1 of 6

Pilot Curriculum Review ELA K-8

Teaching and Learning Committee

2021

Presented By:

Kristen Santilli

Director of Curriculum,

Instruction and Data Pre K-12

Shelton Public School System

2 of 6

Teachers’ College Units of Study

Reading Workshop Components:
Each session begins with a mini lesson. Kids sit with a long-term partner while in the mini lesson.
The mini lesson ends with the kids being sent off to their own independent work.
As students work, the teacher confers with them and leads small groups.
Partway through independent work time, the teacher stands and delivers a mid-workshop teaching point.
The workshop ends with a share.

3 of 6

Wit and Wisdom

“With Wit & Wisdom, students practice reading, writing, speaking and listening, academic vocabulary, and style and conventions in concert to build holistic ELA knowledge.”

Rich and Engaging Texts
Rigor
Books, Not Basals
Knowledge Building
Not Isolated

Rich and Engaging Texts Each Wit & Wisdom module centers on the study of rich and engaging texts, curated to build student knowledge of important ideas in the liberal arts and the sciences.

Rigor supporting all learners to tackle the rigor that the standards demand.

students develop the knowledge and skills they need to be successful readers, critical thinkers, and effective communicators who love to learn and can succeed in college and careers.

Books, Not Basals Every Wit & Wisdom text students encounter is authentic and of the highest quality. Instead of basals, students read books they love to build knowledge of important topics and master literacy skills. The texts are wide-ranging and varied, including a careful balance of literary, informational, and fne-art texts.

Knowledge Building Every module, or unit of study, in each grade focuses on a topic essential for building background knowledge, vocabulary, and writing skills. For example, students learn about the seasons, the American Revolution, civil rights, and space exploration. Essential topics strategically reoccur, empowering students to deepen understanding of core knowledge across Grades K–8. Integrated,

Not Isolated Students practice reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language in an integrated way, with every strand of the standards woven throughout each module. This integrated approach enables students to be more successful as they activate and build on their developing background and vocabulary knowledge of the module topic while learning skills in other areas.

4 of 6

Did you notice improvement in your students' grades?
Did this program provide rigor for students?
Did this program provide all teacher materials including lessons and assessments?
Did you need to search for other curricula resources to implement this program?
Was student engagement at a high level during this pilot?
Does this program align teaching reading and writing together?
Did this program allow for differentiation for students with IEP's?
Would you recommend implementing this pilot program?

TC	WW

5 of 6

From the Trenches; What are teachers saying?

Teachers’ College

Lessons
Conversatations
Supplemental Materials
Writing
Reading Assessments

6 of 6

Wit and Wisdom

Phonics & Phonemic Awareness = Fundations & Geodes
Group Discussion
Rigorous
Exposure to grade level text for all students
Writing is Embedded
Art
Comprehensive and Thorough

From the Trenches; What are teachers saying?

Group discussion is deep and students are engaged. Topics lead to other topics and conversation is rich. All students seem to be engaged and interested in topic.
Students that normally do not participate were joining Google Meets and wanting to share their work.
Students are engaged. Program is rigorous and pushes students to think. There’s a lot of group discussion.
Wit and Wisdom is a complete program for both reading and writing taught simultaneously.
The rigor and exposure to grade level text make it unique and effective.
The writing is embedded in the program and goes along with the book/topic. Students work on a writing technique using the reading material they are focusing on.
All students were able to access higher level texts.
Allows SPED students and students who can’t read the text to participate by listening to the text and then responding. Students that we would not expose to this rigor in our current program surprised us and were successful.
The art component is just great - such rich dialogue linked to text. Interdisciplinary at it’s best!
This program is comprehensive and thorough. It encompasses all literacy standards. It is teacher friendly and provides students with many opportunities to collaborate. I highly recommend this program.