Reynolds Elementary School

We approach Language Arts using a Balanced Literacy Curriculum allowing us to meet the needs of all learners at the Kindergarten level.

Reading Workshop gives students the opportunity to explore books and practice reading strategies daily.  Students read independently as well as with partners, meet with the teacher for reading conferences as well as for strategy/small group instruction.

Writing Workshop gives young writers an opportunity to write about things that are meaningful to them while sketching, labeling and writing stories.  Students choose and publish pieces of writing to share with an audience and give compliments and comments about peer work.

Shared Reading allows students to practice book handling skills, directionality, one-to-one matching, punctuation, as well as discussing author/illustrator and story components.

Interactive read-alouds with accountable talk allow students to listen and talk about wonderful books, concentrate on using strategies for comprehension and have meaningful conversations about the text.

Word Study/Phonics - All students will be exposed to the Orton Gillingham method of instruction which focuses on breaking reading and spelling down into smaller skills involving letters and sounds, and then building on these skills over time. It uses a multisensory approach to teaching reading at the word level.

Interactive Writing allows students to “share the pen” to co-create a text with the teacher.

Shared Writing is a shared Reading and Writing Experience. The teacher is the scribe, and the students and the teacher collaborate to create the text. The writing that is produced should be easily available to students so they may read it over and over and use it as a model for their own writing. Shared writing can be taught in large- or small-group settings. It is a powerful teaching tool in all areas of the curriculum – for example, it can be used to teach students how to write a science experiment or a math journal entry.

Community Circle provides a daily opportunity to bring the class together as one. In this forum, discussion is encouraged on a variety of topics that foster community, connection, and unity. Each month the school focuses on a Star Power Word that can be incorporated into the Community Circle discussions as a source for social emotional learning. Other topics for discussion can stem from current classroom issues for problem solving, current events, and other ideas stemming from student interest. The ultimate goal of Community Circle is to form connections among students and staff that provide a sense of belonging.