Lazear Charter Academy - Oakland Unified School District

skills will be taught through the novel studies and include: realistic novels, nonfiction and Science
fiction.
In addition to the core novels, every two weeks students engage in a Shared Inquiry discussion to
promote academic discourse using texts from The Great Books Foundation, Roundtable Series which
includes a student anthology filled with works of fiction, two works of nonfiction, and six poems by
award-winning authors, all selected for their interpretive potential. Next year teachers will engage in
Shared Inquiry professional development in order to implement this aspect of the instructional
program starting in the fall of 2013. Shared Inquiry will support students with developing the
necessary skills to conduct academic discourse: students talking to students using evidence to defend
their ideas. This approach is different than what the students have experienced in Elementary school.
The Imagine It! Inquiry program focuses on having the students develop a research question whereas
Shared Inquiry has the students develop an interpretative question and requires them to find evidence
in their reading to support their responses to the interpretive question. It gives students the
opportunity to practice forming opinions and discussing them with their peers. Students will continue
to build on the research skills they learned in Elementary during writing.
Finally, in order to continue to capitalize on the independent reading habits that the students
developed during K-5, Middle School students will also be expected to select books to read for
independent reading every two weeks to maintain high interest reading at each student's independent
level. A key component of the Middle School independent reading program will be to use Accelerated
Reader and the Star Reading Program which identifies the independent reading level of each student
and holds them accountable for completing independent reading books through online quizzes.
Teachers will also support independent reading by conferencing with students about what they are
reading, what they enjoy about reading and what they are challenged by. In all three grades, students
have 30 minutes of silent reading every day in class during Reading Workshop. They are expected to
read at home. During silent reading, teachers are working with targeted small groups of students.
Students will have a tracking form with the name of the book they are reading and the number of
pages read. Students strive to meet the state standard that by the end of Middle School they will
have read one million words annually on their own, including a good representation of narrative
(classic and contemporary literature) and expository (magazines, newspapers, online) instructional
materials. A million words translate into about 15 to 20 minutes of reading per day
(Reading/Language Arts Framework for CA Public Schools, 1999).
See Instructional Framework Appendix A6 for sample Humanities Grade Level Novel List
Writing
Building on our work in Elementary program, Writing instruction will occur through whole class minilessons
and Writing Conferences with students. Guided Writing groups will be new in Middle School
as they will allow the teacher to meet the needs of multiple students based on the data collected
during Writing Conferences. Middle School students will be expected to write every day. Conley
emphasizes the importance of "variety in topics, with proper conventions, grammar and usage." The
workshop approach will allow teachers to differentiate their instruction and focus on the various writing
applications from the California state standards. The Writing Process will continue to be the structure
that is used for Writing instruction. Students will be expected to publish several pieces of writing at
each grade level.
All grades will be expected to develop a Writing portfolio that will contain a series of published pieces
to match Lazear Charter Academy's Writing Expectations. During the first year, every Middle School
teacher will start with Nancie Atwell's Lessons that Change Writers to set-up the structure for Writing
Workshop. In the fall of 2013, Lessons that Change Writers will become the primary resource for the
beginning of the year in 6 1 h grade, with a focus on lessons about topics, the principles of Writing ,
genre and conventions. Every grade level will be required to publish persuasive pieces of writing that
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