K-2 Labs

Labs are an important feature of the K-2 curriculum because they support and extend student learning from the module lessons. They are designed to help teachers ensure that all of their students get the time to play and explore, become immersed in oral language and content knowledge, and practice skills and habits of character that they need--both to live joyfully and to be fully successful and proficient.

The K-2 Labs are one hour long and are complementary to module lessons. These two hours of content-based literacy instruction work together to accelerate the achievement of all students. The K-2 curriculum offers three hours of rich literacy instruction per day: 

• One hour of module lessons
• One hour of Labs
• A third hour of structured phonics: the K-2 Reading Foundations Skills Block (addresses the Foundational Reading standards as well as Language Standards 1 and 2)

These three hours of curriculum are considered comprehensive, explicitly teaching and formally assessing all strands and standards of the Common Core ELA standards for each grade level. Taken as a whole, this rigorous and joyful literacy curriculum is designed to ensure that all children have a genuine opportunity to grow and succeed.

The K-2 Labs are designed for six weeks of instruction within an eight- to nine-week module. This design allows teachers to use their discretion to flexibly schedule the Labs to best meet the needs of their students. Teachers may choose to spend that hour during those additional two to three weeks on such things as solidifying structures and routines, providing additional "spill-over" time to support module lessons, providing additional instructional time for ELLs, or for additional explicit language instruction.

Additional Language and Literacy (ALL) Block

Our Grades 3-5 curriculum honors students' growing capacity to read complex text, write at length and with depth, and explore pressing issues in the world around them. The curriculum comprises two hours of rich content-based literacy instruction per day:

• One hour of module lessons
• One hour of the Additional Language and Literacy (ALL) Block

These two hours of curriculum are considered comprehensive, explicitly teaching and formally assessing all strands and standards of the Common Core ELA standards for each grade level (Note: In Grades 3-5, the initial exposure to and formal assessment of standards happens in the module lessons; the ALL Block is for additional practice.) There is also an optional companion Life Science Module that accompanies Module 2 and comprises eight weeks of instruction.

The ALL Block is one hour long and is complementary to module lessons. These two hours of content-based literacy instruction work together to accelerate the achievement of all students. The ALL Block has three units, parallel to the three units of the module. Each module unit is accompanied by two weeks of ALL Block instruction (with one flex day built in every week). When a particular unit of the module lessons runs longer than two weeks, the ALL Block hour during those days that extend beyond two weeks is flex time, used to meet the specific needs of students. For example, teachers might want to provide additional time for work started in module lessons, practicing literacy skills introduced there that students are finding particularly challenging, informally assessing reading foundational skills, or offering additional time for ELLs. The ALL Block has five components:

• Independent Reading
• Additional Work with Complex Text
• Reading and Speaking Fluency/GUM (grammar, usage, mechanics)
• Writing Practice
• Word Study and Vocabulary

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Each component is built into the module lessons in various ways, and then is reinforced and practiced in the ALL Block. Over the course of two weeks, students work with all five components.