reading

Soluciones

A research-based literacy solution for students who need additional support or intervention, Soluciones has been carefully developed to correlate with all aspects of a comprehensive literacy program, to close literacy gaps for students who need additional support beyond the classroom walls, and to build knowledge and respect for the Hispanic culture.

The components of Soluciones have been crafted to:

• Support high-quality reading instruction using authentic Spanish texts
• Emphasize comprehensible input in the areas of listening and reading
• Emphasize comprehensible output in the areas of speaking and writing
• Provides explicit phonemic awareness, phonics and vocabulary instruction
• Includes both reading and writing output
  
  

MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORT (MTSS)

District 15 is committed to helping all students be successful learners. As part of that commitment, our district uses a structure known as Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) is a layered continuum of academic and behavioral support that meets ALL learners’ needs. 

In a multi-tiered system of instruction and support, teachers provide quality instruction across three tiers that is universally designed, differentiated, culturally and linguistically responsive, and aligned to grade-level content standards. MTSS is a framework that provides equitable access to high-quality, grade-level academic and behavioral instruction and supports for all students.

This process allows all schools to provide students across the continuum of need with a variety of academic and behavioral supports based upon their specific learning needs. These supports are organized into three levels referred to as “Tiers.” This helps educators to respond appropriately and provide students with the assistance they need to prosper in the classroom. 

• Tier 1 is the high quality instruction provided by general education teachers that all students receive as part of their regular school day. We call this core instruction. 
  
  
• Tier 2 interventions are provided when District-based assessments indicate that a student needs additional academic support. Classroom teachers and/or other school staff work together to provide this support to small groups of students. This support is provided in regular time increments referred to as an intervention cycle and occurs during a designated time within a school day. 
  
  
• Tier 3 support incorporates problem solving structures and supports to address needs not met in Tier 1 or Tier 2 interventions.
  
  

Academic Interventions

We have several programs we use with our students who qualify for intervention depending on the student’s needs: 

Wilson Fundations makes learning to read fun while laying the groundwork for life-long literacy. Students in grades K-2 receive a systematic program in critical foundational skills, emphasizing:

• Phonemic awareness

• Phonics/ word study

• High-frequency word study

• Reading fluency

• Vocabulary

• Comprehension strategies 

• Handwriting

• Spelling

Just Words is a multisensory decoding and spelling program for students in grades 4–8. It is designed for students who can benefit from the targeted word study focus. 

Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention System (LLI) is an intensive, small-group, supplementary literacy intervention for students who find reading and writing difficult. The goal of LLI is to lift the literacy achievement of students who are not achieving grade-level expectations in reading.

El camino al éxito (K-1) is a Spanish Phonics Curriculum for Early Reading. The program develops phonological awareness and phonics skills so that students can decode and read syllables and words.

El próximo paso al éxito (1-2) is a is a Spanish Phonics program that develops phonological awareness and phonics skills so that students can decode and read syllables, words, and high-frequency words with automaticity and apply these skills to reading decodable text.

Soluciones (K-2) is a Spanish literacy intervention that accelerates students’ access to complex text using authentic Spanish resources.

Read 180 is an intervention option at WCJH.  READ 180 is the leading blended learning intervention program building reading comprehension, academic vocabulary, and writing skills.

Bridges Intervention provides targeted instruction and assessment for essential mathematics skills and concepts. A strengths-based approach builds on each student’s abilities—starting with manipulatives, then moving to two-dimensional representations and mental images.