Elementary English Language Arts

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is committed to ensuring equitable outcomes for all students. In  service of this mission, SFUSD has formally adopted standards-aligned PK-5 Language Arts core curricular materials to support teachers in facilitating a strong foundation in literacy for all SFUSD students for years to come. 

Foundational Skills Block:

The foundational skills block in Kindergarten - Second grade classrooms includes daily instruction in the following:

• Explicit phonics instruction 
• Phonemic and phonological awareness routines 
• Reading and writing using phonics skills in decodable text and writing dictation 

Reading 

Students are engaged in rigorous, grade level complex text during whole class read aloud, shared reading and close reading that supports comprehension, vocabulary acquisition and critical thinking skills.

Students have access to informational books and literature that is culturally relevant and affirming. Opportunities for students to read and apply strategies occurs in the classroom daily.

Writing

Student learn and engage in the writing process. They write in a variety of forms and genres throughout the year which include the following:

Narrative Writing

Informative/ Explanatory 

Opinion/ Argument Writing

Research Writing 

Assessments

Students are assessed three times a year in foundational skills, reading accuracy, reading fluency and comprehension. Assessment data is used to inform and differentiate instruction to meet the needs of different learners.

Universal screeners are also used to determine intervention and identify students with possible phonological processing challenges.  

For more information on assessments go to https://www.sfusd.edu/rpa-dept/assessing-student-learning

SFUSD is committed to providing high quality instruction to all students. When students exhibit challenges with meeting grade level benchmarks, the Academic Response to Intervention (RTI) framework helps identify areas of need and the specific supports which will help students advance their learning.

These Family Guides provide parents and caregivers with the tools and information they need to support their student academically in literacy. The guides include:

• What your student should know and be able to do
• Everyday activities to support learning
• Tips for talking with teachers
• Tools and resources to help