Language arts new curriculumn for K-6th

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear teachers - Would you please share some info and insights about the new LA curriculum? How does this compare to the current way of teaching? I applied my children to private schools for the fall because of their weak reading and writing. I'm very interested in understanding the new requirements.

Where can we find the information about the new curriculum? Will FCPS go back to textbooks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all for it. While there are a lot of negatives such of lack of choice and teacher autonomy there are many pluses. The main one is that it will equalize the quality of teaching across the county. Your student will get the same reading instruction if they are being taught by a 30 year veteran teacher in a rich area or are be being taught by a teacher trainee or long term sub in a title one, the book literally tells you what to say. Right now there is reading “curriculum” but it is strongly suggested and many schools don’t even use the phonics lessons and use something else and the writing plans are minimal . The new curriculum is all inclusive and had reading comprehension , writing, grammar, and small group instruction.

T

That sounds kind of awful for teachers. But I will admit that my older DC was taught to read with "Good readers look at the pictures" three-cueing, while my younger DC has gotten a decent amount of phonics. And neither of them have a strong grasp of grammar and sentence structure, or have any grasp at all of formal writing. Lucy Calkins has a lot to answer for.

Unless there is an older teacher sneaking those methods in three cueing is unheard of now. Most new teachers wouldn’t even be able to tell you what that is because colleges don’t teach it anymore.

It was only 3 years ago. I know that FCPS has really changed their reading curriculum, for the better. If they change their writing curriculum, I'll be happy. I 'm not sure an entirely scripted all-inclusive reading and writing program is needed - I guess we'll see how it is. What our teachers need more of is autonomy, not more scripts.

100% agree with you. My current 5th grader was taught with the Lucy Calkins method and it took two years of tutoring to get her up to the appropriate reading level (one of those years was online due to Covid), but her writing is still atrocious and she doesn't know any grammar and she can't spell.

I could have written this paragraph about my own fifth grader. We've been in tutoring for 3 years now and it's the only reason she can read and write. Her early elementary years were a disaster and she still can't spell, which hinders her ability to write.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear teachers - Would you please share some info and insights about the new LA curriculum? How does this compare to the current way of teaching? I applied my children to private schools for the fall because of their weak reading and writing. I'm very interested in understanding the new requirements.

Where can we find the information about the new curriculum? Will FCPS go back to textbooks?

This is from the company. Feel free to click around.
https://www.benchmarkeducation.com/benchmark-advance-adelante

This is the presentation to the school board about it:
https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/D34UCR7B7109/$file/Elementary%20Language%20Arts%20Basal%20Resource%20Adoption%20Final%203_7_24%20-%20UPDATED.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear teachers - Would you please share some info and insights about the new LA curriculum? How does this compare to the current way of teaching? I applied my children to private schools for the fall because of their weak reading and writing. I'm very interested in understanding the new requirements.

Where can we find the information about the new curriculum? Will FCPS go back to textbooks?

This is from the company. Feel free to click around.
https://www.benchmarkeducation.com/benchmark-advance-adelante

This is the presentation to the school board about it:
https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/D34UCR7B7109/$file/Elementary%20Language%20Arts%20Basal%20Resource%20Adoption%20Final%203_7_24%20-%20UPDATED.pdf

MCPS, after their failed curriculum 2.0, switched to Benchmark in 2018 (or so?) and are now switching to a different LA curriculum. Teachers and parents weren't happy with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On a related note, what’s with the FCPS policy of sending home a notification to parents when your kid’s class is about to read a book that has “sexually explicit content?”
Whatever happened to just instructing teachers not to select a book for classroom study that would require a notification of “sexually explicit content” to begin with? Is this not an option anymore? Are there not enough non-sexually explicit 9th grade literature options to choose from for 14 and 15 year olds that this seems like a completely normal solution?

It's state law.

I wonder what qualifies as "sexually explicit content".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all for it. While there are a lot of negatives such of lack of choice and teacher autonomy there are many pluses. The main one is that it will equalize the quality of teaching across the county. Your student will get the same reading instruction if they are being taught by a 30 year veteran teacher in a rich area or are be being taught by a teacher trainee or long term sub in a title one, the book literally tells you what to say. Right now there is reading “curriculum” but it is strongly suggested and many schools don’t even use the phonics lessons and use something else and the writing plans are minimal . The new curriculum is all inclusive and had reading comprehension , writing, grammar, and small group instruction.

T

That sounds kind of awful for teachers. But I will admit that my older DC was taught to read with "Good readers look at the pictures" three-cueing, while my younger DC has gotten a decent amount of phonics. And neither of them have a strong grasp of grammar and sentence structure, or have any grasp at all of formal writing. Lucy Calkins has a lot to answer for.

Unless there is an older teacher sneaking those methods in three cueing is unheard of now. Most new teachers wouldn’t even be able to tell you what that is because colleges don’t teach it anymore.

It was only 3 years ago. I know that FCPS has really changed their reading curriculum, for the better. If they change their writing curriculum, I'll be happy. I 'm not sure an entirely scripted all-inclusive reading and writing program is needed - I guess we'll see how it is. What our teachers need more of is autonomy, not more scripts.

100% agree with you. My current 5th grader was taught with the Lucy Calkins method and it took two years of tutoring to get her up to the appropriate reading level (one of those years was online due to Covid), but her writing is still atrocious and she doesn't know any grammar and she can't spell.

I retired last year after 30 years with FCPS. Somehow I never learned much about Lucy Calkins. I remember a few years before I retired (perhaps around 2019 or so) hearing a reading specialist refer to "Lucy" during a CT meeting. I kept thinking, "Who is this Lucy she keeps referencing?". Then perhaps two years ago they started talking about how "Lucy" was on it's way out.

So funny, me too. I would see a few other teachers use the materials, but several members on my team didn’t use it and we were never asked about it.

Same. A few years ago we had one teacher on our ES grade team that seemed to dabble in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all for it. While there are a lot of negatives such of lack of choice and teacher autonomy there are many pluses. The main one is that it will equalize the quality of teaching across the county. Your student will get the same reading instruction if they are being taught by a 30 year veteran teacher in a rich area or are be being taught by a teacher trainee or long term sub in a title one, the book literally tells you what to say. Right now there is reading “curriculum” but it is strongly suggested and many schools don’t even use the phonics lessons and use something else and the writing plans are minimal . The new curriculum is all inclusive and had reading comprehension , writing, grammar, and small group instruction.

T

That sounds kind of awful for teachers. But I will admit that my older DC was taught to read with "Good readers look at the pictures" three-cueing, while my younger DC has gotten a decent amount of phonics. And neither of them have a strong grasp of grammar and sentence structure, or have any grasp at all of formal writing. Lucy Calkins has a lot to answer for.

Unless there is an older teacher sneaking those methods in three cueing is unheard of now. Most new teachers wouldn’t even be able to tell you what that is because colleges don’t teach it anymore.

It was only 3 years ago. I know that FCPS has really changed their reading curriculum, for the better. If they change their writing curriculum, I'll be happy. I 'm not sure an entirely scripted all-inclusive reading and writing program is needed - I guess we'll see how it is. What our teachers need more of is autonomy, not more scripts.

100% agree with you. My current 5th grader was taught with the Lucy Calkins method and it took two years of tutoring to get her up to the appropriate reading level (one of those years was online due to Covid), but her writing is still atrocious and she doesn't know any grammar and she can't spell.

I retired last year after 30 years with FCPS. Somehow I never learned much about Lucy Calkins. I remember a few years before I retired (perhaps around 2019 or so) hearing a reading specialist refer to "Lucy" during a CT meeting. I kept thinking, "Who is this Lucy she keeps referencing?". Then perhaps two years ago they started talking about how "Lucy" was on it's way out.

So funny, me too. I would see a few other teachers use the materials, but several members on my team didn’t use it and we were never asked about it.

Same. A few years ago we had one teacher on our ES grade team that seemed to dabble in it.

The workshop/center model and the idea of teaching writing first without instruction or correction come from Lucy Calkins. If you have had writer's workshop in your classroom, then that's where it came from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all for it. While there are a lot of negatives such of lack of choice and teacher autonomy there are many pluses. The main one is that it will equalize the quality of teaching across the county. Your student will get the same reading instruction if they are being taught by a 30 year veteran teacher in a rich area or are be being taught by a teacher trainee or long term sub in a title one, the book literally tells you what to say. Right now there is reading “curriculum” but it is strongly suggested and many schools don’t even use the phonics lessons and use something else and the writing plans are minimal . The new curriculum is all inclusive and had reading comprehension , writing, grammar, and small group instruction.

T

That sounds kind of awful for teachers. But I will admit that my older DC was taught to read with "Good readers look at the pictures" three-cueing, while my younger DC has gotten a decent amount of phonics. And neither of them have a strong grasp of grammar and sentence structure, or have any grasp at all of formal writing. Lucy Calkins has a lot to answer for.

Unless there is an older teacher sneaking those methods in three cueing is unheard of now. Most new teachers wouldn’t even be able to tell you what that is because colleges don’t teach it anymore.

It was only 3 years ago. I know that FCPS has really changed their reading curriculum, for the better. If they change their writing curriculum, I'll be happy. I 'm not sure an entirely scripted all-inclusive reading and writing program is needed - I guess we'll see how it is. What our teachers need more of is autonomy, not more scripts.

100% agree with you. My current 5th grader was taught with the Lucy Calkins method and it took two years of tutoring to get her up to the appropriate reading level (one of those years was online due to Covid), but her writing is still atrocious and she doesn't know any grammar and she can't spell.

I could have written this paragraph about my own fifth grader. We've been in tutoring for 3 years now and it's the only reason she can read and write. Her early elementary years were a disaster and she still can't spell, which hinders her ability to write.

I feel you. My DD is the same age. We also have had a tutor for 3 years now, but in math. I attribute this to Covid as well - her foundation wasn’t great due to the virtual learning year.

[Anonymous]

What is the new curriculum called and where can we view it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the new curriculum called and where can we view it?

From the FCPS presentation linked above, the Virginia-specific alignments from Benchmark Advance
https://www.benchmarkadvance.com/virginia/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all for it. While there are a lot of negatives such of lack of choice and teacher autonomy there are many pluses. The main one is that it will equalize the quality of teaching across the county. Your student will get the same reading instruction if they are being taught by a 30 year veteran teacher in a rich area or are be being taught by a teacher trainee or long term sub in a title one, the book literally tells you what to say. Right now there is reading “curriculum” but it is strongly suggested and many schools don’t even use the phonics lessons and use something else and the writing plans are minimal . The new curriculum is all inclusive and had reading comprehension , writing, grammar, and small group instruction.

T

That sounds kind of awful for teachers. But I will admit that my older DC was taught to read with "Good readers look at the pictures" three-cueing, while my younger DC has gotten a decent amount of phonics. And neither of them have a strong grasp of grammar and sentence structure, or have any grasp at all of formal writing. Lucy Calkins has a lot to answer for.

Unless there is an older teacher sneaking those methods in three cueing is unheard of now. Most new teachers wouldn’t even be able to tell you what that is because colleges don’t teach it anymore.

It was only 3 years ago. I know that FCPS has really changed their reading curriculum, for the better. If they change their writing curriculum, I'll be happy. I 'm not sure an entirely scripted all-inclusive reading and writing program is needed - I guess we'll see how it is. What our teachers need more of is autonomy, not more scripts.

100% agree with you. My current 5th grader was taught with the Lucy Calkins method and it took two years of tutoring to get her up to the appropriate reading level (one of those years was online due to Covid), but her writing is still atrocious and she doesn't know any grammar and she can't spell.

I retired last year after 30 years with FCPS. Somehow I never learned much about Lucy Calkins. I remember a few years before I retired (perhaps around 2019 or so) hearing a reading specialist refer to "Lucy" during a CT meeting. I kept thinking, "Who is this Lucy she keeps referencing?". Then perhaps two years ago they started talking about how "Lucy" was on it's way out.

So funny, me too. I would see a few other teachers use the materials, but several members on my team didn’t use it and we were never asked about it.

Same. A few years ago we had one teacher on our ES grade team that seemed to dabble in it.

The workshop/center model and the idea of teaching writing first without instruction or correction come from Lucy Calkins. If you have had writer's workshop in your classroom, then that's where it came from.

Writer's workshop is the actual worst. Possibly even worse than 3-cueing, because that's easy enough to override at home. An entire sentence-by-sentence writing curriculum is a lot harder to do over the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear teachers - Would you please share some info and insights about the new LA curriculum? How does this compare to the current way of teaching? I applied my children to private schools for the fall because of their weak reading and writing. I'm very interested in understanding the new requirements.

Where can we find the information about the new curriculum? Will FCPS go back to textbooks?

This is from the company. Feel free to click around.
https://www.benchmarkeducation.com/benchmark-advance-adelante

This is the presentation to the school board about it:
https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/D34UCR7B7109/$file/Elementary%20Language%20Arts%20Basal%20Resource%20Adoption%20Final%203_7_24%20-%20UPDATED.pdf

MCPS, after their failed curriculum 2.0, switched to Benchmark in 2018 (or so?) and are now switching to a different LA curriculum. Teachers and parents weren't happy with it.

I seem to remember people from MCPS complaining that it was rote, which as was discussed on the first page is bad for experienced teachers but great for everyone else. Is that not right?

[Anonymous]

Looks like FCPS was planning on using Benchmark back in 2021 when they started reviewing options, and people weren't happy back then. And now they got the state rubber stamp so they're not...using Benchmark.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/1010787.page#21182164

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the new curriculum called and where can we view it?

From the FCPS presentation linked above, the Virginia-specific alignments from Benchmark Advance
https://www.benchmarkadvance.com/virginia/

I looked through this website and I'm not clear if Benchmark and Benchmark Advance are the same or different. I took a look at the LA sample lesson for upper level elementary and it seemed okay. I took a short look at the standards for 4th grade s/ss, which is the big Virginia history year - and it's really sparse. Benchmark Advance seems to have missed on that one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all for it. While there are a lot of negatives such of lack of choice and teacher autonomy there are many pluses. The main one is that it will equalize the quality of teaching across the county. Your student will get the same reading instruction if they are being taught by a 30 year veteran teacher in a rich area or are be being taught by a teacher trainee or long term sub in a title one, the book literally tells you what to say. Right now there is reading “curriculum” but it is strongly suggested and many schools don’t even use the phonics lessons and use something else and the writing plans are minimal . The new curriculum is all inclusive and had reading comprehension , writing, grammar, and small group instruction.

T

That sounds kind of awful for teachers. But I will admit that my older DC was taught to read with "Good readers look at the pictures" three-cueing, while my younger DC has gotten a decent amount of phonics. And neither of them have a strong grasp of grammar and sentence structure, or have any grasp at all of formal writing. Lucy Calkins has a lot to answer for.

Unless there is an older teacher sneaking those methods in three cueing is unheard of now. Most new teachers wouldn’t even be able to tell you what that is because colleges don’t teach it anymore.

It was only 3 years ago. I know that FCPS has really changed their reading curriculum, for the better. If they change their writing curriculum, I'll be happy. I 'm not sure an entirely scripted all-inclusive reading and writing program is needed - I guess we'll see how it is. What our teachers need more of is autonomy, not more scripts.

Not anymore. The current crop of inexperienced or burned out teachers don’t make good use of autonomy. Those days are over.

Most teachers at my school are happy about it because it cuts way down on planning. The workload has to come down to keep teachers. I would argue that work load is the bigger problem than the pay. If this basal goes successfully, I think a Math curriculum won’t be far behind.

They've had several math curriculums. What was wrong with the previous ones?

There has been no math curriculum for at least the last 8 years. We teachers at each school create EVERYTHING. The county puts together some slides that have ONE MATH PROBLEM for the entire instruction.

We have Origo to supplement. It’s all online for teachers, doesn’t align with what we teach in Virginia, uses terminology unheard of in the US and was complete and utter crap. No one uses it.

They had Envision for Elementary till about five years ago when they switched to Origo. Both are curriculums. Envision lasted about than 5 years. I remember when it came out and when it ended. I don't get FCPS. I don't understand why these programs keep switching. Meanwhile at the private schools they keep the same one and just switch out slightly each year.

Envision was defunct around 2017-18, but I know schools were using it against guidance for probably a few years after that.

My kid is a senior and they had it through his 6th grade year at least. It was approved during I think his 3rd grade year. So they had it six years ago. It was a great program, and it was a big deal at the time. They also had standards for each grade at that time which had on target, above target, and below target standards to align teaching to. Why did FCPS get rid of it? Why do they only keep any curriculum around for five years?