BEFORE MAPPING THE CURRICULUM:

About your Comprehensive Reading Program (CRP)

Fred Carrigg Special Assistant to the Commissioner

for Urban Literacy

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE: BEFORE MAPPING THE CURRICULUM

1. BIG question2. BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE/

MOTIVATION/ VOCABULARY3. PHONOLOGY AND STRUCTURE4. COMPREHENSION5. GUIDED READING AND

FLUENCY6. WRITING

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE: BEFORE MAPPING THE CURRICULUM

BIG question (pre-knowledge!)1. Is my CRP (Comprehensive Reading

Program) perfect? 2. Do all students who do not have a

specific diagnosed learning disability learn to read with this CRP (~95% or better)?

a. ____Yes ____Nob. If you answer Yes, then stop!c. If you answer No, then let’s go on…

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE: BEFORE MAPPING THE CURRICULUM

I. Background Knowledge/ Motivation/ Vocabulary

1. Does my Comprehensive Reading Program (CRP) sufficiently relate to/motivate my student community?

2. Are the stories/content relevant ?3. Is there sufficient building of vocab already

included in this unit?4. Are there gaps, as students enter, to be

addressed? 5. Are there assumptions about literacy at

home?

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE: BEFORE MAPPING THE CURRICULUM

II. Phonology and Structure

1. Are there students that have phonologocal differences that must be taken into account?

2. Are there non-existing phonemes?3. Are there late acquisition sounds?4. Are there structural patterns that differ

from standard English of literacy?

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE: BEFORE MAPPING THE CURRICULUM

III. Comprehension

1. 1) Does this CRP really meet NJ’s high standards? [for ALL content standards and assessed areas]

2. 2) Does it begin HOTS (higher order thinking skills) in kindergarten?

3. 3) Does it require that students perform and not just demonstrate competence? [Remember to think of assessment in terms of competence vs performance]

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE: BEFORE MAPPING THE CURRICULUM

IV. Guided Reading and Fluency

1. Does the CRP have an adequate number of decodable books at, above and below the average to allow for individualized learning?

2. Are there sufficient books to provide for different learning styles?

3. Has the CRP gone beyond decodable books to include readers with sight words, gain meaning from context?

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE: BEFORE MAPPING THE CURRICULUM

V. Writing

1. How strong is the writing component?

2. Does the CRP include prompts similar to anticipated performance in NJ?

3. Are there visual, reader responses, persuasive, poetry prompts?

4. Does the series include process writing?