English Language Arts

Program Overview

Our English Language Arts (ELA) teachers instruct through a student-centered approach--which means that we meet the student where they are in their learning and help them develop the deep-level skills and strategies that will enable them to ascend. Our students are equipped with learning experiences to know both what and how to learn in our classrooms. If you had a window into the MSD ELA classroom, you would find . . .

Passionate, caring, knowledgeable, and inspirational teachers
Instruction tailored to how each student learns and progresses
Students learning together as a class and in small groups
Blended learning that unites the best of face-to-face instruction with the best of technology
Trusting relationships between teachers and students, solidified during face-to-face writing and reading conferences
Students equipped with the strategies to achieve their goals while building their competence and confidence

presentation on district testing data for english language arts

What is Standards-Based Instruction?

Here in the Morris School District, our curriculum is anchored in the NJ Department of Education’s Student Learning Standards. Planning, teaching and assessment in all of our ELA classrooms are aligned to a set of cross-disciplinary expectations that ensure each student has access to rigorous, relevant instruction. The ELA standards focus on five areas of literacy: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language. Students develop important skills in each area throughout their educational pathway, building on and refining what they learned in previous grades, engaging with increasingly complex material, and working steadily toward readiness for college and career. Below is an example of how student learning progresses along a continuum in English Language Arts:

Instructional Philosophy

To become college and career ready, students must grapple with works of exceptional craft and thought whose range extends across genres, cultures, and centuries. Such works offer profound insights into the human condition and serve as models for students' own thinking and writing. . . (NJSLS)English Language Arts empowers students to use spoken and written language to access multiple pathways. We believe each student must be able to clearly and effectively communicate with impact in order to participate as active citizens in a democratic society, build and strengthen relationships with others through dialogue and inquiry, and reflect on and articulate their own goals, aspirations, thoughts, and experiences.

In our ELA classrooms, students learn to:

Engage in a range of collaborative discussions to build on the ideas of others and to persuasively express their own ideas.
Read widely across genres, cultures, and time.
Experience a range of texts, including works that span the classics to the contemporary classics, high quality nonfiction texts, and other works of exceptional craft.
Reflect on the human condition and use literature as a tool to build empathy.
Increase their depth of knowledge and skills by grappling with complex text and responding with sophistication in writing.

We believe that fostering a lifelong love of reading is essential. We offer rich classroom libraries, small-group activities in book clubs, and independent reading within the genres students find most interesting. Our goal is for students to identify as confident readers and writers.

Basics of Balanced Literacy

Grade Level Program Expectations

K-2

in grades K-2, students read literature and informational text while learning foundational skills, including phonics, word recognition, and fluency. Students write opinions, informative, and narrative texts. The following is an example of how a single Literature Standard ("Key Ideas and Details") unfolds from Kindergarten through second grade as students progress in their learning:

(RL.K.2) Kindergarten- With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details (e.g. , who, what, where, when, why, how).
(RL.1.2.) First Grade- Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
(RL.2.2.) Second Grade- Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message/ theme, lesson, or moral.

Our teachers utilize the resources from Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Units of Study series published by Heinemann to prepare lessons. During the year, our literacy consultant from Gravity Goldberg, LLC provides instructional coaching to reinforce balanced literacy practices and further our teachers' own professional development. Teachers also experience district and school level professional development including weekly engagement in the process of Professional Learning Communities with colleagues in various formats for the purpose of instructional program coherence.

3-5

In grades 3-5, students read literature and informational text while learning foundational skills, including phonics, word recognition, and fluency. students write opinions/ argumentative, informative, and narrative texts. Students also focus on vocabulary acquisition, speaking, listening, and conventions of Standard English. The following is an example of how a single Literature Standard ("Key Ideas and Details") unfolds from third to fifth grade as students progress in their learning:

(RL.3.2.) Third Grade- Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message/ theme, lesson or moral and explain how it is revealed through key details in the text.
(RL.4.2.) Fourth Grade- Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
(RL.5.2.) Fifth Grade- Determine the key details in a story, drama, or poem to identify the theme and to summarize text.

Teachers utilize the resources from Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Units of Study series published by Heinemann to prepare lessons. Throughout the year, our literacy consultant from Gravity Goldberg, LLC provides instructional coaching to reinforce balanced literacy practices and further our teachers' own professional development. Teachers also experience district and school level professional development including weekly engagement in the process of Professional Learning Communities with colleagues in various formats for the purpose of instructional program coherence.

6-8

In grades 6-8, students read literature and informational text. Students write argumentative, informative, and narrative texts while engaging in learning vocabulary acquisition, speaking, listening, and conventions of Standard English.

The following is an example of how a single Literature Standard ("Key Ideas and Details") unfolds from sixth to eighth grade as students progress in their learning:

(RL.6.2.) Sixth Grade- Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
(RL.7.2.) Seventh Grade- Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
(RL.8.2.) Eighth Grade- Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

Our teachers utilize the resources from Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Units of Study series published by Heinemann to prepare lessons. Throughout the year, our literacy consultant from Gravity Goldberg, LLC provides instructional coaching to reinforce balanced literacy practices and further our teachers' own professional development. Teachers also experience district and school level professional development including weekly engagement in the process of Professional Learning Communities with colleagues in various formats for the purpose of instructional program coherence.

9-12

In high school English classes, students read literature and informational text. Students write argumentative, informative, and narrative texts. The standards engage students in expectations surrounding vocabulary acquisition, speaking, listening, and conventions of Standard English.

Through wide and deep reading of literature and literary nonfiction of steadily increasing sophistication, students gain a reservoir of literary and cultural knowledge, references, and images; the ability to evaluate intricate arguments; and the capacity to surmount the challenges posed by complex texts." -NJSLSThe following is an example of how a single Literature Standard ("Key Ideas and Details") unfolds from grades 9-10 to grades 11-12 as students progress in their learning:

(RL.9-10.2.) Grades 9-10- Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details and provide an objective summary of the text.
(RL.11-12.2.) Grades 11-12- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

During the year, our 9-12 English department consults with Drew University through DREW Teach to provide professional development in curriculum and instruction. Teachers also experience district and school level professional development including engagement in the process of Professional Learning Communities with colleagues in various formats for the purpose of instructional program coherence.

Resources

The resources below are supporting documents for our English Language Arts program. Parents/ Guardians may find these resources valuable.

New Jersey Student Learning Standards in English Language Arts, K-12Morris School District CurriculumArticle- Parent Strategies for Improving Their Child's Reading and Writing

Writers routinely progress through a cycle to arrive at a published piece. View the writing cycle below. Credit for the graphic and text is given to our literacy consultants at the Gravity Goldberg Group, LLC.

Dr. Kara B. Douma
PK-12 Supervisor of English Language Arts

Office:
Morristown High School
50 Early Street
Morristown, NJ 07960

973.292.2000 ext. 2282
kara.douma@msdk12.net

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