Welcome to the PVUSD Language Arts Department.  Here you will find district, county and state Information and resources. 

Grade Level District Resources - click here

In an effort to provide quality CCSS resources to teachers, PVUSD Language Arts has set up a group on the CDE's Brokers of Expertise website.  You an share lessons, websites, events, etc.  You can also search for lessons, assessment, units of study and other CCSS resources. 

Join the Pajaro Valley Unified (PVUSD) Language Arts by clicking here!

The Common Core Standards contain the following shifts:

1. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction
2. Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational
3. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

What are the Common Core State Standards?        

• California's Common Core Content Standards for Language Arts (66 pages)
• Appendix A: The Research and Glossary of Terms (43 pages)
• Appendix B: Text Exemplars and Sample Performance Tasks (183 pages)
• Appendix C: Sample Student Writing Exemplars (107 pages)
• "Crosswalk" between Content Standards and Common Core Standards
• Key Points in English Language Arts

A Look at...
Frequently Asked Questions

This informaton is taken from an article Key Shifts of the Common Core State Standards:  English Language Arts and Literacy by Susan Lafond.  Ms. Lafond is a leading ELL expert and participated as a member of the ELA Work Team for the Common Core State Standards Initiative. 

#1  Balancing Information & Literary Texts (K-5)
Students read a balance of informational and literary text.  Elementary school classrooms are places where students access the world - science, social studies, the arts and literature - through text.  At least 50% of what students read is informational.

#2:  Knowlege in the Disciplines (6-12)
Content area teachers outside of the ELA classroom emphasize literacy experiences in their planning and instruction.  Students learn through domain specific texts in science and social studies classrooms - rather than referring to the text, they are expected to learn from what they read.

To access the full article from the Reading Rockets website, click here .
 

Where do I begin?

Reading:

1. Text Complexity:  Read, reread and reread short, well-crafted text with students.  Model your thinking about the text out loud to students.  Use text to ask higher order thinking questions from Bloom's Taxonomy.  For vocabulary development, choose 5 "Tier 2" words that cross multiple academic subject.  Chunk complex text.  Teach students to read "like detectives" and cite evidence (either orally or in writing) from text to support their opinions (claims) about the text.
2. Informational Text:  Focus on providing students equal opportunity to interact with informational text.  Have students read from a variety of different topics.
3. Provide DAILY opportunities for students to practice independent reading with books at their reading level. 
4. Include read-alouds, literature circles and book clubs in the reading program.  Involve students in literary discussions.  Have students respond to text by speaking and producing on-demand short writing.
5. Have students read multiple text types:  opinion/argument, informational/explanatory and narrative.

Elementary Teachers:  Check out the Scope and Sequence for your grade level under District Resources.  Bring in the Science and Social Studies textbooks to supplement the Houghton Mifflin Reading Program.  The goal is 50% Fiction and 50% Non-Fiction.

Secondary Teachers:  Provide opportunities for students to read historical and scientific documents.  Model strategies on how to read specific content-area documents. The goal is 25% Fiction and 75% Non-Fiction.

For more information click here....