I am on our K-12 Language Arts committee. We are in the midst of a major curriculum review. We have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on new curriculum in other core areas in the past five years while other districts struggle to keep the doors open. We have been very fortunate.
We present our proposals to building council and our professional council in a few weeks. We just aligned to the common core standards. At the elementary, we aren't unhappy with our reading program, but are looking to tweak it. We are adding non-fiction and some trade books to supplement our Scott-Foresman series.
Writing is where we have been struggling. Our school improvement goal has focused on writing forever. We have tried all kinds of things, including the 6+1 writing traits. We used writing coaches before, but cut them when grant money disappeared. I am piloting the Scholastic Traits program. I like it, but it is too costly with cuts in school funding in Michigan. We have just been given permission to pursue the Write Steps program for writing. We loved it when we saw it a couple of years ago, but had to "wait our turn". The company is here in Michigan which makes it even better, as we keep money in our own backyard. They offer Michigan districts a break.
Some of my colleagues have never heard of Daily Five, don't use anchor charts. We want a program that offers consistency K-5.
Before we present our proposals, I just wondered, "What do you use for your reading and writing program? What do you love about it?"
--Marcia
