Getting Started Suggestions | EL Education Curriculum

Getting Started Suggestions

This is your guide to get started using the EL Education K-8 Language Arts curriculum materials, so be sure to bookmark this page for your reference. We’ve also included best practices to assist you in optimizing and navigating the website content. You may experience slight variations, so please consider the browser you’re using to access the content and whether you’re using a Mac or PC.

Getting Started

We've created several support tools for you as you begin implementation of the K-5 Language Arts curriculum. Here are a few suggestions as you get started.

  1. To help orient you to the website's overall layout, start by watching two short screencasts: Part 1 and Part 2.
  2. Visit our Overview page to learn more about the K-5 curriculum and how it is structured.
  3. To access the materials for each grade, visit the Grade Level landing pages. These are also accessible anytime by clicking the large red "Curriculum" button on the top left of every page.
  4. Explore our extensive Tools page for key resources to support implementation.
  5. Review each grade's Curriculum Map and Curriculum Plan for an overview of the scope and sequence of the curriculum and standards covered in each module (in this section).
  6. Explore the At-a-Glance charts for your grade level, which provide week-by-week and lesson-by-lesson overviews for each module.
  7. After purchasing the required trade books, review the recommended texts and other resources list. Stock your classroom library with books that are related to the module topics and include a range of Lexile levels. 
  8. Watch a series of videos of the curriculum in action in classrooms like yours.
  9. Purchase our new book, Your Curriculum Companion: The Essential Guide to Teaching the EL Education K-5 Language Arts Curriculum, as an orientation to the implementation of the curriculum.

Downloading the Modules

A great place to start accessing the content is on each module landing page (e.g., this page), which includes the module overview, Unit links, and assessment links. If you click "Download Materials," you will receive Microsoft Word versions of all of the supporting materials for the module, as well as the K-2 Labs or ALL Block and key implementation resources.

Downloading the Units

Going one step deeper, on each unit landing page (e.g., this page), if you click "Download Materials," you will receive all of the supporting materials for that unit or cycle, as well as homework and materials for families:

Accessing the Lessons

There are two components to each lesson: the lesson plan (i.e., teaching notes, CCS standards and learning targets, step-by-step directions) and the supporting materials (i.e., student handouts, anchor charts, images, etc.). The lesson plans themselves are viewable on our website, but are not included in the Microsoft Word downloads. To access the lesson plans, click the name of the lesson. To access the supporting materials, click "Download Materials."

To print the lesson plans:

  • On each lesson's landing page (e.g., this page), you can print the content directly from your browser.
  • You can also create a downloadable PDF of each lesson plan. To do so, depending on your browser, select "Export to PDF" or "Save as PDF" from the File menu. You can then print the PDF to have a hard copy of the lesson plan.

Downloading the Assessments

Assessments are located in our password-protected Resource Library. Access is free; you will be prompted to create a user account when you first access the assessments. You will find the link to the assessments on each module landing pagee.g., Grade 3 Module 1:

After clicking that button, you will find links to download each assessment, as well as the full Assessment Overview and Resources and Performance Task.

Accessing the K-2 Labs and 3-5 ALL Block

A great place to familiarize yourself with these two curriculum components is on this page, where you'll find helpful overviews and guidance documents.

The K-2 Labs materials include lesson plans, supporting materials, and supplementary resources to assist with implementation. To access the K-2 Labs:

  • On the module landing pagese.g., Grade K Module 1, you will receive all the Labs materials when you click "Download Materials" at the top of the page.
  • Also on the module landing pages, you can download just the Labs materials by scrolling down to the Labs section:

The 3-5 ALL Block materials are divided into Units 1-3 and include lesson plans, supporting materials, and supplementary resources to assist with implementation. To access the ALL Block:

  • On the module landing pages, e.g., Grade 3 Module 1, you will receive all three units' ALL Block materials when you click "Download Materials" at the top of the page.
  • On the unit landing pages, e.g., Grade 3 Module 1 Unit 1, you can download just that unit's ALL Block by scrolling down to the ALL Block section of the page:

Accessing the K-2 Reading Foundations Skills Block

A great place to start is on the About Skills Block page, where you'll find an overview of the Skills Block curriculum and a helpful implementation document.

Skills Block Guidance Documents

We have created several resources to support you in implementing the K-2 Skills Block. You can find these materials on our Tools page in this section. We recommend starting with the following:

  • The Resource Manual contains Benchmark Assessments, the Activity Bank, and other important implementation resources.

  • The Differentiation Packs serve as a quick resource for planning differentiated small group instruction for students whose microphase aligns with work from a different grade level. The Differentiation Packs also include the engagement texts, poems, and decodable readers for each cycle.

  • Learning Letters is a collection of all of the K-2 Reading Foundations Skills Block materials related to learning about letter names, sounds, and formations.

Skills Block Modules

The K-2 Reading Foundations Skills Block materials include lesson plans, student-facing materials, and supplementary resources to assist with implementation. You can access the Skills Block teacher guides and supporting materials by going to each grade level's landing page, e.g., the Grade 1 landing page, and clicking on the Skills Block module you would like to access (located beneath the module lesson links);

Troubleshooting a problem?

  1. Can't find what you are looking for? Try searching the site by grade, type, keyword, or protocol.
  2. If you are experiencing issues printing lessons pages, particularly in Chrome, switch to another browser.
  3. You can also save lessons as a PDF by selecting "Export to PDF" or "Save as PDF" from the File menu of your browser. If you are having trouble accessing the assessments portal, try logging out and logging back in.

Have questions or feedback?

Use the "Leave Feedback" button at the bottom of each Curriculum.ELeducation.org page to share your feedback or ask us a question.

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