CHARLESA.LINDBERGHELEMENTARY SCHOOL
184 Irving Terrace \Buffalo, New York 14223-2317 \874-8410
Mr. Michael MuscarellaMrs. Ellen Gossel
PrincipalReading Specialist
ELA Program
K-5
At Lindbergh Elementary School our goal is to produce readers and writers who will meet or exceed the new Common Core Learning Standards. We aim to raise readers and writers who are critical thinkers, who read closely and think deeply about what they are reading.
Our Language Arts program provides students with daily opportunities to engage in reading, writing, speaking and listening activities. At an early age we begin to develop a toolkit of good reading habits. Children learn strategies that can be applied to any book at any level across the curriculum in a reading workshop. Engaging in a reading workshop allows students to practice and apply a variety of comprehension strategies.
The writing workshop is based on the belief that children, in order to produce effective writing in a genre, require many opportunities to read quality text in that genre, to have quality writing instruction in that genre and to have time to write and use a writing process. Writing and reading have a very strong connection. The more we read, the better we write. As outlined by the Common Core Learning Standards, children in grades K-5 write narrative, opinion or informationalwriting pieces.
- Rehearsal: Children gather ideas for writing
- Drafting: Children plan the beginning, middle and end of the piece and write
- Revision: Children reconsider and change what they have written
- Editing: Children reread and make corrections on spelling and mechanics
Students at Lindbergh also write responses to reading. The goal is for children to think critically as they read and communicate their thoughts, feelings, and reactions to their reading in a response.
Learning to read and write is developed through consistency in education throughout elementary school. Our teachers have a systematic plan in both writing and reading to build upon the foundation developed the previous year. This coherence gives children a sense of connection across the days, months and years at Lindbergh School!
Reading Strategies
These readingstrategies are introduced one at a time then students are given time to practice each strategy and encouraged to use them continually as they read.
Prior knowledge: Readers activate what they currently understand or misunderstand about the topic and use this knowledge before, during, and after reading to clarify misconceptions and understand the text.
Predicting: Readers predict outcomes, events or actions that are confirmed or contradicted by the end of the story.
Making connections:Readers relate what they read to personal experiences (text-to-self), to information from other text (text-to-text), and to information about the world (text-to-world) in order to enhance their understanding of themselves, the text, and the world.
Questioning: Readers ask questions about the text and the author's intentions and seek information to clarify and extend their thinking before, during and after reading.
Visualizing: Readers create images in their minds that reflect or represent the ideas in the text. These images may include any of the five senses and serve to enhance understanding of the text.
Inferring:Readers think about and search the text, and sometimes use personal knowledge to construct meaning beyond what is literally stated.
Evaluating:Readers judge, justify, and/or defend understandings to determine importance based on stated criteria.
Summarizing: Readers retell the text, focusing on the important information.
Synthesizing:Readers create original insights, perspectives and understandings by reflecting on text(s) and merging elements from text and existing schema.