The English Language Arts Curriculum in Paulding County is designed to introduce students to core concepts that are further developed and expanded as students progress through each grade level. Our core beliefs surrounding high quality ELA instruction are:

• Reading comprehension is the product of word recognition and oral language comprehension rather than an isolated skill.
• We must use screening and diagnostic assessments to differentiate reading instruction based on skill strengths and needs (Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Comprehension) rather than an overall leveled placement assessment.
• All students will benefit from systematic foundational reading skills (Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Print Concepts, Fluency) instruction.
• Students should read intact fiction and nonfiction within their grade level text complexity band every day with provided scaffolding as needed.
• Effective teaching includes modeling, thinking aloud, working with individuals, and working with small groups of students.
• Readers need to actively think about ideas in a text using metacognitive comprehension strategies.
• A strong classroom literacy curriculum builds students’ background knowledge.
• Students learn more from texts when they are actively engaged in discussions of those texts.
• Reading and writing are reciprocal processes, and students should engage in both every day.
• Conferring with students about their process and quality of writing will help students become better writers.