Literacy Portal for Staff Note: You will need to sign in by entering: User Name: sdcs\your employeeID (e.g. sdcs\987654) Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.

• Overview
• Elementary (K-5)
• Middle School (6-8)
• Assessments & Intervention Support
• Related Resources
• Contact Information

Overview
The Literacy Department supports a balanced, comprehensive, and research-based instructional model as described in the Reading/Language Framework for California Public Schools Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve. This Framework provides grade-level content standards for all the domains of language – reading, writing, listening and speaking. It also emphasizes the importance of differentiated instruction, high expectations, interactive approaches, and flexible groupings to support student performance. These instructional approaches are combined with ongoing, systematic assessment of student learning.

The Literacy Department has developed a variety of strategic supports for teaching and learning. These tools include Curriculum Maps, Units of Inquiry/Study, Instructional Guides, and rubrics for reading, writing, and listening and speaking. The instructional supports provide teachers with consistent guidelines for planning and monitoring student progress toward grade-level standards.

Elementary (K-5)

• Units of Inquiry Instructional Supports
  • Kindergarten
    
    • Unit 1 (Note: You will need to sign in by entering:
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      Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.)
  • Grade 1
    
    • Unit 1 (Note: You will need to sign in by entering:
      User Name: sdcs\your employeeID (e.g. sdcs\987654)
      Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.)
    • Unit 2: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview 
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment 
    • Unit 3: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
    • Unit 4: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview 
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
    • Unit 5: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Writing Assessment 
    • Unit 6: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
    • Unit 7: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
    • Unit 8:
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
  • Grade 2
    
    • Unit 1 (Note: You will need to sign in by entering:
      User Name: sdcs\your employeeID (e.g. sdcs\987654)
      Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.)
  • Grade 3
    
    • Unit 1 (Note: You will need to sign in by entering:
      User Name: sdcs\your employeeID (e.g. sdcs\987654)
      Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.)
    • Unit 2: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview 
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy
    • Unit 3: (Under Revision)
      
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy
    • Unit 4: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
    • Unit 5: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
    • Unit 6: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
    • Unit 7: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
    • Unit 8: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
  • Grade 4
    
    • Unit 1 (Note: You will need to sign in by entering:
      User Name: sdcs\your employeeID (e.g. sdcs\987654)
      Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.)
  • Grade 5
    
    • Unit 1 (Note: You will need to sign in by entering:
      User Name: sdcs\your employeeID (e.g. sdcs\987654)
      Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.)
    • Unit 2: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
    • Unit 3:
      Important Note: In response to teachers' request for vertical alignment, the Units of Inquiry have been re-ordered (see Units of Inquiry: Revised Calendar for an overview of these changes). To bring the Grade 5 units into alignment, a new Unit 3 will be designed for the 2008-09 school year. For this year, teachers are advised to move directly to Unit 4: Search and Research.
    • Unit 4: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
    • Unit 5: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
    • Unit 6: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
      • Pre-Assessment
      • Spot Check Assessment
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
        • Teacher Copy
        • Student Copy 
    • Unit 7: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview 
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
      • On-Demand Unit Assessment
      • End-of-Unit Assessment
    • Unit 8: (Under Revision)
      • Unit Overview 
      • Unit At a Glance 
      • Instructional Guides 
• 2006-07 Units of Inquiry Descriptors:
  • Expository Units : Complete | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
  • Narrative Units : Complete | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
  • Sample Phase Planning : K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
  • Phase Planning Templates : Daily | Unit
• Content Standards (CA Dept. of Education): K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
• Curriculum Maps : K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
• Rubrics:
  • Fluency 
  • Listening and Speaking : Complete | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
• Writing Samples With Commentary ():
  K (4.3 MB) | 1 (4.3 MB) | 2 (2 MB) | 3 (1.3 MB) | 4 (2 MB) | 5 (3.2 MB)
• Literacy Videos

Middle School (6-8)

• Units of Study:
  • Grade 6
    
    • Unit 1 (Note: You will need to sign in by entering:
      User Name: sdcs\your employeeID (e.g. sdcs\987654)
      Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.)
    • Unit 2:
      • Overview
      • Unit At a Glance
      • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
      • Lesson Plans (by week) () : 1 | 4 | 5
      • Strategic Support (by week) () : 1
      • Resources
      • Assessment
    • Unit 3:
      • Overview
      • Unit At a Glance
      • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
      • Lesson Plans (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7
      • Strategic Support (by week) () : 1
    • Unit 4
      • Overview
      • Unit At a Glance
      • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2
      • Graphic Organizer (by week) () : 1 | 2
      • Quiz
    • Unit 5
      • Overview
      • Unit At a Glance
      • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3
      • Graphic Organizer (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3
      • Lesson Plans (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
      • Strategic Support (by week) () : 1 | 2
  • Grade 7
    
    • Unit 1 (Note: You will need to sign in by entering:
      User Name: sdcs\your employeeID (e.g. sdcs\987654)
      Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.)
  • Unit 2
    • Overview
    • Unit At a Glance
    • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
    • Lesson Plans (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 5
    • Strategic Supports (by week) () : 1 | 2
    • Assessment
  • Unit 3
    • Overview
    • Unit At a Glance
    • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
    • Lesson Plans (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
    • Strategic Supports (by week) () : 1 | 4
  • Unit 4
    • Overview
    • Unit At a Glance
    • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2
    • Lesson Plans (by week) () : 1
    • Strategic Supports (by week) () : 1 | 2
    • Quiz
  • Unit 5
    • Overview
    • Unit At a Glance
    • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3
    • Lesson Plans (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
    • Graphic Organizers (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
    • Strategic Supports (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3
• Grade 8
  • Unit 1 (Note: You will need to sign in by entering:
    User Name: sdcs\your employeeID (e.g. sdcs\987654)
    Password: your regular PeopleSoft/email password.)
  • Unit 2
    • Overview
    • Unit At a Glance
    • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
    • Lesson Plans (by week) () : 1 | 1 Sample | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
    • Strategic Supports (by week) () : 2 | 3 | 4
  • Unit 3
    • Overview
    • Unit At a Glance
    • Quiz
    • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
    • Lesson Plans (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7
    • Strategic Supports (by week) () : 2 | 6
  • Unit 4
    • Overview
    • Unit At a Glance
    • Quiz
    • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3
    • Graphic Organizers (by week) () : 1
  • Unit 5
    • Overview
    • Unit At a Glance
    • Instructional Guides (by week) () : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
    • Lesson Plans (by week) () : Extended
    • Graphic Organizers (by week) () : 1
• Curriculum Calendars :
  • Traditional  : Grade 6 | 7 | 8
  • Year-Round  : 6 | 7 | 8
• Curriculum Maps : 6 | 7 | 8
• Content Standards (CA Dept. of Education): 6 | 7 | 8
• SDUSD English Language Arts Course of Study
• Student Sample Writing:
  • Expository/Research
    • On-Demand  : 6 | 7 | 8
    • Processed Writing  : 6 | 7 | 8
  • Narrative
    • On-Demand  : 6 | 7 | 8
    • Processed Writing  : 6 | 7 | 8
  • Persuasive
    • On-Demand  : 6 | 7 | 8
    • Processed Writing  : 6 | 7 | 8
  • Response to Literature
    • On-Demand  : 6 | 7 | 8
    • Processed Writing  : 6 | 7 | 8

Assessments & Intervention Support
A variety of literacy assessments are conducted throughout the school year so that teachers can monitor and measure students' reading comprehension, reading level, progress and the need for intervention and support. These assessments include:

Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)
The DRA, and its Spanish-language equivalent, the Evaluación del Desarrollo de la Lectura (EDL), are individually administered reading assessments for grades K-3. Teachers administer these tests three to four times a year to determine reading level and to document progress.

Analytical Reading Inventory (ARI) and Informal Reading Inventory (IRI)
The ARI is an individually-administered assessment conducted during a one-on-one reading conference. It is administered periodically to students in grades 4-8. Results are used to determine a student's instructional reading level, guide teachers in planning classroom instruction, identify appropriate supports and interventions, and document progress over time.

The Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) is a similar assessment but is administered to students in grades 9-12.

If assessments indicate a student may require additional literacy support and/or intervention, teachers have access to a number of resources, including additional time with members of the Literacy Department's Instructional Support Team.

Reading Recovery
Reading Recovery is a highly effective short-term intervention of one-on-one tutoring for low-achieving first graders. The intervention is most effective when it is available to all students who need it and is used as a supplement to good classroom teaching. In Reading Recovery, individual students receive a half-hour lesson each school day for 12 to 20 weeks with a specially trained Reading Recovery teacher. As soon as students can read within the average range of their class and demonstrate that they can continue to achieve, their lessons are discontinued, and new students begin individual instruction.

Reading Recovery teachers are highly trained in working with early and emergent readers. In addition to one-on-one tutorial support, these teachers also provide small group instruction to accelerate reading and writing achievement for students below grade level.

Related Resources

• Video Resources – Literacy Videos
• Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)
  Nonprofit children's literacy organization that prepares and motivates children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources.
• Reading Recovery Council of North America
  Reading Recovery is a short-term intervention of one-on-one tutoring for low-achieving first graders.
• Recommended Literature (K-12) (Source: California Department of Education)

Contact Information
San Diego Unified School District
Literacy Department
Eugene Brucker Education Center
4100 Normal Street, Room 2008
San Diego, CA 92103-2682
(619) 725-7250

Key Contacts

Topic/Title	Contact
Curriculum Leader, Literacy	Lori Hurwitz (619) 725-7250
Administrative Assistant	Leslie Caporale lcaporale@sandi.net (619) 725-7252
Classroom Library Materials	Barbara Baron bbaron@sandi.net (619) 725-7334
Early Literacy Support	Cynthia Craft ccraft@sandi.net (619) 267-5198
Elementary Literacy Program	K–2: Barbara Israel bisrael@sandi.net 3–5: Donna Marriott dmarriott@sandi.net
English Learners (EL), Middle/Jr. High (6-8)	Kelli McMillan kmcmillan@sandi.net (619) 725-7287
English Learners (EL), Sr. High (9-12)	Sonja Gagnon sgagnon@sandi.net (619) 725-7255
Informal Reading Inventory (IRI)	Vercie Carmonjohnson vcarmonjohnson@sandi.net (619) 725-7238
Literacy Support Area I, Carol Barry	Sally Rollinson soppy@sandi.net (619) 725-7269
Literacy Support Area II, Chelsea Smith	Cherissa Kreider ckreider@sandi.net (619) 725-7257
Literacy Support Area III, Rich Cansdale	Sylvia McGrade smcgrade@sandi.net (619) 725-7310
Literacy Support Area V, Delfino Alemán	Cindy Mark cmark@sandi.net (619) 725-7271
Literacy Support, High School	Vercie Carmonjohnson vcarmonjohnson@sandi.net (619) 725-7238
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) Participation Coordinator	Barbara Baron bbaron@sandi.net (619) 725-7334
Reading Recovery Resource Teacher Leader	Cynthia Craft ccraft@sandi.net (619) 267-5198
School Library Services	Barbara Baron bbaron@sandi.net (619) 725-7334
Special Ed. Literacy Support	Kimberly Brock kbrock@sandi.net Maryann Collins mcollins1@sandi.net Lauren Viviani lviviani@sandi.net
Striving Readers Program Director	Rosemary Staley rcstaley@sandi.net (619) 725-7281
Striving Readers Administrative Assistant	Diane Garcia dgarcia1@sandi.net (619) 725-7281