McGuffey School District

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Spring 2023 ELA Adoption

Spring 2023 English Language Arts Adoption

Beginning in May 0f 2022, the McGuffey School District ELA team set out on a mission to evaluate and improve the teaching and learning of ELA in our district. The goals of this process were as follows:

to investigate best practices for teaching and learning
to deepen our understanding of the science of reading
to evaluate the current resources used in our district
to determine any new resources needed for adoption
to develop updated ELA curriculum and assessments

As part of this process, the ELA team presented recommended core, supplemental, and intervention resources at the May 18, 2023 school board meeting, with a vote on the adoption of these resources slated to occur at the June 15, 2023 McGuffey School District board meeting. The presentation slides from the May 18th meeting can be viewed at this link. The audio of the presentation can be reviewed on the McGuffey Zoom YouTube Channel (the presentation begins at 18:40 on the video stream).

Additionally, information about the curricular resources being recommended for adoption can be found below.

If you have any questions about the resources being recommended for adoption, would like additional information beyond what is available on the website, or would like to review printed copies of materials, please contact Dr. Dan Gottron, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, at [email protected], or 724-948-3731.

Into Reading and Into Literature

The largest component of our recommended adoption consists of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt series Into Reading and Into Literature. Into Reading would support students in grades K-5, while Into Literature would support students in grades 6-8. Taken together, this would result in a unified core resource program for students and teachers in grades K-8.

Into Reading K-5

Information about the Into Reading program for grades K-5 can be found by visiting the McGuffey School District: HMH Elementary ELA Materials site.

Additionally, the following log-in can be used in order to preview the full Into Reading student edition for each grade level:

In Chrome, open this link: Ed Preview
Student Username: Student84_91009922
Student Password: E!5fingerlime

Into Literature 6-8

Information about the Into Literature program for grades 6-8 can be found by visiting the McGuffey School District: HMH Secondary ELA Materials (6-12).

Additionally, the following log-in can be used in order to preview the full Into Reading student edition for each grade level:

In Chrome, open this link: Ed Preview
Student Username: Student18_91008330
Student Password: E!8garlic

Waggle

Along with the In

to Reading and Into Literature resources, the ELA team is recommending the use of supplemental personalized learning program Waggle for students in grades K-8. Waggle is an online program that allows students to progress through their own personalized learning journey. More information about Waggle can be found on the Waggle section of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt website.

Actively Learn

The ELA Team i

s recommending that students in grades 9-12 continue utilizing the online resource Actively Learn, which has been the primary English resource for McGuffey High School since 2019. For further information, visit the Actively Learn website

Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Literature

McGuffey High Sc

hool offers students the opportunity to participate in college level courses through participation in the Advanced Placement (AP) prorgram. In the English department, both AP Language and AP Literature are available for students to take. To continue supporting the success of our AP students, the English department recommends the selection of AP English Language and Composition and AP English Literature and Composition, both published by Perfection Learning. For further information, you can visit the Perfection Learning pages for both English Language and Composition and English Literature and Composition.

Sonday Systems

In order to support students who need extra support with phonics and the decoding of words, th

e ELA team recommends the adoption of the Sonday Systems 1 and 2 from Winsor Learning. Sonday Systems is designed for students in grades K-8 in order to support in the development of the decoding skills needed to become fluent readers. Additional information about this intervention product can be found on the Winsor Learning webpages for Sonday Systems 1 and Sonday Systems 2.

Read 180

In order to support students who

need extra support with reading comprehension and reading, the ELA team recommends the adoption of the intervention program Read 180 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Read 180 is designed for students in grades 3-12 and is designed to target the areas of reading comprehension and fluency. More details are available on the Read 180 website.

McGuffey School District Tiered Supports

When taken as a group, all of the items being recommended for adoption would provide students in McGuffey School District with options and supports at the Tier 1 or Universal Level (All Students), tTier 2 or Tertiary level (Extra supports for some students), and Tier 3 or intensive level (individualed support for students in need of significant supports).