Language Arts

Language Arts at Kapolei Elementary

Reading:

Kapolei Elementary school implements the Readers Workshop model.  A Reader’s Workshop model utilizes Guided Reading, where students are taught various skills and standards through a mini-lesson, then are given time to practice these skills through daily activities.  

Guided reading is the heart of a balanced literacy program as it enables children to practice strategies with the teacher’s support, and leads to independent reading.  Through Guided Reading, the students have opportunities to develop reading skills so they can read increasingly difficult texts independently.  In Guided Reading, the teacher is able to observe students as they process new texts, and which allows the teacher to select appropriate reading material. 

Through formative assessments, students are assigned Guided Reading Levels, which matches their decoding and comprehension skills.  While teachers read with students individually or in small groups, students may either be working in literacy centers or in reading groups.

Writing:

Students engage in writing through the Writing process, and practice the various stages of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their written work.  During the Writer’s Workshop, student writers move fluidly in and out of these different stages as needed.

They are also immersed in the Six Traits of Writing, which helps to build a solid foundation in the traits of effective writing, and support student’s writing independence.  The traits include lessons on Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, and Sentence Fluency.  These traits are interrelated qualities that define good writing.  When students understand the six traits, they can revise their writing with confidence and skills.