K-5 Literacy Framework

Rationale

The development of this framework began in response to our district’s strategic plan to improve student achievement in reading and writing. 

This framework has been founded on scientific research on literacy learning. It is informed by foundational understandings of how students learn to read and write, and it emphasizes a more consistent approach to teaching reading. Increasing access to literacy resources, common classroom-based assessments, and ongoing professional development for teachers are other foci of this framework. 

With the framework lighting up the path, educators can continue to guide students into early adulthood with the reading and writing skills they will need to act and interact in the world with agency and meaning.

Framework Overview

Our SD72 literacy framework outlines our district philosophy and provides an overview of district beliefs for creating a literacy-rich classroom that includes rigorous, joyful, culturally appropriate and responsive, and effective, evidence-based literacy instruction. The framework is described in comprehensive detail online at 72learninghub.ca, where readers will find hyperlinks to more information about literacy instruction, including recommended resources.

These continually updated online links include:

• Grade-level overviews
• Sample day plans
• Resources
• Assessments
• Cross-curricular connections

Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

We recognize that we do not all start from the same place. Our commitment to equity means that we acknowledge and attempt to understand others’ perspectives and experiences in order to create alliances across our differences. We can do so by striving to include and represent, in every learning environment, the different abilities and types of knowledge our students have, and the diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic identities of the communities to which our children belong.

With a specific commitment to ensuring Indigenous knowledge, worldviews, and perspectives are honoured and included in all areas of school and classroom learning, we are accountable to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and to the Calls to Action made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Our SD72 literacy framework embodies this commitment by ensuring that the diverse voices and perspectives of our students, families, and communities are represented in literacy learning and resources.

Inclusive educational practices like these are at the heart of our commitment to equity. They build a sense of belonging and help increase access for all learners to the particular instruction and practice they need to develop proficient literacy skills. These, in turn, improve the life opportunities for all students.

We are committed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. This framework attempts to answer call 10ii by “Improving education attainment levels and success rates.”

5 Pillars of Literacy

LITERACY is more than just reading and writing. It’s the foundation upon which we learn and grow. Literacy opens doors to compassion, connection, critical thinking, and lifelong learning.

What Guides Our Work and Learning

Reading is not a naturally occurring process. The Active View of Reading (AVR) is a child-centred model of reading that explains how readers are active participants in a meaning-making process that requires the use of self-regulating skills in addition to other cognitive processes like decoding, language comprehension, and bridging processes. This complex model reveals how essential teachers are to children becoming skilled readers—not only in their capacity to instruct, but also in their ability to engage and motivate.

Through deep understanding of the complex processes required for successful reading, teachers can anticipate common causes of reading difficulty and skillfully address these through academic and social-emotional skill instruction, relationship, and classroom culture.

This model is built on the understanding that:

1. Not all reading difficulties are due to low word recognition and/or language comprehension.
2. There are processes, such as fluency, which bridge and connect word recognition skills and language comprehension.
3. Other features, such as self-regulation, also have a direct influence over the acquisition and implementation of reading skills.

Connection to the B.C. Curriculum

The English Language Arts curriculum is foundational for developing language and literacy skills that students need for success in school, community, career, and personal life. This curriculum provides students with opportunities to think deeply and critically about the world around them and the ideas of others, to understand different and even multiple perspectives, to develop and express their own ideas, and to respectfully communicate with others. curriculum.gov.bc.ca

In the Campbell River School District, we acknowledge that special attention must be given to the following components of the grades 1–3 language arts curriculum:

• Read fluently at grade level. (Elaboration: reading with comprehension, phrasing, and attention to punctuation)
• Use foundational concepts of print, oral, and visual texts. (Elaboration: concepts include directionality of print, difference between letter and word, difference between writing and drawing, spacing, letter-sound relationship, understanding that pictures convey meaning, taking turns, expressing ideas and needs, role-playing, and phonological awareness.)
• Communicate using letters and words and applying some conventions of Canadian spelling, grammar, and punctuation. (Elaboration: common practices in writing, such as capitals and small letters printed legibly; familiar words spelled correctly; and correct use of periods, question marks, and capitals; introduction to Canadian spelling.)
• Language features, structures, and conventions, such as concepts of print, print awareness, phonemic and phonological awareness, letter formation, and sentence structure conventions.

The emphasis on word recognition components does not diminish the importance of other features of the curriculum or other key aspects of literacy, such as fluency and comprehension. This emphasis is a response to reading data collected by the district and province, and functions as an acknowledgement of the importance of intentionally and explicitly teaching students in the primary grades the foundational knowledge and skills necessary for proficient reading and writing.

The Active View of Reading (AVR) recognizes the multidimensional nature of reading. It is built on research of the complex cognitive processes and social-emotional elements of learning that interact and enable us to learn. The AVR thus implicates Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) as foundational to literacy learning and instruction and complements First Peoples Principles of Learning. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines SEL as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to develop in all areas of life, including academic success.

SEL is often called the “hidden curriculum” because it comprises skills that are integral to academic, curricular instruction during whole-class, small group, and individual learning—skills such as focus, motivation, comprehension monitoring, strategy use, appropriate social interaction, and cooperation and collaboration. First Peoples Principles of Learning also foster the development of these skills, seeing learning as holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational. Thus, students with SEL skills in a classroom applying First Peoples Principles of Learning will have strong foundations on which to build literacy.

A structured, Active and Integrated Approach to Teaching Literacy

Our educators strive to deliver a rigorous language arts program which offers: 

• A gradual release of responsibility (support to independence – I do, we do, you do approach),
• Differentiated instruction which meets the needs of all learners,
• Daily, responsive, and direct instruction in reading, which includes:
  • Focused, skill-based reading instruction and reading practice
  • Explicit, sequential, systematic, and embedded phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics instruction
  • Word study – origins of root words, affixes, and vocabulary
  • Direct instruction in comprehension strategies
  • Fluency practice
  • Small group reading instruction and individual reading conferences
  • Daily opportunities to apply newly learned phonics skills to authentic reading and writing experiences
• Daily, responsive, and direct instruction in writing, which includes:
  • Spelling concepts that are linked with phonics skills in reading
  • A clear progression from invented spelling to conventional orthography
  • Written expression
  • Attention to different types of writing
  • The use of mentor texts and authorial technique and style
  • Small group writing instruction and individual writing conferences
• An integrated, cross-curricular approach where literacy instruction spans all subjects such as science, social studies, art, etc.,
• Easy access to graphic organizers, interactive word walls or word folders, anchor charts, and technology, etc.,
• Access to effective, early intervention and ongoing support if needed.

Reading conferences are opportunities to build relationships with students and increase student engagement – both of which have positive implications for students’ academic and social development. Students do better when they are connected to their teachers.

 District Level Screening and Assessment Plan

* DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)
* QSI (Qualitative Spelling Inventory)

To develop strong literacy skills, students need to be active participants and have explicit instruction.

The Shared Responsibility of Literacy Learning

Literacy learning for all students requires a team approach. A child’s family and community, and the array of cultural and linguistic characteristics of each, play a vital role in their early literacy development. Later, that child’s classroom and school community support the work of school teams working to improve literacy. 

At school, literacy learning begins with the classroom teacher who promotes a joy of reading and an appreciation of language and literature while fostering the growth of literacy skills through explicit instruction. The responsibility for all students proficiently reading and writing is not the classroom teacher’s alone. All school staff share a goal to nurture success in all students, creating a connection among educators who will then collaborate on a plan to assist children requiring additional literacy support. 

These educators are part of the school-based literacy team that works towards goals identified through data collection processes for the ultimate objective of improving literacy rates for students. The school-based literacy team is comprised of school administrators, teacher-librarians, learning support teachers, education assistants, and others.  The particular responsibility of each member of this team is driven by the specific needs of the student. 

Literacy starts in families and is enriched by cultural practices and oral traditions. A baby’s learning starts in the womb, hearing the spoken language of family and the sounds of the world around them. Families and caregivers are a child’s first literacy teachers, and they can open doors to life-long learning. With families as partners, schools can continue the learning started in the home. These collective efforts culminate with individuals achieving the literacy skills needed to successfully carve out their own futures, and to uphold and serve the health of their communities. 

Explicit, Systematic, and Responsive Instruction

A multi-tiered instructional model meets the needs of all students within our system. This multi-tiered model is applied to the whole school, providing data that allows for systematic identification of students needing support to improve reading and writing skills.

A key feature of this model is the progress-monitoring that yields the important information needed to drive responsive, evidence-based, daily instruction in all classrooms, and more personalized instruction and intervention matched to individual student needs.

We believe the development of reading and writing is directly related to the quality of the classroom instruction, the relationships with teachers and peers, and connection to culture and personal experiences.

Supporting Resources

The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) is a screening assessment consisting of different measures that are predictive of reading development. A student’s performance indicates the level of risk related to reading development and subsequent intensity of support needed. A student score in the “blue” range indicates little to no risk in reading skill development. A student score in the “green” range suggests minimal risk. Both blue and green range scores imply that the student will continue to progress with quality classroom-based instruction. 

Student scores in the “yellow” and “red” ranges, however, suggest that students will need additional monitoring and support. Specifically, a score in “yellow” indicates that there is some risk in reading skill development and that the students’ acquisition of skills will be monitored and additional strategic instruction provided through classroom instruction. A student score in “red” suggests that reading development is at risk. In these cases, the school-based literacy team will determine the best way to deliver intensive support, including whole group, small group, and/or targeted individual lessons. 

The following are resources within School District 72 that directly support the development of reading and writing: 

Heggerty provides weekly and daily lessons for the systematic development of phonological and phonemic awareness. 

Flyleaf is a series of decodable books, lessons, and comprehension activities for students learning to read. The program helps students to transfer phonics skills and knowledge directly to passages of text. 

PRESS (Path to Reading Excellence in School Sites) is a framework for multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) using screening data to drive classroom instruction through further assessment, intervention, and progress-monitoring. 

UFLI Foundations (University of Florida Literacy Institute) is a resource complete with scope and sequence lessons that are designed for students to systematically acquire literacy skills with the goal of automaticity and confidence.