CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideImplementing the K-3 ELA Model CurriculumK-3 Model Curricula WebinarEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.The Science of Reading and the Grades K-3 English Language Arts Model Curriculum  Curriculum is the central roadmap for communicating essential learning outcomes for mastery by the end of a grade or grade band. The K-8 English Language Arts Model Curriculum units serve to support districts in delineating how teachers will organize their instruction and teach to develop skills and content knowledge and assess students’ ability to transfer learning. Furthermore, the CSDE’s model curriculum for Grades K-3, inclusive, aligns with the findings of the body of knowledge called the science of reading and the complementary theoretical frameworks (i.e., The Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope). These frameworks explain the development of reading and the many subskills that contribute to skilled reading.  The Science of Reading Defined“The science of reading is a vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically-based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing. This research has been conducted over the last five decades across the world, and…has culminated in a preponderance of evidence to inform how proficient reading and writing develop…and how we can most effectively assess and teach and, therefore, improve student outcomes through prevention of and intervention for reading difficulties.” 1 The Grades K-3 English Language Arts Model Curriculum units present the foundational skills that students must develop to become, and improve, as readers. The units are organized and presented in a manner that supports the development of the interrelated skills that contribute to skilled reading. Through purposeful interactions, students must actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures in preparation for the advanced intellectual work required for both listening and reading comprehension. With a carefully arranged sequence of standards within and across the K-3 grade band, the model units present the complex multidimensional nature of the language system, incorporating language components (i.e., phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics) and literacy components (i.e., phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension) for reading acquisition.  The Science of Reading: How Children Learn to Read and How They Should Be TaughtThe role of instruction and practice, and the emphasis placed on them, emerged after research conducted over a couple of decades was synthesized to reveal that explicit and systematic instruction was key to students acquiring fundamental skills. Together with teachers’ knowledge of scientific research that has shown us how children learn to read and how they should be taught, districts and schools can facilitate students’ proficient acquisition of fundamental reading skills. Although knowing the science of reading is crucial, it is not enough. Educators must understand the various aspects of culture, including identifying a student’s first language if it is not English, understanding how a student’s first language is structurally different from English, determining why students miss school and if there are trauma impacts, as well as many other unnamed variables. Knowing these factors can help support students and their families in ways beyond reading instruction, and in doing so, learning to read may become easier.1   Science of Reading Defining Guide. (The Reading League, 2022), 6.1. Science of Reading Defining Guide (The Reading League,2022),6.  Course Description:  In the English Language Arts Model Curriculum, there is a proportional emphasis on informational and literary texts and writing types across the grade levels. In addition to developing students’ abilities to read and comprehend a variety of texts, it is equally important to devote adequate time to engage students in producing clear and coherent writing. Included in each of the units are the Speaking and Listening Standards and the Language Standards, which are essential for supporting the development of reading and writing skills and abilities. Through purposeful interactions, students will actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures in preparation for the advanced intellectual work required for both listening and reading comprehension, and writing in subsequent grades, including writing about their reading. The Kindergarten Reading Foundational Standards are included in each of the instructional units, most of which are categorized as Priority Standards, to support the development of students’ emergent reading and writing skills. The scope and sequence of the prioritized Reading Foundational Standards are to be determined at the lesson level. Many of the skills foundational to language development are prioritized in each of the instructional units to stress the importance and interconnectedness of the development of sentence structure, vocabulary, spelling, and writing. Beginning with the Kindergarten school year, students must have clear and ambitious writing goals, be acknowledged for their accomplishments, and engage in the process of receiving feedback on their writing progress. Aligned Core Programs: The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) in partnership with the State Education Resource Center has engaged with providers of high-quality instructional resources to develop alignment guidance for the CSDE English Language Arts (ELA) Model Curricula. The guidance documents provide information about how instructional content aligns with and supports the implementation of the CSDE ELA Model Curricula. The instructional materials referenced in the alignment guidance documents meet the expectations of Connecticut legislation and Connecticut's Approved K-3 Reading Curriculum Models or Programs. Strong alignment of instructional materials to the CSDE ELA Model Curricula units has the potential to support student engagement with meaningful grade-appropriate content.ARC Core Grade KBenchmark Advance Grade KCurriculum Associates Grade KFoundations Grade KFoundations Level K Scope and Sequence Imagine Learning EL Education Grade KmyView c2025 Grade KSadlier Grade KWit & Wisdom Grade KWonders c2020 Grade KWonders c2023 Grade KAdditional Course Information:  Incorporated in each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the Writing Standards, with the expectation that adequate instructional time will be devoted to engaging students in producing and publishing various types of writing. Students need time to perform the intellectual work required for composing, which includes talking about their ideas, analyzing information, and organizing and presenting thoughts precisely and accurately. Developing the ability to analyze author’s craft requires multiple opportunities to engage with texts, so that students can apply literary devices and techniques in writing and make decisions around text structure and language use. When considering writing instruction, it is essential to give attention to the language skills (e.g., spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax) that directly contribute to writing production. Although writing needs dedicated instructional time, each unit supports an integrated approach to writing instruction by including complementary Speaking and Listening Standards, and Language Standards in service to the writing demands called for in each unit.Students will benefit from additional guidance during writing instruction, especially when spelling, word choice retrieval, fluently generating ideas, and executive functions are challenging. For example, working at the sentence level can help students develop the skills to compose complete compound and complex sentences, and use coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions in their writing. Sentence expansion activities can support students in writing with greater precision and accuracy. To produce lengthier pieces of writing, students may need support working through the planning and prewriting stages of the writing process and applying specific writing strategies. We must also be mindful of how executive function influences a writer’s capacity to work through the multiple steps and tasks of composing text, and the ability to sustain tasks and efforts to produce the many forms of writing. Navigating linguistically complex texts when conducting research projects and understanding and managing selective attention demands, including in working memory, may require additional scaffolds.Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The integration of social, emotional, and intellectual habits is an important component in a K-12 education and contributes to students’ academic and personal success, and success in college, careers, and civic life. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits set the stage for all future learning, promoting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Adult beliefs and mindsets, as well as school experiences, all influence the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competencies (The Education Trust). Since adults are responsible for establishing and sustaining student-centered, inclusive learning environments, they must first take stock of their strengths for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with adults and students, including individuals across different perspectives and backgrounds (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.). By understanding and applying social, emotional, and intellectual habits, students effectively negotiate daily tasks and challenges. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits assist students in setting and achieving positive goals, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions. In addition, they support students’ ability to maintain focus and manage their learning irrespective of obstacles. Students must have the capacity to integrate social, emotional, and intellectual skills, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the course of the day.Embedded within each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the interrelated social, emotional, and intellectual habits, as provided in the Components of Social, Emotional and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 document. These habits, over time, will contribute to students’ academic and personal success and are exemplified as areas of development (e.g., identify and understand emotions of self and others; develop logic and reasoning), further organized by learning continua (e.g., empathy; critical and analytical thinking), and clarified by categories of indicators of evidence or developmental milestones (e.g., acknowledge needs of others and act accordingly; agree or disagree with others and give reasons why). By understanding how respect, empathy, responsible behavior, and other social, emotional, and intellectual habits support rapport building, educators can foster trusting relationships with and among students so that each student feels connected and cared for as a member of the classroom community. This sets the stage for all future learning by minimizing the types of social interactions that can activate threats in the brain and impede students’ sense of agency. Students are then empowered to practice self-management and other skills and competencies within their social context (Hammond, 2015).Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (n.d.). How Does SEL Support Educational Equity And Excellence?: Imagine A School Community That Fully Supports Students’ Learning And Development So That All Children Can Thrive. Fundamentals of SEL Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.The Education Trust. (August 2020).  Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity Lens.

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideImplementing the K-3 ELA Model CurriculumK-3 Model Curricula WebinarEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.The Science of Reading and the Grades K-3 English Language Arts Model Curriculum  Curriculum is the central roadmap for communicating essential learning outcomes for mastery by the end of a grade or grade band. The K-8 English Language Arts Model Curriculum units serve to support districts in delineating how teachers will organize their instruction and teach to develop skills and content knowledge and assess students’ ability to transfer learning. Furthermore, the CSDE’s model curriculum for Grades K-3, inclusive, aligns with the findings of the body of knowledge called the science of reading and the complementary theoretical frameworks (i.e., The Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope). These frameworks explain the development of reading and the many subskills that contribute to skilled reading.  The Science of Reading Defined“The science of reading is a vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically-based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing. This research has been conducted over the last five decades across the world, and…has culminated in a preponderance of evidence to inform how proficient reading and writing develop…and how we can most effectively assess and teach and, therefore, improve student outcomes through prevention of and intervention for reading difficulties.” 1 The Grades K-3 English Language Arts Model Curriculum units present the foundational skills that students must develop to become, and improve, as readers. The units are organized and presented in a manner that supports the development of the interrelated skills that contribute to skilled reading. Through purposeful interactions, students must actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures in preparation for the advanced intellectual work required for both listening and reading comprehension. With a carefully arranged sequence of standards within and across the K-3 grade band, the model units present the complex multidimensional nature of the language system, incorporating language components (i.e., phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics) and literacy components (i.e., phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension) for reading acquisition.  The Science of Reading: How Children Learn to Read and How They Should Be TaughtThe role of instruction and practice, and the emphasis placed on them, emerged after research conducted over a couple of decades was synthesized to reveal that explicit and systematic instruction was key to students acquiring fundamental skills. Together with teachers’ knowledge of scientific research that has shown us how children learn to read and how they should be taught, districts and schools can facilitate students’ proficient acquisition of fundamental reading skills. Although knowing the science of reading is crucial, it is not enough. Educators must understand the various aspects of culture, including identifying a student’s first language if it is not English, understanding how a student’s first language is structurally different from English, determining why students miss school and if there are trauma impacts, as well as many other unnamed variables. Knowing these factors can help support students and their families in ways beyond reading instruction, and in doing so, learning to read may become easier.1   Science of Reading Defining Guide. (The Reading League, 2022), 6.1. Science of Reading Defining Guide (The Reading League,2022),6.  Course Description:  In the English Language Arts Model Curriculum, there is a proportional emphasis on informational and literary texts and writing types across the grade levels. In addition to developing students’ abilities to read and comprehend a variety of texts, it is equally important to devote adequate time to engage students in producing clear and coherent writing. Included in each of the units are the Speaking and Listening Standards and the Language Standards, which are essential for supporting the development of reading and writing skills and abilities. Through purposeful interactions, students will actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures in preparation for the advanced intellectual work required for both listening and reading comprehension, and writing demands in subsequent grades, including writing about their reading. The Grade 1 Reading Foundational Standards are included in each of the instructional units, most of which are categorized as Priority Standards, to support the development of students’ emergent reading and writing skills. The scope and sequence of the prioritized foundational reading skills are to be determined at the lesson level. Many of the skills foundational to language development are prioritized in each of the instructional units to stress the interconnectedness of the development of sentence structure, spelling, vocabulary, and writing. By the end of Grade 1, students will have learned to implement automatic and accurate word recognition strategies, how to confirm successes or correct mistakes when reading, and use their foundational reading skills and knowledge for the fluent reading and writing of grade-level material. In the area of writing, students must have clear and ambitious goals, be acknowledged for their accomplishments, and engage in the process of receiving feedback on their writing progress.Aligned Core Programs: The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) in partnership with the State Education Resource Center has engaged with providers of high-quality instructional resources to develop alignment guidance for the CSDE English Language Arts (ELA) Model Curricula. The guidance documents provide information about how instructional content aligns with and supports the implementation of the CSDE ELA Model Curricula. The instructional materials referenced in the alignment guidance documents meet the expectations of Connecticut legislation and Connecticut's Approved K-3 Reading Curriculum Models or Programs. Strong alignment of instructional materials to the CSDE ELA Model Curricula units has the potential to support student engagement with meaningful grade-appropriate content. ARC Core Grade 1Benchmark Advance Grade 1Curriculum Associates Grade 1Foundations Grade 1Foundations Level 1 Scope and SequenceImagine Learning EL Education Grade 1myView c2025 Grade 1OpenCourtReading Grade 1Sadlier Grade 1Wit & Wisdom Grade 1Wonders c2020 Grade 1Wonders c2023 Grade 1Additional Course Information:  Incorporated in each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the Writing Standards, with the expectation that adequate instructional time will be devoted to engaging students in producing and publishing various types of writing. Students need time to perform the intellectual work required for composing, which includes talking about their ideas, analyzing information, and organizing and presenting thoughts precisely and accurately. Developing the ability to analyze author’s craft requires multiple opportunities to engage with texts, so that students can apply literary devices and techniques in writing and make decisions around text structure and language use. When considering writing instruction, it is essential to give attention to the language skills (e.g., spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax) that directly contribute to writing production. Although writing needs dedicated instructional time, each unit supports an integrated approach to writing instruction by including complementary Speaking and Listening Standards, and Language Standards in service to the writing demands called for in each unit.Students will benefit from additional guidance during writing instruction, especially when spelling, word choice retrieval, fluently generating ideas, and executive functions are challenging. For example, working at the sentence level can help students develop the skills to compose complete compound and complex sentences, and use coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions in their writing. Sentence expansion activities can support students in writing with greater precision and accuracy. To produce lengthier pieces of writing, students may need support working through the planning and prewriting stages of the writing process and applying specific writing strategies. We must also be mindful of how executive function influences a writer’s capacity to work through the multiple steps and tasks of composing text, and the ability to sustain tasks and efforts to produce the many forms of writing. Navigating linguistically complex texts when conducting research projects and understanding and managing selective attention demands, including in working memory, may require additional scaffolds.Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The integration of social, emotional, and intellectual habits is an important component in a K-12 education and contributes to students’ academic and personal success, and success in college, careers, and civic life. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits set the stage for all future learning, promoting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Adult beliefs and mindsets, as well as school experiences, all influence the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competencies (The Education Trust). Since adults are responsible for establishing and sustaining student-centered, inclusive learning environments, they must first take stock of their strengths for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with adults and students, including individuals across different perspectives and backgrounds (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.). By understanding and applying social, emotional, and intellectual habits, students effectively negotiate daily tasks and challenges. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits assist students in setting and achieving positive goals, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions. In addition, they support students’ ability to maintain focus and manage their learning irrespective of obstacles. Students must have the capacity to integrate social, emotional, and intellectual skills, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the course of the day.Embedded within each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the interrelated social, emotional, and intellectual habits, as provided in the Components of Social, Emotional and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 document. These habits, over time, will contribute to students’ academic and personal success and are exemplified as areas of development (e.g., identify and understand emotions of self and others; develop logic and reasoning), further organized by learning continua (e.g., empathy; critical and analytical thinking), and clarified by categories of indicators of evidence or developmental milestones (e.g., acknowledge needs of others and act accordingly; agree or disagree with others and give reasons why). By understanding how respect, empathy, responsible behavior, and other social, emotional, and intellectual habits support rapport building, educators can foster trusting relationships with and among students so that each student feels connected and cared for as a member of the classroom community. This sets the stage for all future learning by minimizing the types of social interactions that can activate threats in the brain and impede students’ sense of agency. Students are then empowered to practice self-management and other skills and competencies within their social context (Hammond, 2015).Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (n.d.). How Does SEL Support Educational Equity And Excellence?: Imagine A School Community That Fully Supports Students’ Learning And Development So That All Children Can Thrive. Fundamentals of SEL Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.The Education Trust. (August 2020).  Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity Lens.

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideImplementing the K-3 ELA Model CurriculumK-3 Model Curricula WebinarEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.The Science of Reading and the Grades K-3 English Language Arts Model Curriculum  Curriculum is the central roadmap for communicating essential learning outcomes for mastery by the end of a grade or grade band. The K-8 English Language Arts Model Curriculum units serve to support districts in delineating how teachers will organize their instruction and teach to develop skills and content knowledge and assess students’ ability to transfer learning. Furthermore, the CSDE’s model curriculum for Grades K-3, inclusive, aligns with the findings of the body of knowledge called the science of reading and the complementary theoretical frameworks (i.e., The Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope). These frameworks explain the development of reading and the many subskills that contribute to skilled reading.  The Science of Reading Defined“The science of reading is a vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically-based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing. This research has been conducted over the last five decades across the world, and…has culminated in a preponderance of evidence to inform how proficient reading and writing develop…and how we can most effectively assess and teach and, therefore, improve student outcomes through prevention of and intervention for reading difficulties.” 1 The Grades K-3 English Language Arts Model Curriculum units present the foundational skills that students must develop to become, and improve, as readers. The units are organized and presented in a manner that supports the development of the interrelated skills that contribute to skilled reading. Through purposeful interactions, students must actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures in preparation for the advanced intellectual work required for both listening and reading comprehension. With a carefully arranged sequence of standards within and across the K-3 grade band, the model units present the complex multidimensional nature of the language system, incorporating language components (i.e., phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics) and literacy components (i.e., phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension) for reading acquisition.  The Science of Reading: How Children Learn to Read and How They Should Be TaughtThe role of instruction and practice, and the emphasis placed on them, emerged after research conducted over a couple of decades was synthesized to reveal that explicit and systematic instruction was key to students acquiring fundamental skills. Together with teachers’ knowledge of scientific research that has shown us how children learn to read and how they should be taught, districts and schools can facilitate students’ proficient acquisition of fundamental reading skills. Although knowing the science of reading is crucial, it is not enough. Educators must understand the various aspects of culture, including identifying a student’s first language if it is not English, understanding how a student’s first language is structurally different from English, determining why students miss school and if there are trauma impacts, as well as many other unnamed variables. Knowing these factors can help support students and their families in ways beyond reading instruction, and in doing so, learning to read may become easier.1   Science of Reading Defining Guide. (The Reading League, 2022), 6.1. Science of Reading Defining Guide (The Reading League,2022),6.  Course Description:  In the English Language Arts Model Curriculum, there is a proportional emphasis on informational and literary texts and writing types across the grade levels. In addition to developing students’ abilities to read and comprehend a variety of texts, it is equally important to devote adequate time to engage students in producing clear and coherent writing. Included in each of the units are the Speaking and Listening Standards and the Language Standards, which are essential for supporting the development of reading and writing skills and abilities. Through purposeful interactions, students will actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures in preparation for the advanced intellectual work required for both listening and reading comprehension, and writing in subsequent grades, including writing about their reading. Furthermore, students must have clear and ambitious writing goals, be acknowledged for their accomplishments, and engage in the process of receiving feedback on their writing progress, actively practicing, and making decisions as writers, about how their texts are developed to inform an audience.The Grade 2 Reading Foundational Standards are included in each of the instructional units, most of which are categorized as Priority Standards, to support the development of students’ emergent reading and writing skills. The scope and sequence of the prioritized foundational reading skills are to be determined at the lesson level. Many of the skills foundational to language development are prioritized in each of the instructional units to stress the interconnectedness of the development of sentence structure, spelling, vocabulary, and writing.  Aligned Core Programs: The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) in partnership with the State Education Resource Center has engaged with providers of high-quality instructional resources to develop alignment guidance for the CSDE English Language Arts (ELA) Model Curricula. The guidance documents provide information about how instructional content aligns with and supports the implementation of the CSDE ELA Model Curricula. The instructional materials referenced in the alignment guidance documents meet the expectations of Connecticut legislation and Connecticut's Approved K-3 Reading Curriculum Models or Programs. Strong alignment of instructional materials to the CSDE ELA Model Curricula units has the potential to support student engagement with meaningful grade-appropriate content. ARC Core Grade 2Benchmark Advance Grade 2Curriculum Associates Grade 2Foundations Grade 2Foundations Level 2 Scope and SequenceImagine Learning EL Education Grade 2myView c2025 Grade 2OpenCourtReading Grade 2Sadlier Grade 2Wit & Wisdom Grade 2Wonders c2020 Grade 2Wonders c2023 Grade 2Additional Course Information:  Incorporated in each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the Writing Standards, with the expectation that adequate instructional time will be devoted to engaging students in producing and publishing various types of writing. Students need time to perform the intellectual work required for composing, which includes talking about their ideas, analyzing information, and organizing and presenting thoughts precisely and accurately. Developing the ability to analyze author’s craft requires multiple opportunities to engage with texts, so that students can apply literary devices and techniques in writing and make decisions around text structure and language use. When considering writing instruction, it is essential to give attention to the language skills (e.g., spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax) that directly contribute to writing production. Although writing needs dedicated instructional time, each unit supports an integrated approach to writing instruction by including complementary Speaking and Listening Standards, and Language Standards in service to the writing demands called for in each unit.Students will benefit from additional guidance during writing instruction, especially when spelling, word choice retrieval, fluently generating ideas, and executive functions are challenging. For example, working at the sentence level can help students develop the skills to compose complete compound and complex sentences, and use coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions in their writing. Sentence expansion activities can support students in writing with greater precision and accuracy. To produce lengthier pieces of writing, students may need support working through the planning and prewriting stages of the writing process and applying specific writing strategies. We must also be mindful of how executive function influences a writer’s capacity to work through the multiple steps and tasks of composing text, and the ability to sustain tasks and efforts to produce the many forms of writing. Navigating linguistically complex texts when conducting research projects and understanding and managing selective attention demands, including in working memory, may require additional scaffolds.Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The integration of social, emotional, and intellectual habits is an important component in a K-12 education and contributes to students’ academic and personal success, and success in college, careers, and civic life. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits set the stage for all future learning, promoting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Adult beliefs and mindsets, as well as school experiences, all influence the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competencies (The Education Trust). Since adults are responsible for establishing and sustaining student-centered, inclusive learning environments, they must first take stock of their strengths for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with adults and students, including individuals across different perspectives and backgrounds (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.). By understanding and applying social, emotional, and intellectual habits, students effectively negotiate daily tasks and challenges. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits assist students in setting and achieving positive goals, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions. In addition, they support students’ ability to maintain focus and manage their learning irrespective of obstacles. Students must have the capacity to integrate social, emotional, and intellectual skills, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the course of the day.Embedded within each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the interrelated social, emotional, and intellectual habits, as provided in the Components of Social, Emotional and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 document. These habits, over time, will contribute to students’ academic and personal success and are exemplified as areas of development (e.g., identify and understand emotions of self and others; develop logic and reasoning), further organized by learning continua (e.g., empathy; critical and analytical thinking), and clarified by categories of indicators of evidence or developmental milestones (e.g., acknowledge needs of others and act accordingly; agree or disagree with others and give reasons why). By understanding how respect, empathy, responsible behavior, and other social, emotional, and intellectual habits support rapport building, educators can foster trusting relationships with and among students so that each student feels connected and cared for as a member of the classroom community. This sets the stage for all future learning by minimizing the types of social interactions that can activate threats in the brain and impede students’ sense of agency. Students are then empowered to practice self-management and other skills and competencies within their social context (Hammond, 2015).Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (n.d.). How Does SEL Support Educational Equity And Excellence?: Imagine A School Community That Fully Supports Students’ Learning And Development So That All Children Can Thrive. Fundamentals of SEL Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.The Education Trust. (August 2020).  Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity Lens.

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideImplementing the K-3 ELA Model CurriculumK-3 Model Curricula WebinarEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.The Science of Reading and the Grades K-3 English Language Arts Model Curriculum  Curriculum is the central roadmap for communicating essential learning outcomes for mastery by the end of a grade or grade band. The K-8 English Language Arts Model Curriculum units serve to support districts in delineating how teachers will organize their instruction and teach to develop skills and content knowledge and assess students’ ability to transfer learning. Furthermore, the CSDE’s model curriculum for Grades K-3, inclusive, aligns with the findings of the body of knowledge called the science of reading and the complementary theoretical frameworks (i.e., The Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope). These frameworks explain the development of reading and the many subskills that contribute to skilled reading.  The Science of Reading Defined“The science of reading is a vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically-based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing. This research has been conducted over the last five decades across the world, and…has culminated in a preponderance of evidence to inform how proficient reading and writing develop…and how we can most effectively assess and teach and, therefore, improve student outcomes through prevention of and intervention for reading difficulties.” 1 The Grades K-3 English Language Arts Model Curriculum units present the foundational skills that students must develop to become, and improve, as readers. The units are organized and presented in a manner that supports the development of the interrelated skills that contribute to skilled reading. Through purposeful interactions, students must actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures in preparation for the advanced intellectual work required for both listening and reading comprehension. With a carefully arranged sequence of standards within and across the K-3 grade band, the model units present the complex multidimensional nature of the language system, incorporating language components (i.e., phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics) and literacy components (i.e., phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension) for reading acquisition.  The Science of Reading: How Children Learn to Read and How They Should Be TaughtThe role of instruction and practice, and the emphasis placed on them, emerged after research conducted over a couple of decades was synthesized to reveal that explicit and systematic instruction was key to students acquiring fundamental skills. Together with teachers’ knowledge of scientific research that has shown us how children learn to read and how they should be taught, districts and schools can facilitate students’ proficient acquisition of fundamental reading skills. Although knowing the science of reading is crucial, it is not enough. Educators must understand the various aspects of culture, including identifying a student’s first language if it is not English, understanding how a student’s first language is structurally different from English, determining why students miss school and if there are trauma impacts, as well as many other unnamed variables. Knowing these factors can help support students and their families in ways beyond reading instruction, and in doing so, learning to read may become easier.1   Science of Reading Defining Guide. (The Reading League, 2022), 6.1. Science of Reading Defining Guide (The Reading League,2022),6.  Course Description:  In the English Language Arts Model Curriculum, there is a balance of informational and literary reading and writing types across the grade levels. In addition to developing students’ abilities to read and comprehend a variety of texts, it is equally important to devote adequate time to engage students in producing clear and coherent writing. Included in each of the units are the Speaking and Listening Standards and the Language Standards, which are essential for supporting the development of reading and writing skills and abilities. Through purposeful interactions, students will actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures. In this course, students will engage in reading and analyzing literature, specifically studying author’s craft while continuing to refine their foundational reading skills in phonics and word recognition and reading fluency. This course also focuses on determining the author’s message in nonfiction texts. Grade 3 is when students begin to formally conduct short independent research projects. Aligned Core Programs: The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) in partnership with the State Education Resource Center has engaged with providers of high-quality instructional resources to develop alignment guidance for the CSDE English Language Arts (ELA) Model Curricula. The guidance documents provide information about how instructional content aligns with and supports the implementation of the CSDE ELA Model Curricula. The instructional materials referenced in the alignment guidance documents meet the expectations of Connecticut legislation and Connecticut's Approved K-3 Reading Curriculum Models or Programs. Strong alignment of instructional materials to the CSDE ELA Model Curricula units has the potential to support student engagement with meaningful grade-appropriate content.  ARC Core Grade 3Benchmark Advance Grade 3Foundations Grade 3Foundations Level 3 Scope and SequencemyView c2025 Grade 3OpenCourtReading Grade 3Sadlier Grade 3Savvas Learning Grade 3Wit & Wisdom Grade 3Wonders c2020 Grade 3Wonders c2023 Grade 3Additional Course Information:  Incorporated in each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the Writing Standards, with the expectation that adequate instructional time will be devoted to engaging students in producing and publishing various types of writing. Students need time to perform the intellectual work required for composing, which includes talking about their ideas, analyzing information, and organizing and presenting thoughts precisely and accurately. Developing the ability to analyze author’s craft requires multiple opportunities to engage with texts, so that students can apply literary devices and techniques in writing and make decisions around text structure and language use. When considering writing instruction, it is essential to give attention to the language skills (e.g., spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax) that directly contribute to writing production. Although writing needs dedicated instructional time, each unit supports an integrated approach to writing instruction by including complementary Speaking and Listening Standards, and Language Standards in service to the writing demands called for in each unit. Students will benefit from additional guidance during writing instruction, especially when spelling, word choice retrieval, fluently generating ideas, and executive functions are challenging. For example, working at the sentence level can help students develop the skills to compose complete compound and complex sentences, and use coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions in their writing. Sentence expansion activities can support students in writing with greater precision and accuracy. To produce lengthier pieces of writing, students may need support working through the planning and prewriting stages of the writing process and applying specific writing strategies. We must also be mindful of how executive function influences a writer’s capacity to work through the multiple steps and tasks of composing text, and the ability to sustain tasks and efforts to produce the many forms of writing. Navigating linguistically complex texts when conducting research projects and understanding and managing selective attention demands, including in working memory, may require additional scaffolds. Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The integration of social, emotional, and intellectual habits is an important component in a K-12 education and contributes to students’ academic and personal success, and success in college, careers, and civic life. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits set the stage for all future learning, promoting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Adult beliefs and mindsets, as well as school experiences, all influence the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competencies (The Education Trust). Since adults are responsible for establishing and sustaining student-centered, inclusive learning environments, they must first take stock of their strengths for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with adults and students, including individuals across different perspectives and backgrounds (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.). By understanding and applying social, emotional, and intellectual habits, students effectively negotiate daily tasks and challenges. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits assist students in setting and achieving positive goals, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions. In addition, they support students’ ability to maintain focus and manage their learning irrespective of obstacles. Students must have the capacity to integrate social, emotional, and intellectual skills, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the course of the day. Embedded within each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the interrelated social, emotional, and intellectual habits, as provided in the Components of Social, Emotional and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 document. These habits, over time, will contribute to students’ academic and personal success and are exemplified as areas of development (e.g., identify and understand emotions of self and others; develop logic and reasoning), further organized by learning continua (e.g., empathy; critical and analytical thinking), and clarified by categories of indicators of evidence or developmental milestones (e.g., acknowledge needs of others and act accordingly; agree or disagree with others and give reasons why). By understanding how respect, empathy, responsible behavior, and other social, emotional, and intellectual habits support rapport building, educators can foster trusting relationships with and among students so that each student feels connected and cared for as a member of the classroom community. This sets the stage for all future learning by minimizing the types of social interactions that can activate threats in the brain and impede students’ sense of agency. Students are then empowered to practice self-management and other skills and competencies within their social context (Hammond, 2015).Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (n.d.). How Does SEL Support Educational Equity And Excellence?: Imagine A School Community That Fully Supports Students’ Learning And Development So That All Children Can Thrive. Fundamentals of SEL Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.The Education Trust. (August 2020).  Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity Lens. 

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.Course Description:  In the English Language Arts Model Curriculum, there is a balance of informational and literary reading and writing types across the grade levels. In addition to developing students’ abilities to read and comprehend a variety of texts, it is equally important to devote adequate time to engage students in producing clear and coherent writing. Included in each of the units are the Speaking and Listening Standards and the Language Standards, which are essential for supporting the development of reading and writing skills and abilities. Through purposeful interactions, students will actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures. In this course, students will analyze text structures of informational/explanatory texts, including historical, scientific, and technical texts, and synthesize information from multiple sources to refine background knowledge and inform the production of research writing. This course also focuses on identifying themes and how authors communicate messages. There is an emphasis on figurative language through the study of literature, including mythology and fantasy. Students will identify and analyze author's craft and structure and use this as a springboard for their writing. The foundational reading skills for this grade will focus on reading unfamiliar multisyllabic words and reading grade-level text with sufficient accuracy and fluency.  Aligned Core Programs: The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) in partnership with the State Education Resource Center has engaged with providers of high-quality instructional resources to develop alignment guidance for the CSDE English Language Arts (ELA) Model Curricula. The guidance documents provide information about how instructional content aligns with and supports the implementation of the CSDE ELA Model Curricula. The instructional materials referenced in the alignment guidance documents meet the expectations as a core comprehensive resource as determined and reported by EdReports. Use of the instructional materials from these publishers is not required, as the selection of instructional materials is a local decision. If your resources are not listed below, you are encouraged to review EdReports to ensure the alignment of your instructional materials to the Connecticut Core Standards. Strong alignment of instructional materials to the CSDE ELA Model Curricula units has the potential to support student engagement with meaningful grade-appropriate content. ARC Core Grade 4Imagine Learning EL Education Grade 4myView c2025 Grade 4Savvas Learning Grade 4Wit & Wisdom Grade 4Wonders c2020 Grade 4Wonders c2023 Grade 4Additional Course Information:  Incorporated in each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the Writing Standards, with the expectation that adequate instructional time will be devoted to engaging students in producing and publishing various types of writing. Students need time to perform the intellectual work required for composing, which includes talking about their ideas, analyzing information, and organizing and presenting thoughts precisely and accurately. Developing the ability to analyze author’s craft requires multiple opportunities to engage with texts, so that students can apply literary devices and techniques in writing and make decisions around text structure and language use. When considering writing instruction, it is essential to give attention to the language skills (e.g., spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax) that directly contribute to writing production. Although writing needs dedicated instructional time, each unit supports an integrated approach to writing instruction by including complementary Speaking and Listening Standards, and Language Standards in service to the writing demands called for in each unit.Students will benefit from additional guidance during writing instruction, especially when spelling, word choice retrieval, fluently generating ideas, and executive functions are challenging. For example, working at the sentence level can help students develop the skills to compose complete compound and complex sentences, and use coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions in their writing. Sentence expansion activities can support students in writing with greater precision and accuracy. To produce lengthier pieces of writing, students may need support working through the planning and prewriting stages of the writing process and applying specific writing strategies. We must also be mindful of how executive function influences a writer’s capacity to work through the multiple steps and tasks of composing text, and the ability to sustain tasks and efforts to produce the many forms of writing. Navigating linguistically complex texts when conducting research projects and understanding and managing selective attention demands, including in working memory, may require additional scaffolds.Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The integration of social, emotional, and intellectual habits is an important component in a K-12 education and contributes to students’ academic and personal success, and success in college, careers, and civic life. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits set the stage for all future learning, promoting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Adult beliefs and mindsets, as well as school experiences, all influence the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competencies (The Education Trust). Since adults are responsible for establishing and sustaining student-centered, inclusive learning environments, they must first take stock of their strengths for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with adults and students, including individuals across different perspectives and backgrounds (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.). By understanding and applying social, emotional, and intellectual habits, students effectively negotiate daily tasks and challenges. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits assist students in setting and achieving positive goals, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions. In addition, they support students’ ability to maintain focus and manage their learning irrespective of obstacles. Students must have the capacity to integrate social, emotional, and intellectual skills, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the course of the day.Embedded within each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the interrelated social, emotional, and intellectual habits, as provided in the Components of Social, Emotional and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 document. These habits, over time, will contribute to students’ academic and personal success and are exemplified as areas of development (e.g., identify and understand emotions of self and others; develop logic and reasoning), further organized by learning continua (e.g., empathy; critical and analytical thinking), and clarified by categories of indicators of evidence or developmental milestones (e.g., acknowledge needs of others and act accordingly; agree or disagree with others and give reasons why). By understanding how respect, empathy, responsible behavior, and other social, emotional, and intellectual habits support rapport building, educators can foster trusting relationships with and among students so that each student feels connected and cared for as a member of the classroom community. This sets the stage for all future learning by minimizing the types of social interactions that can activate threats in the brain and impede students’ sense of agency. Students are then empowered to practice self-management and other skills and competencies within their social context (Hammond, 2015).Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (n.d.). How Does SEL Support Educational Equity And Excellence?: Imagine A School Community That Fully Supports Students’ Learning And Development So That All Children Can Thrive. Fundamentals of SEL Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.The Education Trust. (August 2020).  Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity Lens. 

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.Course Description:  In the English Language Arts Model Curriculum, there is a balance of informational and literary reading and writing types across the grade levels. In addition to developing students’ abilities to read and comprehend a variety of texts, it is equally important to devote adequate time to engage students in producing clear and coherent writing. Included in each of the units are the Speaking and Listening Standards and the Language Standards, which are essential for supporting the development of reading and writing skills and abilities. Through purposeful interactions, students will actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures. This course requires students to analyze language to make meaning of figurative language and determine points of view and themes in literature. Additionally, students will explain how the author's choice of figurative language enhances poetry, and then begin to incorporate these more complex aspects of author’s craft in their own writing. Grades 4 and 5 require students to synthesize information from multiple informational texts. Building upon the understanding of craft and structure, this course introduces the difference between first and secondhand sources and how the author's point of view affects how events are described and interpreted. The level of text complexity is increased in Grade 5, asking students to read critically, which will support the production of opinion writing. The foundational reading skills work for Grade 5 includes syllabication patterns, morphology, and reading with accuracy and fluency. Aligned Core Programs: The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) in partnership with the State Education Resource Center has engaged with providers of high-quality instructional resources to develop alignment guidance for the CSDE English Language Arts (ELA) Model Curricula. The guidance documents provide information about how instructional content aligns with and supports the implementation of the CSDE ELA Model Curricula. The instructional materials referenced in the alignment guidance documents meet the expectations as a core comprehensive resource as determined and reported by EdReports. Use of the instructional materials from these publishers is not required, as the selection of instructional materials is a local decision. If your resources are not listed below, you are encouraged to review EdReports to ensure the alignment of your instructional materials to the Connecticut Core Standards. Strong alignment of instructional materials to the CSDE ELA Model Curricula units has the potential to support student engagement with meaningful grade-appropriate content.   ARC Core Grade 5Imagine Learning EL Education Grade 5Savvas Learning Grade 5Wit & Wisdom Grade 5Wonders c2020 Grade 5Wonders c2023 Grade 5Additional Course Information:  Incorporated in each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the Writing Standards, with the expectation that adequate instructional time will be devoted to engaging students in producing and publishing various types of writing. Students need time to perform the intellectual work required for composing, which includes talking about their ideas, analyzing information, and organizing and presenting thoughts precisely and accurately. Developing the ability to analyze author’s craft requires multiple opportunities to engage with texts, so that students can apply literary devices and techniques in writing and make decisions around text structure and language use. When considering writing instruction, it is essential to give attention to the language skills (e.g., spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax) that directly contribute to writing production. Although writing needs dedicated instructional time, each unit supports an integrated approach to writing instruction by including complementary Speaking and Listening Standards, and Language Standards in service to the writing demands called for in each unit.Students will benefit from additional guidance during writing instruction, especially when spelling, word choice retrieval, fluently generating ideas, and executive functions are challenging. For example, working at the sentence level can help students develop the skills to compose complete compound and complex sentences, and use coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions in their writing. Sentence expansion activities can support students in writing with greater precision and accuracy. To produce lengthier pieces of writing, students may need support working through the planning and prewriting stages of the writing process and applying specific writing strategies. We must also be mindful of how executive function influences a writer’s capacity to work through the multiple steps and tasks of composing text, and the ability to sustain tasks and efforts to produce the many forms of writing. Navigating linguistically complex texts when conducting research projects and understanding and managing selective attention demands, including in working memory, may require additional scaffolds.Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The integration of social, emotional, and intellectual habits is an important component in a K-12 education and contributes to students’ academic and personal success, and success in college, careers, and civic life. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits set the stage for all future learning, promoting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Adult beliefs and mindsets, as well as school experiences, all influence the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competencies (The Education Trust). Since adults are responsible for establishing and sustaining student-centered, inclusive learning environments, they must first take stock of their strengths for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with adults and students, including individuals across different perspectives and backgrounds (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.). By understanding and applying social, emotional, and intellectual habits, students effectively negotiate daily tasks and challenges. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits assist students in setting and achieving positive goals, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions. In addition, they support students’ ability to maintain focus and manage their learning irrespective of obstacles. Students must have the capacity to integrate social, emotional, and intellectual skills, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the course of the day.Embedded within each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the interrelated social, emotional, and intellectual habits, as provided in the Components of Social, Emotional and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 document. These habits, over time, will contribute to students’ academic and personal success and are exemplified as areas of development (e.g., identify and understand emotions of self and others; develop logic and reasoning), further organized by learning continua (e.g., empathy; critical and analytical thinking), and clarified by categories of indicators of evidence or developmental milestones (e.g., acknowledge needs of others and act accordingly; agree or disagree with others and give reasons why). By understanding how respect, empathy, responsible behavior, and other social, emotional, and intellectual habits support rapport building, educators can foster trusting relationships with and among students so that each student feels connected and cared for as a member of the classroom community. This sets the stage for all future learning by minimizing the types of social interactions that can activate threats in the brain and impede students’ sense of agency. Students are then empowered to practice self-management and other skills and competencies within their social context (Hammond, 2015).Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (n.d.). How Does SEL Support Educational Equity And Excellence?: Imagine A School Community That Fully Supports Students’ Learning And Development So That All Children Can Thrive. Fundamentals of SEL Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.The Education Trust. (August 2020).  Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity Lens. 

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.Course Description:  In the English Language Arts Model Curriculum, there is a balance of informational and literary reading and writing types across the grade levels. In addition to developing students’ abilities to read and comprehend a variety of texts, it is equally important to devote adequate time to engage students in producing clear and coherent writing. Included in each of the units are the Speaking and Listening Standards and the Language Standards, which are essential for supporting the development of reading and writing skills and abilities. Through purposeful interactions, students will actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures. In this course, students further their understanding of author’s craft and text structure, focusing on how authors use language, structure, and tone strategically to create and convey meaning. Students compare and contrast narrative texts in different forms and genres, determining central ideas and details and using that information to write summaries of the texts. This course provides students with the opportunity to explore how authors craft arguments through the use of supporting evidence. Additionally, students will refine their ability to analyze the validity of the evidence provided in texts that present arguments. This analysis supports students as they create their own researched argument.  Aligned Core Programs: The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) in partnership with the State Education Resource Center has engaged with providers of high-quality instructional resources to develop alignment guidance for the CSDE English Language Arts (ELA) Model Curricula. The guidance documents provide information about how instructional content aligns with and supports the implementation of the CSDE ELA Model Curricula. The instructional materials referenced in the alignment guidance documents meet the expectations as a core comprehensive resource as determined and reported by EdReports. Use of the instructional materials from these publishers is not required, as the selection of instructional materials is a local decision. If your resources are not listed below, you are encouraged to review EdReports to ensure the alignment of your instructional materials to the Connecticut Core Standards. Strong alignment of instructional materials to the CSDE ELA Model Curricula units has the potential to support student engagement with meaningful grade-appropriate content.    ARC Core Grade 6Imagine Learning EL Education Grade 6myPerspectives Grade 6Savvas Learning Grade 6Wit & Wisdom Grade 6Wonders c2020 Grade 6 Additional Course Information:  Incorporated in each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the Writing Standards, with the expectation that adequate instructional time will be devoted to engaging students in producing and publishing various types of writing. Students need time to perform the intellectual work required for composing, which includes talking about their ideas, analyzing information, and organizing and presenting thoughts precisely and accurately. Developing the ability to analyze author’s craft requires multiple opportunities to engage with texts, so that students can apply literary devices and techniques in writing and make decisions around text structure and language use. When considering writing instruction, it is essential to give attention to the language skills (e.g., spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax) that directly contribute to writing production. Although writing needs dedicated instructional time, each unit supports an integrated approach to writing instruction by including complementary Speaking and Listening Standards, and Language Standards in service to the writing demands called for in each unit.Students will benefit from additional guidance during writing instruction, especially when spelling, word choice retrieval, fluently generating ideas, and executive functions are challenging. For example, working at the sentence level can help students develop the skills to compose complete compound and complex sentences, and use coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions in their writing. Sentence expansion activities can support students in writing with greater precision and accuracy. To produce lengthier pieces of writing, students may need support working through the planning and prewriting stages of the writing process and applying specific writing strategies. We must also be mindful of how executive function influences a writer’s capacity to work through the multiple steps and tasks of composing text, and the ability to sustain tasks and efforts to produce the many forms of writing. Navigating linguistically complex texts when conducting research projects and understanding and managing selective attention demands, including in working memory, may require additional scaffolds.Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The integration of social, emotional, and intellectual habits is an important component in a K-12 education and contributes to students’ academic and personal success, and success in college, careers, and civic life. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits set the stage for all future learning, promoting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Adult beliefs and mindsets, as well as school experiences, all influence the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competencies (The Education Trust). Since adults are responsible for establishing and sustaining student-centered, inclusive learning environments, they must first take stock of their strengths for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with adults and students, including individuals across different perspectives and backgrounds (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.). By understanding and applying social, emotional, and intellectual habits, students effectively negotiate daily tasks and challenges. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits assist students in setting and achieving positive goals, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions. In addition, they support students’ ability to maintain focus and manage their learning irrespective of obstacles. Students must have the capacity to integrate social, emotional, and intellectual skills, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the course of the day.Embedded within each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the interrelated social, emotional, and intellectual habits, as provided in the Components of Social, Emotional and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 document. These habits, over time, will contribute to students’ academic and personal success and are exemplified as areas of development (e.g., identify and understand emotions of self and others; develop logic and reasoning), further organized by learning continua (e.g., empathy; critical and analytical thinking), and clarified by categories of indicators of evidence or developmental milestones (e.g., acknowledge needs of others and act accordingly; agree or disagree with others and give reasons why). By understanding how respect, empathy, responsible behavior, and other social, emotional, and intellectual habits support rapport building, educators can foster trusting relationships with and among students so that each student feels connected and cared for as a member of the classroom community. This sets the stage for all future learning by minimizing the types of social interactions that can activate threats in the brain and impede students’ sense of agency. Students are then empowered to practice self-management and other skills and competencies within their social context (Hammond, 2015).Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (n.d.). How Does SEL Support Educational Equity And Excellence?: Imagine A School Community That Fully Supports Students’ Learning And Development So That All Children Can Thrive. Fundamentals of SEL Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.The Education Trust. (August 2020).  Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity Lens. 

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.Course Description:  In the English Language Arts Model Curriculum, there is a balance of informational and literary reading and writing types across the grade levels. In addition to developing students’ abilities to read and comprehend a variety of texts, it is equally important to devote adequate time to engage students in producing clear and coherent writing. Included in each of the units are the Speaking and Listening Standards and the Language Standards, which are essential for supporting the development of reading and writing skills and abilities. Through purposeful interactions, students will actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures. In this course, students will work in collaborative groups and engage in discussions to analyze the elements that help develop a good story. Students will explore techniques that authors use to engage a reader and use these techniques to write narratives. As students write their narratives, they will pay specific attention to precise language and word choices to develop characters, events, and actions. By studying text types and purposes, students can work to enhance their skills and abilities to develop complete, multi-paragraph, logically sequenced texts, using language appropriate for the topic and the audience. This unit blends traditional rhetorical analysis with the media literacy skills needed to be critical consumers of information in today’s media landscape. This course also focuses on teaching students to recognize and examine the text of an argument (e.g., in an essay) to understand how arguments follow a framework as a means of analytical thinking. Finally, students will study how authors of historical fiction use factual events and people, as well as fictional events and characters, to illustrate themes and concepts.  Aligned Core Programs: The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) in partnership with the State Education Resource Center has engaged with providers of high-quality instructional resources to develop alignment guidance for the CSDE English Language Arts (ELA) Model Curricula. The guidance documents provide information about how instructional content aligns with and supports the implementation of the CSDE ELA Model Curricula. The instructional materials referenced in the alignment guidance documents meet the expectations as a core comprehensive resource as determined and reported by EdReports. Use of the instructional materials from these publishers is not required, as the selection of instructional materials is a local decision. If your resources are not listed below, you are encouraged to review EdReports to ensure the alignment of your instructional materials to the Connecticut Core Standards. Strong alignment of instructional materials to the CSDE ELA Model Curricula units has the potential to support student engagement with meaningful grade-appropriate content.  ARC Core Grade 7Imagine Learning EL Education Grade 7myPerspectives Grade 7Wit & Wisdom Grade 7Additional Course Information:  Incorporated in each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the Writing Standards, with the expectation that adequate instructional time will be devoted to engaging students in producing and publishing various types of writing. Students need time to perform the intellectual work required for composing, which includes talking about their ideas, analyzing information, and organizing and presenting thoughts precisely and accurately. Developing the ability to analyze author’s craft requires multiple opportunities to engage with texts, so that students can apply literary devices and techniques in writing and make decisions around text structure and language use. When considering writing instruction, it is essential to give attention to the language skills (e.g., spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax) that directly contribute to writing production. Although writing needs dedicated instructional time, each unit supports an integrated approach to writing instruction by including complementary Speaking and Listening Standards, and Language Standards in service to the writing demands called for in each unit.Students will benefit from additional guidance during writing instruction, especially when spelling, word choice retrieval, fluently generating ideas, and executive functions are challenging. For example, working at the sentence level can help students develop the skills to compose complete compound and complex sentences, and use coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions in their writing. Sentence expansion activities can support students in writing with greater precision and accuracy. To produce lengthier pieces of writing, students may need support working through the planning and prewriting stages of the writing process and applying specific writing strategies. We must also be mindful of how executive function influences a writer’s capacity to work through the multiple steps and tasks of composing text, and the ability to sustain tasks and efforts to produce the many forms of writing. Navigating linguistically complex texts when conducting research projects and understanding and managing selective attention demands, including in working memory, may require additional scaffolds.Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The integration of social, emotional, and intellectual habits is an important component in a K-12 education and contributes to students’ academic and personal success, and success in college, careers, and civic life. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits set the stage for all future learning, promoting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Adult beliefs and mindsets, as well as school experiences, all influence the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competencies (The Education Trust). Since adults are responsible for establishing and sustaining student-centered, inclusive learning environments, they must first take stock of their strengths for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with adults and students, including individuals across different perspectives and backgrounds (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.). By understanding and applying social, emotional, and intellectual habits, students effectively negotiate daily tasks and challenges. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits assist students in setting and achieving positive goals, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions. In addition, they support students’ ability to maintain focus and manage their learning irrespective of obstacles. Students must have the capacity to integrate social, emotional, and intellectual skills, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the course of the day.Embedded within each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the interrelated social, emotional, and intellectual habits, as provided in the Components of Social, Emotional and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 document. These habits, over time, will contribute to students’ academic and personal success and are exemplified as areas of development (e.g., identify and understand emotions of self and others; develop logic and reasoning), further organized by learning continua (e.g., empathy; critical and analytical thinking), and clarified by categories of indicators of evidence or developmental milestones (e.g., acknowledge needs of others and act accordingly; agree or disagree with others and give reasons why). By understanding how respect, empathy, responsible behavior, and other social, emotional, and intellectual habits support rapport building, educators can foster trusting relationships with and among students so that each student feels connected and cared for as a member of the classroom community. This sets the stage for all future learning by minimizing the types of social interactions that can activate threats in the brain and impede students’ sense of agency. Students are then empowered to practice self-management and other skills and competencies within their social context (Hammond, 2015).Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (n.d.). How Does SEL Support Educational Equity And Excellence?: Imagine A School Community That Fully Supports Students’ Learning And Development So That All Children Can Thrive. Fundamentals of SELHammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.The Education Trust. (August 2020).  Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.Course Description:  In the English Language Arts Model Curriculum, there is a balance of informational and literary reading and writing types across the grade levels. In addition to developing students’ abilities to read and comprehend a variety of texts, it is equally important to devote adequate time to engage students in producing clear and coherent writing. Included in each of the units are the Speaking and Listening Standards and the Language Standards, which are essential for supporting the development of reading and writing skills and abilities. Through purposeful interactions, students will actively engage in rigorous conversations, refine speaking and listening skills, and build their knowledge of language structures. In this course, students will engage with narrative texts to analyze key ideas and details of narrative stories, specifically to determine what makes an interesting and engaging story. Students will study authors’ considerations regarding characters' points of view and perspectives, and how those elements function together with the audience to create effects such as suspense and humor. Students will analyze how information and ideas appear in various formats, including multi-media, and how to distinguish the underlying motives of those presentations (e.g., the central theme, and the purpose behind the words). This course also serves to advance students’ skills with argument writing and begins with evaluating an author’s argument, recognizing when the evidence presented in the text is irrelevant and unsound based on the claims made by the author. Students will learn to identify inaccuracies and recognize when an author’s perspective is influencing aspects of the argument. Near the end of the course, students will conduct short research projects based on a focused question and demonstrate understanding through the presentation of the inquiry topic. Students will be expected to gather data and other relevant information from credible sources both online and in print to answer a research question, add to the topic in engaging and relevant ways, use resources to inform direct quotes or to paraphrase, and use the appropriate citation and format style (e.g., Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association, Chicago Manual of Style) to avoid plagiarism.  Aligned Core Programs: The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) in partnership with the State Education Resource Center has engaged with providers of high-quality instructional resources to develop alignment guidance for the CSDE English Language Arts (ELA) Model Curricula. The guidance documents provide information about how instructional content aligns with and supports the implementation of the CSDE ELA Model Curricula. The instructional materials referenced in the alignment guidance documents meet the expectations as a core comprehensive resource as determined and reported by EdReports. Use of the instructional materials from these publishers is not required, as the selection of instructional materials is a local decision. If your resources are not listed below, you are encouraged to review EdReports to ensure the alignment of your instructional materials to the Connecticut Core Standards. Strong alignment of instructional materials to the CSDE ELA Model Curricula units has the potential to support student engagement with meaningful grade-appropriate content.    ARC Core Grade 8Imagine Learning EL Education Grade 8myPerspectives Grade 8Wit & Wisdom Grade 8Additional Course Information:  Incorporated in each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the Writing Standards, with the expectation that adequate instructional time will be devoted to engaging students in producing and publishing various types of writing. Students need time to perform the intellectual work required for composing, which includes talking about their ideas, analyzing information, and organizing and presenting thoughts precisely and accurately. Developing the ability to analyze author’s craft requires multiple opportunities to engage with texts, so that students can apply literary devices and techniques in writing and make decisions around text structure and language use. When considering writing instruction, it is essential to give attention to the language skills (e.g., spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax) that directly contribute to writing production. Although writing needs dedicated instructional time, each unit supports an integrated approach to writing instruction by including complementary Speaking and Listening Standards, and Language Standards in service to the writing demands called for in each unit.Students will benefit from additional guidance during writing instruction, especially when spelling, word choice retrieval, fluently generating ideas, and executive functions are challenging. For example, working at the sentence level can help students develop the skills to compose complete compound and complex sentences, and use coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions in their writing. Sentence expansion activities can support students in writing with greater precision and accuracy. To produce lengthier pieces of writing, students may need support working through the planning and prewriting stages of the writing process and applying specific writing strategies. We must also be mindful of how executive function influences a writer’s capacity to work through the multiple steps and tasks of composing text, and the ability to sustain tasks and efforts to produce the many forms of writing. Navigating linguistically complex texts when conducting research projects and understanding and managing selective attention demands, including in working memory, may require additional scaffolds.Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The integration of social, emotional, and intellectual habits is an important component in a K-12 education and contributes to students’ academic and personal success, and success in college, careers, and civic life. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits set the stage for all future learning, promoting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. Adult beliefs and mindsets, as well as school experiences, all influence the development of social, emotional, and intellectual competencies (The Education Trust). Since adults are responsible for establishing and sustaining student-centered, inclusive learning environments, they must first take stock of their strengths for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with adults and students, including individuals across different perspectives and backgrounds (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.). By understanding and applying social, emotional, and intellectual habits, students effectively negotiate daily tasks and challenges. Social, emotional, and intellectual habits assist students in setting and achieving positive goals, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions. In addition, they support students’ ability to maintain focus and manage their learning irrespective of obstacles. Students must have the capacity to integrate social, emotional, and intellectual skills, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the course of the day.Embedded within each of the English Language Arts Model Curriculum units are the interrelated social, emotional, and intellectual habits, as provided in the Components of Social, Emotional and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 document. These habits, over time, will contribute to students’ academic and personal success and are exemplified as areas of development (e.g., identify and understand emotions of self and others; develop logic and reasoning), further organized by learning continua (e.g., empathy; critical and analytical thinking), and clarified by categories of indicators of evidence or developmental milestones (e.g., acknowledge needs of others and act accordingly; agree or disagree with others and give reasons why). By understanding how respect, empathy, responsible behavior, and other social, emotional, and intellectual habits support rapport building, educators can foster trusting relationships with and among students so that each student feels connected and cared for as a member of the classroom community. This sets the stage for all future learning by minimizing the types of social interactions that can activate threats in the brain and impede students’ sense of agency. Students are then empowered to practice self-management and other skills and competencies within their social context (Hammond, 2015).Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (n.d.). How Does SEL Support Educational Equity And Excellence?: Imagine A School Community That Fully Supports Students’ Learning And Development So That All Children Can Thrive. Fundamentals of SELHammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.The Education Trust. (August 2020).  Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity