Instructional Focus

2025-26 Instructional Focus

Our school-wide instructional focus for the 2025-26 academic year is centered on Next Generation Standards R2 and R3.

Next Generation Learning Standard - Reading 2

Kinder - R2: Retell stories or share key details from a text.

Gr. 1 - R2: Identify a main topic or central idea in a text and retell important details.

Gr. 2 - R2: Identify a main topic or central idea and retell key details in a text; summarize portions of a text.

Gr. 3 - R2: Determine a theme or central idea and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize portions of a text.

Gr. 4 - R2: Determine a theme or central idea of text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize a text.

Gr. 5 - R2: Determine a theme or central idea and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize a text.

Next Generation Learning Standard - Reading 3

Kinder - R3: Identify characters, settings, major events in a story, or pieces of information in a text.

Gr. 1 - R3: Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, or pieces of information in a text.

Gr. 2 - R3: In literary texts, describe how characters respond to major events and challenges. In informational texts, describe the connections among ideas, concepts, or a series of events.

Gr. 3 - R3: In literary texts, describe character traits, motivations, or feelings, drawing on specific details from the text. In informational texts, describe the relationship among a series of events, ideas, concepts, or steps in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

Gr. 4 - R3: In literary texts, describe a character, setting, or event, drawing on specific details in the text. In informational texts, explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts, including what happened and why, based on specific evidence from the text.

Gr. 5 - R3: In literary texts, compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, and events, drawing on specific details in the text. In informational texts, explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts based on specific evidence from the text.

Teachers are devoting extra attention to this instructional focus by:

assessing Reading Standard 2 and 3 vigorously when it organically arises in lessons from unit to unit
explicitly modeling/thinking aloud the skills involved in this standard
integrating differentiated small-group work to address Reading 2 and 3
providing extra time for students to practice these reading (often in conjunction with writing), including in computers, PE, music and science classes
giving students ample feedback in a timely manner
using read alouds as a powerful vehicle to focus on Reading 2 and 3