Literacy at Red Cedar

Students at Red Cedar are readers and writers, members of a literary community. They read between 20 and 80 books a year, talk about books in and out of class, plan what they will read next, and pass books from hand to hand. They create numerous pieces of writing in a range of genres that are shared in the school community and published in the Red Cedar Press.

We want our students' childhood and young adult years to be filled with many, many stories, so that they may be imbued with a sense of the richness and complexity of the world, they can experience wonder and awe through story, they may be exposed to an array of models of acting and possibilities of choice before they are faced with the hard decisions life brings, and they can be deeply imprinted with the usefulness, expansiveness and beauty of language. We want them to pursue their curiosity about the world through reading that is fascinating and compelling. We believe that by spending a childhood so immersed in reading and stories, they will become passionate, habitual and lifelong readers.

Students develop as readers at Red Cedar within an energized school literary culture. They choose their own books for the most part, reading one book after another, and have direct, daylong access to an extensive classroom library that expands continuously in response to readers' interests. We work to find good matches between particular readers and books they will love. We specialize in children's literature and stay current with new releases, and give frequent book talks to expose students to noteworthy books. Students give them as well. Classes engage in book discussions, and students respond to their reading through writing. We read aloud daily, providing a shared literary experience for discussion. Students read poetry, a number of short pieces, and some books in common with the rest or part of their group over the year. Literature is integrated with social studies, and students read non-fiction as part of science and social studies classes as well.

Students read for a half hour daily at school in a reader's workshop, and a minimum of a half hour daily at home. During the reader's workshop, a teacher confers individually with students, and tracks book choices and progress. Middle school students write a monthly literary letter-essay in response to a recent book they've read, and a teacher responds to these letters, forming an ongoing written literary dialogue. Younger students write weekly reading response letters.

We bring beginning readers into the world of reading through poetry, chants and singing; beginning books with predictable language and inviting images, stories and information; reader's theater and dramatizing of stories; and explicit word study. In addition to shared group reading experiences and supported individual reading, young readers daily spend some time reading alongside the older students, where they experience the gravitational pull of a roomful of quiet, contented, deeply engrossed readers.

We work to bring students who come to us as reluctant or apprehensive readers into the current of our literary culture. These students are often surprised at the pleasure in reading they see around them. We work hard to get the right books into their hands-books that speak to their particular interests and which are accessible to them. We give extra support to readers who struggle with processing issues such as dyslexia, or attention issues such as ADHD. We enlist parent support to be sure that time and space is carved out at home for reading.

Red Cedar students are writers as well. They write many pieces in a range of genres over the year. We publish their work in anthologies within the school community. We believe that with encouragement, inspiration, modeling, input, feedback, lots of reading, and time, students with all kinds of minds, abilities and interests can become writers: individuals who enjoy writing, who take their writing seriously, who communicate clearly and persuasively, and who create literature.

Each student participates in a writer's workshop with his or her group on most days. In our writer's workshops, we focus on a shared genre for a period of time. Within this, students each decide what they will work on. The genres we cover include poetry, personal narrative, memoir, fiction, essay, informational report, research papers, nature writing, letters, instructions, travel writing, book review, and journalism.

The workshop begins with a brief lesson on some aspect of writing. Models of good writing are shared and analyzed (from published literature and from writing within the group). Students then write quietly for thirty to forty minutes. During this time the teacher confers individually with students or meets with small groups. The workshop concludes with an opportunity for further input or time for students to share their work with each other.

Students all work initially on drafts of writing to develop their ideas. Within each genre study, students all choose one or two pieces to work into a finished piece, and then focus on the art of revising their work to bring it fully alive. Students edit their work for punctuation, grammar and spelling. We give input and feedback at each of these stages.

Students engage regularly as well in word study sessions to focus on the development of spelling, phonics, vocabulary, punctuation and grammar skills.

Anthologies of student writing are housed in the school library. Student writing, book reviews, and lists of books most loved by students in the various age groups at Red Cedar are featured on our literary blog at: redcedarliterary.wordpress.com