The West Irondequoit Central School District The West Irondequoit English Language Arts Guiding Principles set the expectation that each strand of our integrated English Language Arts Curriculum asks students to be metacognitive and independent learners, as well as to self-assess, analyze and be responsible for language beyond the context of school. The Guiding Principles also set the expectation that our program employs on-going formal and informal assessments, differentiated instructional strategies and demonstrates awareness of the developmental nature of learning. Comprehension is an active process of constructing meaning-of analyzing, evaluating and interpreting. Current research shows that a systematic exploration of the spelling of words is necessary for students to develop word knowledge. Rather than the memorization of lists of words, inherent in this exploration is an active interaction with words and their features-Letter Name, Within Word, Syllable Juncture and Derivational Constancy. Students gain knowledge of word patterns and features and apply this knowledge to both their reading and writing. This process supports students as they learn and generalize their knowledge to unlock, read and spell new words with similar patterns. This orthographic knowledge, or knowledge of the spelling system, is vital to both writing and reading. Effective readers and writers employ word identification and comprehension strategies concurrently. When students are writing, they match letters to sounds and when they are reading, they match sounds to letters. The central focus of the Reading/Spelling Outcomes is word study-a clear and thorough understanding of the features and the patterns of words that reflects the interplay of sound, pattern and meaning relationships. Word study interacts with comprehension strategies to aid in constructing meaning. It facilitates independence in constructing meaning and involves awareness on the part of the reader/writer regarding the flexible application of strategies in various text structures. It is through this understanding, gained developmentally, that students truly learn to read and spell. Organized by Phonic Analysis, Structural Analysis, and Contextual Analysis, the Reading/Spelling Outcomes ensure that the students of West Irondequoit Central School District learn to read and spell in a way that not only meets their needs developmentally, but engages them meaningfully and intellectually. |
| Grade Level | Phonic Analysis | Structural Analysis | Contextual Analysis |
| 3 | Outcome Apply knowledge of long vowel patterns in reading and spelling Example Consonant-vowel-consonant-e (take) Consonant-vowel-vowel-consonant (seed) Consonant-vowel-vowel (sea) |
Outcome Apply knowledge of syllabication to read and spell multi-syllabic words Example Divide words between double consonants and apply feature knowledge Village - vil (CVC-short vowel pattern) lage (CVCe-long vowel pattern) |
Outcome Apply sentence meaning to read and spell the correct homograph (words with the same spelling; different pronunciation) in context Example The desert is dry The captain will desert the crew. |
| 6 | Outcome Read and spell regular and irregular plurals appropriate for grade level Example City - cities Monkey - monkeys Mouse - mice |
Outcome Read and spell prefixes when added to a base word: pre-, en-, uni-, bi-, tri-, inter-, con-, com-, trans-, pro-,ob- Example pre (before) - precook, prejudge en (put into, make) - enact, enjoy bi (two) - bicycle, bimonthly |
Outcome Use word meaning to read and spell the correct homophone (word with the same pronunciation, different spelling) in context Example The plane flew low. The bison roamed the plain. Their house is over there. |
| 8 | Outcome Apply consonant and vowel alternation patterns to read, pronounce and spell words appropriate to grade level Example Sign - signal Compete - competition Nature - natural |
Outcome Incorporate the use of Greek and Latin roots as an aid to the reading and spelling of English words Example path (from Greek pathein - to suffer) - apathetic, empathize, sympathy fug (from Latin fugere - to flee) - fugitive, refugee |
Outcome Apply sentence/word meaning to read and spell the correct homograph/ homophone/ homonym(words with same spelling, same pronunciation, different meaning) in context Example The hustler played pool all night. The bright blue pool seemed like a mirage to the weary travelers. |