Wit & Wisdom for Fort Wayne Community Schools

High-Quality ELA & Early Literacy for

Fort Wayne Community Schools

Great Minds PBC 840 Hermitage Rd. Richmond, VA 23220 804.259.2777 greatminds.org greatminds.org

page 1

Wit & Wisdom® Bringing the joy of reading and writing to Fort Wayne Community Schools.

Wit & Wisdom is a comprehensive, Grades K–8 English language arts curriculum developed by and for teachers. Each of the four Wit & Wisdom modules in a year centers on the study of rich and engaging texts, curated to build student knowledge of important ideas on a significant, high-interest topic in the liberal arts and the sciences. The approach is integrated and text-based: daily reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, and vocabulary study is based on—and draws on evidence from—exceptional books. Wit & Wisdom core texts are authentic, previously published works of fiction and nonfiction that represent award winners (e.g., Caldecott, Newbery, Coretta Scott King, ALA Notable) and high-quality exemplars that showcase diverse viewpoints and genres.

Wit & Wisdom texts are exceptional in both content and craft. Literary texts feature plot complexity, exemplary use of language and literary devices, and high-quality illustrations.

Informational texts pique curiosity, build content knowledge, and introduce a range of perspectives and forms.

Representing grade-level complexity expectations or higher, the literary and informational texts in Wit & Wisdom merit close reading, lend themselves to the development of content knowledge and the skills described in the Indiana

“The kids are so engaged, there’s no downtime. They’re talking about books all the time–in P.E. class, at lunch, everywhere.”

- Superintendent Shawn Kimble

Academic Standards, and, most Lauderdale County Schools (TN) importantly, engage students in productive—and joyful—struggle.

To foster students’ analytical abilities so they can engage in reasoned, evidencebased discourse on issues of personal or social importance, Wit & Wisdom has at its core strategic, repeatable processes, such as content framing questions and craft questions, that empower all students to read and respond to complex texts. Wit & Wisdom establishes these lines of questioning so that students have the tools and time to engage deeply in their own learning, helping students understand and discern the meaning of complex texts. Skill development follows a coherent sequence of English language arts standards while staying true to the demands of each individual text (Adler and Van Doren 46–48; Liben 1–9; Shanahan 9–11).

greatminds.org

page 2

Each module in every grade is built around a rich topic with an Essential Question that guides student inquiry. Several Focusing Questions (3-6 per module) organize arcs of lessons that build students’ carefully sequenced knowledge of texts and the Essential Question.

Focusing Questions narrow students’ focus to investigate a specific aspect of the Essential Question. Students then address a form of the Essential Question in the End-of-Module Task, a summative assessment grounded in an authentic, evidence-based writing task.

At the lesson level, Content Framing Questions guide students’ daily work of encountering, understanding, and analyzing carefully sequenced module texts. Students work repeatedly with these texts over the course of the module to build academic and content-specific vocabulary and content knowledge. Another line of daily questioning, Craft Questions, teaches students the elements of strong craft—writing, speaking, and listening.

Expert advisors developed the Wit & Wisdom learning design based on current high-quality academic research. Skilled teachers, literacy coaches, and school leaders then brought their years of experience about what works and what doesn’t within a classroom to write lessons based on that learning design. These teacher-writers applied their knowledge of how to meet students at their level, keep them engaged, differentiate when necessary, and build a love of books to propel all students into success in college, career, and civil life.

The below chart delineates how Wit & Wisdom applies this research in our program design:

Research Says “Performance

on

Students Need

Wit & Wisdom Responds

complex Students need to be able Instead of basals, Wit & Wis-

texts is the clearest differ- to unlock meaning from dom

students

read

complex,

entiator in reading between complex texts.

grade-level books they love—

students who are likely to be

from classics such as The Story

ready for college and those

of Ferdinand and Animal Farm,

who are not” (ACT 16–17).

to new favorites such as Last Stop on Market Street and The

But as expectations of college

Crossover, to captivating nonfic-

and career reading have held

tion such as I Am Malala: The Girl

steady or increased, the com-

Who Stood Up for Education and

plexity of Grades K–12 texts

Was Shot by the Taliban and An

has declined (Adams 4–5;

American Plague: The True and

NGA Center and CCSSO 3).

Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. Students use these texts at every turn—to learn, and eventually master, essential reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, and vocabulary skills.

greatminds.org

page 3

Research Says

Students Need

Wit & Wisdom Responds

Students who usually strug- Students need topic-fo- Each Wit & Wisdom module fogle with reading can outper- cused

vocabulary

form those who usually score background high—if they possess more Students

and cuses on an important, high-in-

knowledge. terest topic in literature, history/

need

knowl- social studies, science, or the

knowledge of a text’s topic edge-rich experiences to arts. Through carefully chosen (Willingham).

develop skills and trans- literary, informational, and visual fer them to new contexts.

art texts, students examine each

Students acquire vocabulary

central topic from diverse angles.

much faster when reading nu-

Across Grades K–8, significant

merous texts focused on one

topics strategically reoccur, es-

topic rather than a collection

tablishing a foundation of back-

on scattered topics. In an ef-

ground knowledge.

fect known as bootstrapping, reading increasingly complex texts focused on a single topic allows students to access texts above their typical independent reading level by expanding relevant background knowledge

and

vocabulary

(Adams 9–10).

Before students can flexibly apply a skill, such as determining main ideas or organizing an essay, they need multiple experiences working in meaningful contexts over extended periods of time (National Research Council 65–66).

greatminds.org

page 4

Research Says

Students Need

Wit & Wisdom Responds

To comprehend any text, read- Students need to devel- Wit & Wisdom establishes a line ers coordinate and execute op the skills necessary to of questioning to help students a huge number of complex access any text they en- understand

and

discern

the

thinking processes (Fountas counter.

meaning of complex texts. Skill

and Pinnell 272–273; Frey and

development follows a coherent

Fisher 18).

Students need a process sequence of English language for reading, understand- arts standards while staying true

Each text’s unique attributes ing, and analyzing com- to the demands of each individual inform the varied questions, plex texts.

text.

tasks, and standards students explore and practice with that

Students employ many skills in

text (Shanahan 9–11).

service of understanding each text, while building mastery of

Successful readers hold a

a smaller number of focus stan-

“standard for coherence,” ex-

dards that are particularly rele-

pecting to understand each

vant to the specific texts within a

aspect of a text, from strik-

module.

ing word choice to byzantine structure to puzzling allusions (Pearson and Liben 1).

Repeatedly

progressing

through a sequence of purposeful, reading

predictable stages

close

(Adler and

Van Doren 46–48; Liben 1–9) can establish and enable that standard for coherence.

greatminds.org

page 5

Research Says Reading,

writing,

Students Need

Wit & Wisdom Responds

speaking, Students need an inte- Wit & Wisdom takes an integrated

and listening are interrelated grated approach to lit- approach to literacy, as the work aspects of the same act: com- eracy and content to in- students do with reading, thinkmunicating ideas through lan- crease learning

ing, speaking, listening, writing,

guage. When studied togeth-

vocabulary, and grammar all ties

er, these strands reinforce one

into the module’s topic or Essen-

another (Graham and Perin

tial Question. Teachers leverage

20–21; Hawkins et al. 14).

the content knowledge students gain through the texts to support

Content integration levels the

their abilities in other areas, such

playing field among students

as having academic conversa-

with different types of back-

tions or writing meaningfully and

ground knowledge by focusing

purposefully.

on information gained through reading rather than through personal experience (Hawkins et al. 34–36)

“Students are learning for themselves, discovering, and growing. They are digging in, talking, and writing so much more. We never had so much excitement about literacy instruction. Wit & Wisdom is absolutely challenging, but it’s also exactly what our kids need.”

- ELA Curriculum Specialist

Rogers Public Schools, Arkansas

greatminds.org

page 6

FROM THE FIELD Wit & Wisdom and Geodes have provided our students the opportunity to contextualize the knowledge they're building during instruction and widen their view of the world around them.

Students year after year will continue to build knowledge and widen their 'lenses' of the world, making them better critical thinkers and overall citizens.

That's what education is supposed to do for children.

DUSTIN LEMAY K-12 Director of Teaching & Learning Avon Community Schools Corporation