- Students' experiences over the past year will be varied in terms of both learning and social and emotional experiences.
- Ensure adequate time to set up routines and norms.
- For Grades K-3: prioritize reading foundational skills.
- For Grades 4-8: focus on expanding opportunities for writing and for speaking and listening.
EL Education Summer Guidance and K-3 Summer Skills 2021
Last Updated: June 15th, 2021
To address unfinished learning from the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, and to prepare students for the 2021-22 academic year, many schools and districts are implementing summer programs with a specific focus on language arts.
This guidance has been designed to support schools and districts implementing the EL Education K-8 Language Arts curriculum so they can effectively utilize the curriculum resources in summer school programs or through tutoring.
Sections
- Summer Guidance 2021
- K-3 Summer Skills 2021 - Available Now!
K-8 Summer Guidance Overview
General Guidance
For those returning to in-person learning, it is important to remember that children's learning and social and emotional experiences will be varied since schools began to close due to COVID-19. Some students' experiences will be positive, and some quite the opposite, but all are real and an important part of their stories as they come back to a classroom environment. If students do wish to share their experiences with others, remind them of the habit of working to become ethical people, including empathy and compassion, as they listen to one another.
The following guidelines highlight where students may have challenges:
- This may be the first time students are returning to a school environment since schools closed in March 2020. As a result, significant time and attention may need to be given to supporting their social and emotional needs and well-being. Younger learners in particular may not remember what it is like to be at school and might need support being away from family members and navigating the norms, routines, and social interactions that were so familiar before. Some students may also be experiencing trauma as a result of a lack of access to school supports and resources during school closures.
Students may have spent a considerable amount of time without opportunities to interact or collaborate with peers, so just as with the beginning of a school year after summer break, allocate sufficient time at the beginning of the program to establish norms and expectations and to reintroduce the habits of character: working to become an effective learner, working to become an ethical person, and working to contribute to a better world.
Student routines during remote learning might have been very different from those at school. For example, they may have become accustomed to getting up and eating snacks and meals at different times. Changes to their schedule, or less flexibility and freedom, may induce anxiety in students. It may also mean that they have less or more energy at different times of the day. Consider asking parents about their children's routines during remote learning to anticipate where there may be challenges, and identify where there can be more flexibility and freedom in the structure of the summer program to support students in gradually adapting to the new routines. Walk students through the routines they can expect each day. Having a visible routine posted in the space, with agenda items that can be checked off, will support students in seeing a clear path to the end of each day when they can reconnect with family members.
While doing remote learning, students may have become accustomed to shorter bursts of synchronous learning, followed by asynchronous learning that they could schedule according to their own preferences. As a result, they may need to gradually build stamina to focus for longer durations of synchronous work time. Consider dividing learning into shorter, manageable chunks and building in frequent stretch and movement breaks. Use a timer and provide regular time reminders, starting with very short bursts and gradually increasing the time students are engaged in focused learning without a break.
Language Arts
Given the constraints of the remote environment, we anticipate that students may have had fewer instructional opportunities and less feedback in the areas of reading foundational skills, writing, and speaking and listening. As a result, summer programs should focus on these important skill areas. When students are engaging in reading foundational skills, writing, or speaking and listening activities, consider extending the allocated time to provide more opportunities for:
- Small group differentiation
- Modeling writing
- Shared writing
- Grammar, usage, and mechanics mini-lessons
- Feedback from peers and teachers
- Conversation cues
- Language Dives
- Debriefing speaking and listening discussions against the norms
- Self-assessment and goal-setting
K-2 Skills Block
For students in Grades K-2, EL Education recommends prioritizing instruction of reading foundational skills using the Skills Block, particularly small group differentiation by microphase, to meet students' specific needs. If microphase information for each student isn't available from the 2020-21 academic year, this will require administering the benchmark assessments in the first week of the summer program. The following are recommended guidelines for facilitating each component of the Skills Block.
Note: If there is limited time each day (i.e., 1:1 for 30 minutes or less) prioritize instruction according to the student-specific microphase.
In-Person Learning | Remote | |
| Whole Group Instruction | Option 1: Consider focusing on the following high-leverage cycles:
Option 2: Use student benchmark assessment data to identify the middle point for your particular group of students. For example, if all students fall between the middle partial and early full alphabetic microphases, you might decide to begin whole group lessons in the late partial alphabetic microphase. The Michrophases by Cycles chart outlines the cycles in each microphase. | Use the remote benchmark assessment guidance and tools. Same as in person; however, instead of facilitating whole group instruction, students will watch the assigned Skills Flex videos: |
| Small Group Differentiated Instruction (Teacher-Led) | Use the Decodable Reader Routine for each microphase. These are daily 15-minute lessons for each cycle based on the decodable reader for that microphase. | Same as in person |
| Small Group Independent Activities |
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K-2 Content-Based Literacy
Reading foundational skills are the priority for students in Grades K-2. However, for summer programs that have additional time for content-based literacy, there are several options, depending on the language arts instruction students engaged in during the 2020-21 academic year:
1. Schools That Facilitated Only Modules 1-3 in the 2020-21 Academic Year:
Facilitate Module 4. As each of these modules was designed to be 1 hour of instruction per day for 8-9 weeks, and summer programs are generally 6 weeks, depending on the time available, this may require selecting specific units as outlined below:
- Kindergarten Module 4: Units 1 and 2. Note: This will mean students will not work on the Performance Task, and therefore any references to it should be removed to avoid confusion.
- Grade 1 Module 4: Units 1 and 2. See the above note for Kindergarten.
- Grade 2 Module 4: Units 1 and 2. See the above note for Kindergarten
2. Schools That Facilitated All Four Modules in the 2020-21 Academic Year:
Select new, compelling texts, appropriate in qualitative and quantitative measures for the grade level. Use the K-2 Reading Guide for Families and Caregivers, selecting different activities for each text, to guide students through reading, thinking, talking, and writing about the texts to build knowledge on the topic. Consider the following options:
- Option 1: Identify a new topic for which you can find multiple engaging texts at the appropriate level for the grade. Topics relevant to the local community might be particularly engaging, and a balance of literary and informational texts is crucial. Consider designing a Performance Task in which students build knowledge and literacy skills over the course of the program. Review the Performance Task Overview documents from the modules, including those from other grade levels, for ideas and suggestions.
- Option 2: Identify a selection of literary and informational texts that are engaging and at the appropriate level for the grade, but not necessarily connected by topic. Consider diverse representations of people and genres.
For both options, as you select texts and tasks:
- Focus on expanding opportunities for writing and speaking and listening.
- Seek opportunities for students to work on skills that they often find more challenging; for example, identifying how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text (RI.8), asking and answering questions about what a speaker says (SL.3), and argument writing (W.1).
- Rather than attempting to work through a new text each day, consider how one text can be read in different ways for different purposes across multiple days. Identify a series of lessons in the modules that can be used as a guide for teaching those skills.
- Lexile(r) ranges by grade level:
- Kindergarten: BR160L-150L
- Grade 1: 165L-570L
- Grade 2: 425L-795L
Grade 3 Reading Foundational Skills
As students in Grade 3 will likely have experienced disruption to their learning during both the 2019-20 and the 2020-21 academic years, EL Education recommends administering the benchmark assessment for these students to determine microphases for reading foundational skills. Use the benchmark assessment data to determine which of the following options is most appropriate for your students:
| 1. If a majority of students test below the late consolidated microphase . . . | Follow the same guidelines as previously described for K-2. However, for Option 1 of whole group lessons, focus on these high-leverage cycles in Grade 2: Cycles 1, 6, 13, 20, 22, and 23. |
| 2. If a majority of students test out of the microphases . . . | Focus on content-based literacy, but schedule small group differentiation time to work with those students who tested below the late consolidated alphabetic phase. Daily Skills Flex videos at the appropriate microphase for the student could also be used in lieu of teacher instruction: |
| 3. If approximately half of the students test below the consolidated microphase . . . | Consider ways to divide the class. For example, can two classes be organized so that one teacher works with students who need reading foundational skills and the other works with those students who don't? Is there another adult who could work with the students who require reading foundational skills? |
Grades 3–8 Content-Based Literacy
There are several options for Grades 3-8 content-based literacy, depending on the language arts instruction students engaged in during the 2020-21 academic year:
1. Schools That Facilitated No More Than Three Modules in the 2020-21 Academic Year:
Facilitate the omitted module. As modules were designed to be 1 hour of instruction per day for 8-9 weeks, and summer programs are generally 6 weeks, this may require selecting specific units depending on the time available.
If the module was omitted as recommended by EL Education, the guidelines found in the table at the bottom of this section may be helpful if working on a condensed schedule.
2. Schools That Facilitated All Four Modules in the 2020-21 Academic Year:
Select new, compelling texts, appropriate in qualitative and quantitative measures for the grade level. Use the following reading guides, identifying different activities for each text, to guide students through reading, thinking, talking, and writing about the texts to build knowledge on the topic: Fiction Chapter Book, Informational Text, and News Article.
Consider the following options:
- Option 1: Identify a new topic for which you can find multiple engaging texts at the appropriate level for the grade. Topics relevant to the local community might be particularly engaging, and a balance of literary and informational texts is crucial. Performance Task ideas are built into each of the reading guides; choose a Performance Task that enables students to apply both their knowledge and their skills on the topic.
- Option 2: Identify a selection of literary and informational texts that are engaging and at the appropriate level for the grade, but not necessarily connected by topic. Consider diverse representations of people and genres.
For both options, as you select texts and tasks:
- Focus on expanding opportunities for writing and speaking and listening.
- Seek opportunities for students to work on skills they often find more challenging; for example, tracing and evaluating an argument (RI.8), delineating and evaluating a speaker's argument (SL.3), and argument writing (W.1).
- Rather than attempting to work through a new text each day, consider how one text can be read in different ways for different purposes across multiple days. Identify a series of lessons in the modules that can be used as a guide for teaching those skills.
- To add variety, use a combination of whole group and literature/research small groups to explore texts with students.
- Lexile(r) ranges by grade level:
- Grade 3: 645L-985L
- Grade 4: 850L-1160L
- Grade 5: 950L-1260L
- Grade 6: 1030L-1340L
- Grade 7: 1095L-1410L
- Grade 8: 1155L-1470L
Grade | Omitted module (as advised by EL Education) | Guidelines for facilitating on a condensed schedule |
| 3 | Option 1: Units 1 and 2; students will need to read Peter Pan across Units 1 and 2 to be able to complete the argument writing and text-based discussion in Unit 2. Option 2: To focus on narrative instead of argument writing, consider completing lessons up to and including Unit 2, Lesson 6, and then move on to Unit 3, Lesson 1. | |
| 4 | Module 4: Responding to Inequality: Ratifying the 19th Amendment | Units 1 and 2; students will need to read The Hope Chest across Units 1 and 2 to complete the informative writing in Unit 2. |
| 5 | Units 1 and 2; to ensure that students read a balance of literary and informational texts | |
| 6 (1 ed) | Select lessons could be used from all units, for example: Unit 1, Lessons 1-6; Unit 2, all lessons; Unit 3, Lessons 1-7. | |
| 7 (1 ed) | Units 1 and 2; to ensure that students build sufficient knowledge and have the opportunity to read the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass | |
| 8 (1 ed) | Units 1 and 2; to ensure that students build sufficient background knowledge on the topic | |
| 8 (1 ed) | Module 3B: The Civil Rights Movement and the Little Rock Nine | Units 1 and 2; to ensure that students build sufficient background knowledge on the topic |
| 6 (2 ed) | Units 1 and 3 with select lessons from Unit 2 (e.g., Lessons 6-10 could be condensed into two research lessons); for students to do some, but not extensive, research | |
| 7 (2 ed) | Units 1 and 2; for students to build sufficient background knowledge about medical and social epidemics | |
| 8 (2 ed) | Units 1 and 2; for students to build sufficient background knowledge about the Holocaust and read the voices of the victims and survivors |
K-3 Summer Skills - New!
To close learning opportunity gaps and to prepare students for the 2021-22 academic year, many schools and districts are implementing summer programs with a specific focus on language arts. In support of this need, EL Education has developed a K-3 Summer Skills program to accelerate reading foundational skills, offering students a chance to practice their literacy skills mixed in with purposeful play, storytelling, and creative expression. This program is designed for primary students and based on EL Education's comprehensive Language Arts Curriculum. The K-3 Summer Skills materials will be available for free on our Curriculum Website from June 11th through August 31st, 2021.
View a recording of the 90-minute WePD session held on June 11th to learn how to support K-3 students as they accelerate learning in foundational reading skills using the newly created EL Education K-3 Summer Skills program:
Use the table and buttons below to access K-3 Skills Summer materials by grade and week.
PLEASE NOTE: All materials are view-only. You may make an editable copy or directly download for your use in classrooms. Please do not request edit access to use these public materials.