Literacy by Level

In K–2, students build a strong foundation in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. 

Students learn to:

• Connect letters and sounds to read and spell words
• Blend, break apart, and play with sounds in words
• Build reading fluency through practice and rereading
• Understand stories by identifying characters, settings, events, and lessons
• Explore informational texts using features like pictures, captions, and headings
• Ask and answer questions to deepen understanding
• Express ideas through drawing, dictating, and writing
• Write simple opinion, informative, and narrative pieces
• Practice speaking and listening respectfully in conversations

By the end of the primary grades, students read more independently, write for different purposes, and confidently talk about what they learn.

Teachers use a variety of hands-on, research-based strategies, such as:

• Letter and sound activities using magnetic letters, tiles, and games

• Word-building and word-solving to decode and spell new words
• Fluency practice through repeated reading and shared reading
• Comprehension strategies like predicting, retelling, questioning, and using text and illustrations to make sense of the story
• Sentence-building and writing routines with pictures, models, and shared writing
• Research and inquiry by asking questions and gathering facts from books, pictures, and simple multimedia

These strategies help children become strong, confident readers and writers.

Families play an important role in helping children develop literacy skills. Simple, everyday activities make a big difference:

Create a Reading-Friendly Home

• Keep books and print materials available
• Read together every day, even for a few minutes
• Let your child see you reading and writing

Build Early Reading Skills

• Practice letter sounds and simple word games
• Use magnetic letters to build and change words
• Talk about pictures, characters, and facts during reading
• Ask questions like who, what, where, why, and how

Grow Understanding and Curiosity

• Make predictions before and during reading
• Have your child retell the story or share facts learned
• Visit the library regularly and explore books on topics your child loves

Encourage Writing and Speaking

• Provide crayons, pencils, and paper for writing and drawing
• Let your child write about trips, daily activities, or favorite topics
• Encourage storytelling, sharing ideas, and asking questions

In grades 3-5, students build a strong foundation in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. 

Students learn to:

• Discuss the differences and similarities between the characters' perspectives and those of the reader
• Examine conflict and setting to explore the impact they have on plot development
• Utilize reading strategies to determine a text's theme or central idea
• Analyze literary texts for setting, characters, and plot
• Analyze informational texts for text features and structures
• Understand how figurative language influences the meaning of a text
• Use various strategies to determine word meanings and relationships 
• Study authors' writing styles
• Ask questions about a topic and conduct research
• Determine if a source is trustworthy 
• Use research to support claims with evidence
• Select relevant information from a source
• Write opinion, informative, and narrative pieces
• Participate actively in discussions and confidently talk about what they have learned 

Teachers use a variety of hands-on, research-based strategies, such as:

• Focusing on prefixes, suffixes, and Greek and Latin roots to support vocabulary and decoding of words with multiple syllables
• Utilizing syllable-division routines to decode longer, academic words
• Utilizing comprehension strategies such as summarizing, identifying a central idea and supporting details, making inferences, comparing texts, and analyzing text structure
• Building background knowledge through thematic units and read-alouds with complex literary and informational texts
• Annotating their text to highlight any confusing language, figurative language, or connections
• Identifying and supporting claims with evidence collected from a text
• Embedding grammar instruction in authentic student writing

These strategies help children become strong, confident readers and writers.

Families play an important role in helping children develop literacy skills. Simple, everyday activities make a big difference:

Create a Reading-Friendly Home:

• Keep books and a variety of types of texts around your home
• Establish a routine where your child has a set amount of time to read daily
• Set reading goals for your child 
• Continue to listen in as your child reads

Grow Understanding:

• After reading, have your child tell you what the main character learned in a literary text or what the central idea may be from their informational text
• Encourage your child to use sticky notes when reading to mark interesting parts in the text
• Discuss the meaning of unknown words when reading with your child and encourage them to use context clues to create or extend meaning and understanding
• Use real-world vocabulary moments when cooking, shopping, or watching shows
• Encourage your child by asking open-ended questions and helping them notice similarities and differences in a text and between multiple texts
• Visit the library regularly and explore books on topics they love

Encourage Writing and Speaking:

• Talk to your child daily and encourage them to make eye contact with you and speak in an appropriate voice volume
• Let your child share and write about their day, ideas they have, feelings they encounter
• Give your child a simple sentence and encourage them to stretch the sentence by adding who, what, where, when, or why
• Encourage your child to read age-appropriate magazines and non-fiction texts, and have them note facts and make connections