Expeditionary Learning: A Deep Dive into the Curriculum
The Expeditionary Learning (EL) Education curriculum offers a comprehensive approach to language arts instruction, emphasizing depth, rigor, and real-world connections. Designed for students from kindergarten through eighth grade, the curriculum integrates content knowledge, literacy skills, and social-emotional development. It uses rich, authentic texts and collaborative learning strategies to engage students and promote a love of reading.
Curriculum Structure by Grade Band
The EL Education curriculum is structured differently across grade bands to meet the evolving needs of students.
K-2 Language Arts Curriculum
The K-2 Language Arts curriculum is built around a three-hour daily block. Two hours are dedicated to content-based literacy, including Module Lessons and K-2 Labs. The remaining hour focuses on structured phonics through the K-2 Reading Foundations Skills Block. This comprehensive approach ensures that all Language Arts standards are taught and formally assessed at each grade level. The phonics program is differentiated and rooted in cognitive science. It uses protocols that provide extra reinforcement or quicker pacing as students need. Lessons are rich and playful, incorporating games, songs, and dances to instill the joy of learning to read. Weekly assessments allow teachers to precisely measure progress and respond with targeted support. Decodable readers connect to read-alouds and module topics, reinforcing learning.
Grades 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum (Second Edition)
The Grades 3-5 Language Arts curriculum consists of two one-hour blocks of content-based literacy instruction. Like the K-2 curriculum, it ensures that all Language Arts standards are taught and formally assessed. For students in grades 3-5 who need additional foundational grounding, Unlock Phonics offers a parallel, asynchronous support.
Grades 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum (Second Edition)
The Grades 6-8 Language Arts curriculum (Second Edition) includes a 45-minute block of content-based literacy instruction. In these grades, the curriculum includes suggestions for building fluency and meeting the needs of all learners, providing varied and lively ways for students to identify and engage with the material while getting the practice repetitions they need.
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Core Principles and Features
Several core principles and features define the EL Education curriculum:
Content-Based Literacy
The curriculum emphasizes content-based literacy, integrating language arts instruction with meaningful subject matter. This approach ensures that students not only develop their reading and writing skills but also build a strong foundation of knowledge in various content areas. Throughout the EL Education K-8 Language Arts curriculum, content knowledge and reading acumen are sharpened by engagement with rich, authentic, and complex texts that affirm students’ identities as learners and connect their academic learning to the outside world. All writing and conversations are purposeful, focused, and anchored in the content students are learning. Students write about and discuss texts daily. They are also given straightforward tools to work with vocabulary and syntax encountered in their readings.
Authentic and Complex Texts
The curriculum uses rich, authentic, and complex texts to engage students and promote deeper learning. These texts are carefully selected to affirm students’ identities as learners and connect their academic learning to the outside world. Students engage deeply with complex texts over carefully crafted repeat encounters. Peer-to-peer learning protocols and classroom routines provide concrete supports for accessing the readings. Frequent assessments solidify learning and provide tools for re-teaching as needed.
Social-Emotional Learning
EL Education seamlessly incorporates life skills into history, science, and literature lessons. Lessons help build students’ executive functioning and social skills while also calling on them to make meaningful contributions to their communities. Social learning is a mainstay, with students working together frequently.
Foundational Skills
EL Education offers a research-based foundational skills program grounded in the Science of Reading. It includes a comprehensive skills block where students work through a systematic scope and sequence. Reading fluency is a focus of foundational skills instruction from first grade on. Grade-level fluency practice opportunities are baked seamlessly into the lessons.
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Modular Structure
The eight-week modular structure allows students to go deep with each topic and read full-length core texts supported by a whole range of supplemental readings.
Assessment and Differentiation
Frequent assessments solidify learning and provide tools for re-teaching as needed. The phonics program is differentiated, providing extra reinforcement or quicker pacing as students need.
Teacher Support and Resources
EL Education provides teachers with the resources and support they need to implement the curriculum effectively.
Curriculum Companion
"The Essential Guide to Teaching the EL Education K-5 Language Arts Curriculum" is a "must-have" companion guide to the EL Education curriculum.
Partnerships
Both Open Up Resources and Imagine Learning have partnered with EL Education to offer print materials and trade books necessary to use the curriculum.
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Impact and Benefits
Teachers who have implemented the EL Education curriculum report positive impacts on their students' learning and engagement. They appreciate the uniform language, the quality and research-based nature of the curriculum, and the fact that it reduces the need for reteaching.
Teacher Confidence
Teachers feel confident in what they are giving their students. They have the knowledge and skills to teach them to read.
Student Engagement
Kids have bought into ELA. The curriculum helps students get it and move on.
Joy of Teaching
Teachers feel like this is working. They don’t feel that way now. A core value of this building really is joy.
tags: #expeditionary #learning #curriculum #overview
