Vocabulary is an important form of background knowledge. Isabel Beck, author of Bringing Words to Life, tells us, “People with more extensive vocabularies not only know more words but also know more about the words they know. Depth of word knowledge correlates almost as strongly to reading as breadth of knowledge.” A knowledge based approach helps to build that depth which is why we incorporate Explicit Vocabulary instruction 2-3 times per week with ample opportunities for students to use and apply words in fun and challenging contexts. Additionally, we provide suggestions and support for Implicit Vocabulary instruction to support student comprehension during reading as well as create opportunities for kids to utilize previously taught words.

Writing is among the most important thinking work that students can do. It’s also among the most challenging tasks for students, and one of the hardest to teach. Strong lessons ensure that students learn to write to develop and refine their understanding of text. Our curriculum asks students to write—constantly—in three different ways:

• Formative writing consists of exercises that let students use writing as a tool to develop and expand their thinking—to “think in writing.”
• Developmental writing consists of exercises, embedded in the content of the reading, that seek to develop students’ syntactic control by focusing on craft at the sentence level. With this type of writing, students focus on how they express their ideas.
• Summative writing asks students to form and develop short answer responses, paragraphs, or essays that explain and provide evidence for a more developed argument about the text.

Our units seek to put the text—and often reading the text with classmates—at the center of the lesson. One of the first things you’ll notice about our curriculum is that lesson objectives are text-driven: they describe what we want students to understand about the passage of text they are reading that day. Most likely you will never see the same lesson objective twice. They’re unique to each lesson because they are specific to the passage or text.

We think a great curriculum should be modular, meaning that a school or a teacher can choose from a variety of outstanding texts at a given grade level to assemble their own scope and sequence for the year. Our curriculum is built in roughly six-week units, and schools can purchase one unit or as many as they wish.

We ask students to read texts in three different ways: Accountable Independent Reading (silent, autonomous reading), FASE Reading (shared reading in which both students and teachers own the voice), and Read Aloud (teachers reading texts out loud). Reading, we believe, competes with other forms of media for students’ attention and interest. Using these three ways in balance supports students in building and practicing fluency while at the same time creates a positive culture around reading and books. FASE and Read Aloud are especially important to us and represent a departure from many curriculums. Students hearing their teacher and peers read out loud with strong fluency and expressiveness is critical for building fluency and connects them to the idea that the book is relevant and worthwhile, and the act of reading (especially when shared) is joyful.

We provide a variety of different types of professional learning opportunities to support teachers and leaders in their implementation of the Reading Reconsidered Curriculum. Our professional learning sessions are led by curriculum writers who offer practical guidance and support, using video and practice, to ensure the best possible literacy outcomes for students. We offer both in-person and remote sessions.