Bristow Run Elementary School

PWCS K-12 Language Arts Belief Statements

Language Arts instructional framework teams, represented by elementary, middle, and high school teachers, constructed the following tenets to guide instructional decisions:

We Believe:

1. Students construct meaning through prior knowledge, experiences, and by making connections. Therefore we will...
   • Provide opportunities for students to read, write, discuss, and share their perspectives and reflections.
   • Provide instructional materials that activate the students’ prior knowledge in preparation for new lessons.
   • Provide experiences to build and extend background knowledge.
2. Students dialogue respectfully in oral and written forms of communication. Therefore we will...
   • Model and teach effective communication strategies.
   • Provide opportunities for students to share their perspectives, to give and receive feedback, and to co- construct their knowledge with others.
3. Students use reading and writing strategies to discover that literacy has authentic purpose. Therefore we will...
   • Provide opportunities for students to experience and apply literacy in multiple mode with real-world applications.
   • Model how to use literacy in our own lives.
   • Provide opportunities for students to expand their authentic uses of literacy through technology, presentations, literary analysis, and research.
   • Provide opportunities for students to analyze information through purposeful dialogue.
4. Students are naturally curious thinkers. Therefore we will...
   • Provide opportunities for students to think actively, critically, inferentially, reflectively, and independently.
   • Illustrate concepts with materials, field trips, guest speakers, and student collaboration across schools representing multiple cultures and perspectives.
   • Provide opportunities for inquiry, research, and engagement through student choice of materials, processes, and products.
   • Provide opportunities for students to both create and innovate.
5. Students given the opportunity to choose will find, develop, and extend their learning through multiple modes of literacy. Therefore we will...
   • Provide opportunities for students to use technology and electronic devices at differentiated levels for academic purposes.
   • Provide opportunities to extend learning beyond the classroom.
   • Confer with students to scaffold their needs as learners.
6. Students need to read, write, and discuss a variety of texts in order to develop their literacy skills. Therefore we will...
   • Foster inquiry by providing both fiction and non-fiction texts in classroom libraries.
   • Provide opportunities for students to collaborate and discuss global and social issues.
   • Teach literacy as a tool for empowerment in a global community.