Literacy Plan

At D’Arbonne Woods Charter School, foundational skills instruction is the primary method of teaching reading. In grades K-3, approximately 90 minutes per day is devoted to literacy instruction, with approximately 45 minutes, of the 90 minutes, scheduled for foundational skills. Grades K-3 emphasize the elements of the foundational skills—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Grades 3-5 begin the shift with more vocabulary and comprehension including other foundational skills taught and embedded in ELA. Louisiana Standards guide instruction and curriculum for all grades, including writing, spelling, grammar, and morphology.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt supplemented with the following:
Secret Stories
Language Circle/Project Read/Heggerty

McGraw Hill- Wonders supplemented with the following:
Secret Stories (As needed)
Language Circle/Project Read/Heggerty (With embedded writing)

We use Dibels 8th Edition for Universal Screener. It meets the universal screening requirements of Louisiana. It is to be administered three times, beginning, middle, and end, a year to students in grades K-3. DWCS also uses Renaissance STAR assessments for screening, progress monitoring, and instructional planning for grades K-8.

D’Arbonne Woods Charter School follows the intervention structures as outlined in Louisiana’s Response to Intervention. Dibels 8th Edition screeners are administered three times a year and Renaissance STAR is administered five times a year, with progress monitoring, to identify at-risk students. Students who need interventions are placed in Tier 2 or a Tier 3 instructional support for the specified amount of time. Reading interventions are provided to students based on identified needs from screeners and progress monitoring. These Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions are provided/overseen by certified teachers using approved research-based materials with progress monitoring taking place throughout the school year.

D’Arbonne Woods Charter School provides Literacy/STAR reports to notify and engage parents and families in the student’s literacy progress. The report include the following:

• Students’ scores and progress in an easy to understand letter
• Explanation of their current grade-level-equivalency and extent of student needs
• Information about the importance of reading proficiency by third grade
• At home reading activities for parents to use with their student at home to improve reading skills

D’Arbonne Woods Charter School provides professional development for teachers of students in grades K-3, and supervisors of those grades, to train teachers in the Science of Reading.