Curriculum: Reading

Center Grove Community School Corporation recognizes literacy as a vital component of a student’s exceptional educational experience. Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, teachers will utilize a new resource to teach students in Grades K-3 in foundational reading skills. UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) Foundations is an evidence-based, explicit and systematic phonics program designed to help students learn the skills and concepts needed to become competent, confident readers. 

Students will participate in robust daily instruction led by the classroom teacher and will be monitored through weekly tests that assess previously-taught skills (from two weeks prior). This allows time for mastery and practice. You will be provided information from the classroom teacher about the skills to practice before the weekly test. If you have additional questions or would like more information, please visit THIS LINK.  You can also reach out to your child’s teacher, building principal, or Marcy Szostak (Center Grove Director of Elementary Teaching and Learning). 

In Center Grove, each subject area undergoes a review process approximately every six years led by the Teaching and Learning Department.  Prior to the six-year review date for Reading, teams of teachers studied best practices for a comprehensive literacy framework.  Scholastic Literacy™ was then chosen during the review year as the resource that best aligned with current practices and research. 

The Scholastic Literacy™ materials utilize reading practices that align with how a child's brain learns. The subject matter is pulled from Indiana Academic Standards. Scholastic Literacy™ lessons are centered around real-world stories, which are important to keep students engaged and help them with language development. Scholastic Literacy™ also gives Center Grove teachers what they need for a comprehensive literacy framework. The framework structure allows teachers to utilize their expertise to provide each student with what they need to learn.

Center Grove teachers use various tools to understand each student’s skill mastery/application and to design lessons that meet every student's needs. Teachers use tools such as comprehension rubrics, graphic organizers, quick checks, and Reader’s Response to assess skill knowledge. Other tools are diagnostic and not entered into the grade book. They include but are not limited to, the Developmental Spelling Inventory, Guided Reading levels, NWEA and Aimsweb measures, and Lexile scores. Many diagnostic assessments take place throughout the first quarter in order to appropriately respond to your child’s needs. Additionally, teachers establish procedures and routines to create a community of readers throughout the first nine weeks. This means parents may see fewer grades in Reading for the 1st Quarter than there will be for the remainder of the school year.

The Scholastic Literacy™ word study strand is designed specifically for early readers. Research shows that a systematic, explicit, and cumulative phonics program that follows the logical order of language development and builds with each lesson is essential to the foundational success of our early readers. Teachers understand the importance of direct instruction that includes both encoding (writing words) and decoding (sounding out words). Teachers assess students in a variety of ways on mastery of the phonics skill through both encoding and decoding. Teachers also use resources to help students transfer and apply the phonics skill into daily reading.

• Grade 1: For Quarters 2-4, phonics skill performance will be found under Reading standard 1.RF.4.

• Grade 2: Students will be assessed in both decoding and encoding in the phonics skill (through a dictated sentence and review words). Spelling grades will be listed under Language Arts.

Scholastic Literacy is a comprehensive literacy program in which students will read books as a whole class, in small groups, and as individuals. The books in the below grade level lists within the category titled “Whole-Class Read Alouds” are tied to lessons and the teacher will read it to the whole class. If you have concerns or prefer your child to not read a title(s) listed below, please communicate with your child’s teacher and follow the Media Center Parent Hold Restriction Process (links found below).

Scholastic Book Title Lists

• Kindergarten
• Grade 1
• Grade 2
• Grade 3
• Grade 4
• Grade 5
• Grade 6 (Extended Learning) 

Media Center Hold Process

• Center Grove Elementary
• Maple Grove Elementary
• North Grove Elementary
• Pleasant Grove Elementary
• Sugar Grove Elementary
• Walnut Grove Elementary