LAUSD has adopted an ELA curriculum called Benchmark Advance. We are in the 2nd year of implementation. Benchmark Advance will include reading and writing curriculum. In writing we will focus on a different prompt each week that relates to what we've been reading.
5 Themes of Literary Instruction - Content Knowledge - Meaning Making - Foundational Skills - Language Development - Effective Expression
Unit 1 Government at Work Unit 2 Characters Facing Challenges Unit 3 Plants and Animals in their Habitats Unit 4 Many Characters, Many Points of View Unit 5 Solving Problems Through Technology Unit 6 Tales to Live By Unit 7 Investigating the Past Unit 8 Wind and Water Change Earth Unit 9 Buyers & Sellers Unit 10 States of Matter
Benchmark Writing
Each week, the students will be given a writing prompt that will correlate with the weekly reading selection. We will start the writing process by analyzing the prompt, continue onto planning our writing, and then drafting. During "assessment week", the students will choose their best piece for publishing. Each unit will include a narrative, informative, and opinion/persuasive writing prompt. - Analyze the Prompt - Reread for Text Evidence - Plan Your Writing - Draft - Revise & Edit - Publish
"Writing workshop is a student-centered framework for teaching writing that is based on the idea that students learn to write best when they write frequently, for extended periods of time, on topics of their own choosing. "
The students will focus on a different genre during each of the three grading periods.