English Language Arts

Washington State Learning Standards: Kindergarten ELA Standards

Curriculum:  Schoolwide Units of Study in Reading and Writing
                       Lucy Calkins Units of Study in Phonics

Content Learned

In reading, Kindergarteners are learning about letters, sounds, and how print works in the books they listen to and the books they read. They focus on meaning and engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. They read emergent texts designed with repeating language patterns, high picture support, and opportunities to use their phonics skills.  In writing, with support and guidance from the teacher, they’re using pictures, words, and dictation to write stories, share opinions, and write informative texts.

For more information about what students learn in first grade, visit the National PTA Parents’ Guide

Trimester 1:

• Phonics

  • Unit 1: Making Friends with Letters

  • Unit 2: Word Scientist

• Reading

  • Launching Reading Workshop

  • Fiction/Literature

• Writing
  • Launching Writers Workshop
  • Narrative

Trimester 2:

• Phonics

  • Unit 2: Word Scientists

  • Unit 3: Word Part Power

  • Unit 4: Vowel Power

• Reading 
  • Nonfiction/Informational 
• Writing
  • Nonfiction/Informational

Trimester 3:

• Phonics
  • Unit 4: Vowel Power
  • Unit 5: Playing with Phonics
• Reading
  • Opinion
• Writing
  • Opinion
• Research
  • Science: Weather All Around Us

Washington State Learning Standards: 1st Grade ELA Standards

Curriculum: Schoolwide Units of Study in Reading and Writing
 

Lucy Calkins Units of Study in Phonics

Content Learned

In reading, first graders are actively using what they know about print to read and understand texts. Their expanding vocabulary, sight word knowledge, and phonics skills help them think about characters and other story elements; they learn new facts about topics when they read informational texts. They retell stories for the purpose of sharing with others.  In writing, they compose narrative, opinion, and informative texts using complete sentences, adding details, reasons, and facts to elaborate upon their ideas.  

For more information about what students learn in first grade, visit the National PTA Parents’ Guide.

Trimester 1:

• Phonics

  • Unit 1: Talking and Thinking About Letters

  • Unit 2: The Mystery of the Silent e

• Reading

  • Launching Reading Workshop

  • Fiction/Literature

• Writing
  • Launching Writers Workshop
  • Narrative

Trimester 2:

• Phonics

  • Unit 2: The Mystery of the Silent e

  • Unit 3: From Tip to Tail: Reading Across Words

  • Unit 4: Word Builders: Using Vowel Teams 

• Reading

  • Nonfiction / Informational

• Writing
  • Nonfiction / Informational

Trimester 3:

• Phonics
  • Unit 4: Word Builders: Using Vowel Teams 
  • Unit 5: Marvelous Bloopers
• Reading 
  • Opinion
• Writing
  • Opinion
• Research
  • Science: Energy: Light and Sound 

Washington State Learning Standards: 2nd grade ELA Standards

Curriculum:  Schoolwide Units of Study in Reading and Writing
                        Lucy Calkins Units of Study in Phonics

Content Learned

In reading, second graders continue to develop their sight word knowledge, phonics skills, and vocabulary to become more fluent readers. They expand their reading to a variety of genres as they grow their interests in longer books, chapter books, and series books. In writing, they offer reasons to support their opinions, facts and definitions to develop their points in informative texts, and elaborate on events and characters to tell their stories.

For more information about what students learn in first grade, visit the National PTA Parents’ Guide.

Trimester 1:

• Phonics

  • Unit 1: Growing Into Second Grade Phonics

  • Unit 2: Big Words Take Big Resolve 

• Reading

  • Launching Reading Workshop

  • Fiction/Literature

• Writing 
  • Launching Writers Workshop
  • Narrative 

Trimester 2:

• Phonics
  • Unit 2: Big Words Take Big Resolve
  • Unit 3: Word Builders 
• Reading 
  • Nonfiction / Informational 
• Writing 
  • Nonfiction / Informational 

Trimester 3:

• Phonics
  • Unit 4: Word Collectors
• Reading 
  • Opinion
• Writing 
  • Opinion 
• Research
  • Social Studies: Characteristics of Good Citizenship
  • Science: Earth's Systems

Washington State Learning Standards: 3rd grade ELA Standards

Curriculum: Schoolwide Units of Study in Reading and Writing

Content Learned

In reading, third graders are reading widely, diving into stories with more complex characters and plots that take on diverse perspectives. They identify the central message or main idea through the details in the text, and use what they know about text structures to deepen their understanding as they read. In writing, their texts take on more structure; writing includes a clear introduction or beginning, topic or plot development, and a sense of closure.

For more information about what students learn in first grade, visit the National PTA Parents’ Guide.

Trimester 1:

• Reading

  • Launching Reading Workshop

  • Fiction/Literature

• Writing 
  • Launching Writers Workshop
  • Narrative 

Trimester 2:

• Reading 
  • Nonfiction / Informational 
• Writing 
  • Nonfiction / Informational 

Trimester 3:

• Reading 
  • Opinion
• Writing 
  • Opinion 
• Research
  • Science: Forces and Interactions

Washington State Learning Standards: 4th grade ELA Standards

Curriculum: Schoolwide Units of Study in Reading and Writing

Content Learned

In reading, fourth graders continue to read widely and deeply; the stories they read contain complex characters and problems. They actively use text features, text structures, and their own background  knowledge to construct new meaning as they read informational texts.  In writing, they provide depth to their stories, opinions, and informational writing by including dialogue, sensory details, reasons with supporting facts and details, definitions, and domain-specific vocabulary; they provide clear introductions and conclusions to support their topic or narrative.

For more information about what students learn in first grade, visit the National PTA Parents’ Guide.

 

Trimester 1:

• Reading

  • Launching Reading Workshop

  • Fiction/Literature

• Writing 
  • Launching Writers Workshop
  • Narrative 

Trimester 2:

• Reading 
  • Nonfiction / Informational 
• Writing 
  • Nonfiction / Informational 

Trimester 3:

• Reading 
  • Opinion
• Writing 
  • Opinion 
• Research
  • Science: Energy: Electric, Light, and Sound 

Washington State Learning Standards: 5th grade ELA Standards

Curriculum: Schoolwide Units of Study in Reading and Writing

Content Learned

In reading, fifth graders read longer texts that require they “sustain attention and remember information, and connect ideas over many days of reading” (Fountas &Pinnell, Literacy Continuum, 2017). They determine themes and main ideas in longer texts in a variety of genres, including fiction, poetry, drama and informational texts. They analyze texts to compare points of view, ideas, and to detect bias. In writing, they provide depth to their stories, opinions, and informational writing by including narrative techniques, ordered reasons with supporting facts and details, focus and logical organization, definitions, and domain-specific vocabulary. Their writing may be several paragraphs long and will include a clear introduction and conclusion to support their topic or narrative.

For more information about what students learn in first grade, visit the National PTA Parents’ Guide.

Trimester 1:

• Reading

  • Launching Reading Workshop

  • Fiction/Literature

• Writing 
  • Launching Writers Workshop
  • Narrative 

Trimester 2:

• Reading 
  • Nonfiction / Informational 
• Writing 
  • Nonfiction / Informational 

Trimester 3:

• Reading 
  • Opinion
• Writing 
  • Opinion 
• Research
  • Science: Our Solar System 

Washington State Learning Standards: 6th Grade ELA Standards

Curriculum: SpringBoard Grade 6 

Content Learned 

In units built around the theme “Change,” students will:

• Read work by Langston Hughes, John Steinbeck, and Sandra Cisneros
• Write narrative, explanatory, and argumentative texts
• Learn strategies for planning, drafting, revising, and editing their own writing
• Explore the fundamentals of research, including citations and how to evaluate the credibility of sources
• Deepen their understanding of topics through film and multimedia

Washington State Learning Standards: 7th Grade ELA Standards

Curriculum: SpringBoard Grade 7 

Content Learned 

In units built around the theme “Choice,” students will: Read work by Nelson Mandela, Robert Frost, Sojourner Truth, and Shakespeare

• Learn close reading strategies to discover the explicit and implicit content of texts
• Write in argumentative, explanatory, and narrative modes
• Examine how ideas are conveyed in film and multimedia

Washington State Learning Standards: 8th Grade ELA Standards

Curriculum: SpringBoard Grade 8 

Content Learned 

In units built around the theme “Challenges,” students will:

• Read works by Ray Bradbury and Walt Whitman, an essay about Civil War heroes, narratives about the Holocaust, and Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech
• Learn about the hero archetype and hero’s journey narratives
• Write narrative, explanatory, argumentative, and other texts
• Research an issue in current events and then create a multimedia presentation
• Read scenes from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, analyze how the film adaptation differs from the source

Washington State Learning Standards: 9th Grade ELA Standards

Curriculum: SpringBoard Grade 9 

Content Learned 

• In units that examine the uses of language, students will:
• Read works by authors such as Margaret Atwood, Louise Erdrich, William Shakespeare, Joshua Bennett, Toni Morrison, as well as selected nonfiction
• Learn to gather evidence from texts and incorporate it into written and oral responses
• Write in argumentative, informational, narrative, and other modes
• Research and present findings around a current issue

Washington State Learning Standards: 10th Grade ELA Standards

Curriculum: SpringBoard Grade 10 

Content Learned 

In units that study the power of language to persuade, students will:

• Read works such as Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Sophocles’ Antigone, Susan B. Anthony’s “On Women’s Right to Vote,” and Kofi Annan’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech
• Examine how culture influences worldview
• Incorporate textual evidence into a written argument
• Write in argumentative, narrative, information, and other modes
• Research a culture and present findings in a collaborative presentation using digital media

Washington State Learning Standards: 11th Grade ELA Standards

Curriculum:

• Bridge to Bridge
• College in the High School
• ERWC
• International Baccalaureate (IB)
• AP Language

Content Learned 

Content learned in the various ENG 3 course offerings focus on the TPS Priority Standards for 11^th Grade. Schools choose from a variety of programs to meet these standards. Additionally, students have the opportunity to earn college credit in AP, and College in the High School classes.

AP English Language and Composition is an introductory college-level composition course. Students cultivate their understanding of writing and rhetorical arguments through reading, analyzing, and writing texts as they explore topics like rhetorical situation, claims and evidence, reasoning and organization, and style.

College in high school programs, such as dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment, and early college high school, are partnerships between school districts and accredited institutions of higher education that provide high school-age students an intentionally-designed authentic postsecondary experience leading to officially transcripted and transferable college credit towards a recognized postsecondary degree or credential.

Washington State Learning Standards: 12th Grade ELA Standards

Curriculum:

• Bridge to Bridge
• College in the High School
• ERWC
• International Baccalaureate (IB)
• AP Literature

Content Learned 

Content learned in the various ENG 4 course offerings focus on the TPS Priority Standards for 12^th Grade. Schools choose from a variety of programs to meet these standards. Additionally, students have the opportunity to earn college credit in AP, and College in the High School classes.

AP English Literature and Composition is an introductory college-level literary analysis course. Students cultivate their understanding of literature through reading and analyzing texts as they explore concepts like character, setting, structure, perspective, figurative language, and literary analysis in the context of literary works.

College in high school programs, such as dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment, and early college high school, are partnerships between school districts and accredited institutions of higher education that provide high school-age students an intentionally-designed authentic postsecondary experience leading to officially transcripted and transferable college credit towards a recognized postsecondary degree or credential.