Our objective is to create an environment rich in opportunities for children to develop language through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Activities and projects are designed so that children have a chance to learn, share, record and create through all these modalities. By providing a variety of experiences we hope to develop well-balanced skills as well as to allow children with different learning styles to succeed and build their identities as students.

Our curriculum is also set up to take into account the wide range in levels of development and interests of the students. While some students are making their first attempts at reading or encoding their own words in print, others are reading chapter books and developing their sense of character and voice as writers. To meet these broad needs some of our activities are done by the whole class while others are broken down by grade level or the needs of the individual student. Activities are also designed to include the direct teaching of skills, building a love of literature, and developing independence and self-confidence.

Throughout the day there are many opportunities for reading. The room is full of environmental print. Children read choices, class jobs and schedules as they go through our daily routines. During meeting children take turns finding mistakes in a message on the board. As a group we read song charts, poems, and record our ideas on the easel or white board. These group activities give students an opportunity to participate regardless of their own reading level. Every day we have quiet reading. Children work with their reading group or pick a book to read to themselves or to a friend. Early in the year we read individually with students during this time to assess their instructional needs. After the first weeks we begin reading with groups of children during quiet reading. Reading groups allow us to provide direct instruction, from phonetic skills, spelling conventions, and word families on one hand, to understanding character and plot on the other.

We also regularly read aloud to the children. At times we read a book to introduce a topic such as poetry or teasing. Other times it is just for fun. This fall we will be reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Reading aloud to children develops their love of stories as well as listening skills they will need throughout life. To further build our connection to reading and stories we write and perform a class drama every year.

While we don’t have homework in the first and second grade we feel it is very important for parents to develop routines for regularly reading at home. There is no substitute for practice as children develop confidence and fluency as readers. Remember reading at home should be fun. If it seems like a struggle, we can help make suggestions based on what we’re doing in school. Beginning readers may want to borrow familiar reading group books from school to read at home. Reading to children also gives them access to rich language and ideas beyond their current reading level.

In the first and second grade learning to read and learning to write are very closely linked. As children apply their phonetic knowledge to encoding their own ideas and reading their own words they are laying down the foundations for both reading and writing. Our first goal is to foster a sense of independence as a writer through the application of phonetic knowledge. As children build this basic independence we also actively teach skills appropriate to each child's needs. This runs the gamut from learning to write the key sounds heard in a word to thinking about the plot and characters of their stories. Skills are developed in the context of projects as well as through separate activities such as handwriting, or word games and puzzles.

As with our reading curriculum we try to provide a wide variety of opportunities for children to write. As children arrive in the morning they often work in their journals. This is a place where they can freely choose what to write. Some children work on ongoing stories. Others describe past or upcoming events. Sometimes the journal entry will describe what's happening in a picture or create a short fantasy. Children also work in their journal at other times of the day, particularly if they have finished a project early.

On a weekly basis we will introduce new sight words. Sight words are drawn from the most frequently used words that are not easily decoded using phonetic rules. Children will write sentences using the word and will be expected to spell these words correctly (or correct them) for the rest of the year. Along with phonics and word families, sight words offer another handle for children to develop their reading and writing vocabulary. We will also give children direct instruction in handwriting. It is important at an early age for children to learn correct pencil grip and letter formation.

In Writers Workshop children develop their skills in the process of writing their own stories. For beginning writers, children often start with pictures and get help writing their ideas down page by page. As they become more independent as writers we work more on organization and content. First children plan their story using a “story starter”. They choose characters, pick a setting, and write basic events for the beginning, middle and end of their story. After they have written a draft they read their story to a friend and a teacher to get feedback. After editing and making corrections children type, illustrate and bind their stories. Finally, children read their “published” books to the whole class. Their stories are available to read at quiet reading for the rest of the year.

Throughout the year children will be involved in many projects involving writing. We begin the year by writing about our “Hopes and Dreams” for the year ahead. Next, each child makes a book about themselves called Things About Me or Who In the World Am I?. The books are on display all year so that children can read each other’s books at quiet reading time. This fall, we will also start Writer’s Workshop stories and write poems about flying and birds. In all our writing projects we try to emphasize communication to a real audience. By sharing our work with each other, parents, and the broader school community, we hope to show the value of working hard on a project you are proud to share. As the year progresses children will write poetry, do research projects, describe and analyze their work for portfolio collections, and explain their work as mathematicians and scientists. Our goal is to give children experience writing in different styles for different purposes.