Dcps new ELA curriculum

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09/04/2025 18:05

Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum

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Anonymous

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Anonymous wrote:Hmm.. just looked at Hardy’s lists from the AP’s… I can see 6th just has one book: “a long walk to water” and 8th has “to kill a mockingbird”, “a raisin in the sun” and then they pick another book from a provided list and have something like a book club with kids who pick the same book from the list. So looks like 8th grade at Hardy will be doing at least 3 (plus a book of their choice for the start of the year to write a book report on). Looks like 6th is only one book.

Hardy 7th graders are reading: Call of the Wild, Warriors Don’t Cry, and Animal Farm.

DCPS ELA standards are exactly why I moved mine to private for HS. Math is more objective and it’s easier to find additional support/tutoring to supplement the DCPS curriculum…but if students aren’t challenged and/or miss milestones in reading, writing and critical thinking - difficult to overcome the gaps as they progress in HS

Interesting take. I would have said English is the easiest subject to supplement. All you have to do is let your kid grab your books off the shelf, and then discuss! It’s free, it’s flexible, and obviously you’d be having conversations with your kids anyway.

English class should be much more than "read and discuss." My non-DCPS middle school kid also learns grammar, how to annotate, how to write all different forms of writing, as well as analysis.

We did DCPS for elementary but I couldn't do it for middle. Though we would consider it again for high school.

+1 I teach in VA and they did not have a writing component to the state assessment until 8th grade. Teachers basically didn't teach writing. It was absolutely horrible. Now 5th graders have to take the writing assessment, but they are all so behind. Good writing instruction is crucial in late elementary grades and up.

They teach writing in DCPS and there’s a writing assessment on the CAPE exam starting in third grade. The PP who said “English class should be more than reading and discussion” was not describing ELA classes. They were responding to my earlier assertion that reading novels (which is the one thing being reduced with the introduction with this otherwise strong curriculum) is the easiest possible thing to supplement. I stand by that position. If the main flaw in the school’s curriculum is that, in your eyes, it doesn’t include enough novels, simply let your kids take yours off your shelf and read them.

I think you misunderstood my comment. I teach in VA and have kids in DC that take CAPE. I am familiar with both assessments. I was pointing out the importance of good writing instruction. I actually think solid writing instruction is more important than reading lots of novels. Our reading program uses a lot of novels and longer expository texts but our kids really can’t write because the writing component of the curriculum is terrible.