Elementary Language Arts Instruction in Central Bucks

Program Description and Initiatives

Background: In the past two decades, language arts instruction nationally has been shaped by significant research about how children learn to use and then refine their use of language. First, there has been increasing emphasis on integrating all the language arts -- reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking -- and using those language skills in the completion of meaningful tasks with a specific audience and purpose. After all, real world communication tasks do not separate speaking, reading, listening, thinking and writing skills. Second, effective instruction in the key area of writing includes attention not only to the finished product but also to the actual processes that writers use: planning, drafting, hearing response, revising for improved meaning, editing for correctness, and publishing for real audiences. Also, there is recognition that the teaching of language skills such as spelling, mechanics, usage, and grammar is most effective in the context of real reading and writing tasks, rather than in isolation. Finally, there is a growing use of technology as a tool for learning and refining language arts skills. All of these national trends have impacted our Central Bucks elementary language arts program.

Standards / Courses of Study: The RELA courses of study meet the Pennsylvania standards. They are a direct link between the standards and the grade specific curriculum. Staff development related to meeting these standards is an ongoing training process for our teachers. Principals, The curriculum coordinator and master teachers direct this training.

Writing: In our elementary language arts program, there is an emphasis on purposeful writing: to tell stories, to present information, to persuade, and to entertain. Students begin writing in kindergarten, even before they can read, by drawing and using phonetic spelling. In elementary school, students are expected to write every day. They write frequently in writing workshops, practice all types of writing, receive feedback from their classmates, conference with their teachers, and learn editing skills.

Students often publish their pieces in bound book form, and computers are becoming increasingly important as a publishing tool, given the keyboarding and word processing instruction started in grades 4, 5, and 6. In addition, students also use writing as a tool for learning content in all subject areas: to respond to literature, to analyze scientific information, to problem solve in mathematics, and to support a point of view in social studies.

The language program, the Write Source, is used in grades K-6. It is published by the Great Source, a Houghton Mifflin Company. Write Source handbooks are resources that give students guidelines and information to become better writers, thinkers, and learners. The Write Source Language Program provides guidelines for the writing process, grammar, preparing students for state writing tests, and has an almanac linking to all subject areas. These handbooks can be used across the curriculum to promote writing, thinking, and learning in all areas.

Information Skills: Library and research skills -- formulating questions, gathering and organizing data, and presenting information clearly and logically -- are taught and then applied in the context of other subject areas. Teachers can use the Central Bucks publication “Writing a Research Report,” along with the Write Source materials. Research includes technology as well as print resources.

Language Use: Instruction in the other language arts skills is embedded in application. Speaking and listening skills are taught and then applied in both informal group discussion and public speaking situations. Our district scope and sequence of language skills introduces students to the formal structure of English and highlights grammatical skills to be emphasized each year. Those skills are reinforced further with “daily edit” practices: short-proofreading exercises that target key areas of mechanics and usage.

Spelling: All classrooms teachers have been trained in the use of the Zaner Bloser Spelling Connections spelling program. Finally, systematic handwriting instruction rounds out the language arts program.

Assessment: Assessment in the language arts includes a variety of instruments: end-of-year skills tests, PSSA tests, portfolio prompts and performance assessments. The culminating sixth grade performance assessment task also targets the language arts program. It requires that students develop a research question, conduct research, write a report, word process the report, deliver it orally to an assessment panel, and self-evaluate their performance.

District Initiative:

Portfolios. In 2000, a new elementary portfolio was implemented district wide. The portfolios are a comprehensive system in reporting student progress in writing as well as other subject areas. Students begin by accumulating a variety of samples in their Classroom Collections Portfolio. After reflection, some items are chosen by the student to be placed the Student Progress Portfolio. This portfolio is shared with the parents at a portfolio conference in the Spring. The third phase of the portfolio process is the Pass Along Portfolio. Again, designated items are placed into this portfolio and passed to the next teacher along with a portfolio reflection.

A portfolio prompt is given to all students in grades 2-6 each spring. Theses prompts are scored using the PSSA rubric and district anchor papers.