[it'sjustme]

Our school is writing a grant and needs to implement a reading curriculum. What are you using at your school? Strengths??? Weaknesses???

Thanks in advance

[owl98]

Lucy Calkins. I know a lot of people hate it with a passion. We used workshop model to start with, so I like it.

[MissAgnes]

From National Geographic.
I personally love it. It has a lot of really good literature included, and the anthologies are very engaging. It encompasses Social Studies and Science, so that's a plus.
I think the downsides are that there are a lot of pieces, and the writing piece is inadequate.

[jov]

National Geographic Reach for Reading. All grades love the fiction/nonfiction reading and vocabulary pieces, as well as the emphasis on science and social studies. It's very multicultural as you would expect from NG. Grade 1 feels it's a little skimpy on fiction.

Grades 1 and 2 absolutely hate the phonics and spelling lessons. After short vowels, blends and digraphs (which are fine), it seems very haphazard with introducing long vowels and vowel teams. Grades K and 3-5 don't seem to have a problem with it.

[tgbwc]

I'm following out of interest. We don't have a reading curriculum.

[Riding4Him]

We are using a new program this year called Side-By-Side. It's a program for 3-6th graders that uses chapter books. We have 5 read alouds that the students follow along with their own copy. We cover different genres throughout the year. After we start the read aloud the students are placed in Book Clubs according to their reading level and read a paired book that is the same genre as the read aloud but at their level. The program has a vocabulary portion and students complete writing assignments in a notebook. So far my kids have enjoyed the books and their vocabulary scores are going up in our MAP testing. We just finished a biography for MLK Jr. and the Book Clubs we on Rosa Parks so we are getting a non-fiction portion. The draw backs that I can see are 1. expense, we purchased paperback books for every kid (Pro. Students will be reading 10 chapter books a year) 2. Writing; my strugglers are having trouble with the amount of writing. I sometimes copy lists out of the teacher's book for them to paste into their notebook. 3. Assessment was not all meshed out when we purchased the program. My teaching partner and I made up rubrics for the writing portion to help with grading.

[Teacherbee_4]

The first district I was in did not really have a reading curriculum. We had Lucy Calkins Writing.

The second place I was had Benchmark Literacy.

The third place (current place) has Wonders.

Wonders would probably be my least favorite. Benchmark had it's ups and downs, but I definitely prefer it over Lucy Calkins. Not having a reading curriculum also had it benefits (a ton more freedom), but it's downsides (inconsistencies in classes, teachers not doing their job, more work, etc.