Langauge Arts Instruction in Ann Arbor Public Schools:

Our beliefs, resources, tools, and practices aim to center, affirm, support and challenge each of our students. AAPS strives to improve student literacy achievement through cultivating and sustaining:

• Guaranteed and viable curriculum (standards, resources, tools, practices) that includes:

  • Up-to-date, research-supported practices

    • Literacy Essentials

    • A Framework for Equitable Instruction

      • Culturally affirming instructional practices

      • Universally designed instruction

      • Instruction with linguistic and academic accommodations

      • Active and engaged instruction

  • Alignment to Standards 

    • Michigan K-12 Standards: English Language Arts

  • Quality and engaging resources and tools that support learning and instruction (see Figure 1.1)

AAPS uses a targeted and multi-tiered system for instruction, intervention, and assessment that is designed to meet the academic achievement needs of ALL students. 

Tier 1:

Tier 1 encompasses core instruction that is differentiated and provided to all students. Effective tier 1 instruction meets the needs of most students (approximately 80% of the student population). 

Ann Arbor Public Schools’ core (tier 1) literacy program provides reading and writing instruction and assessment through the combination of whole-group, small-group and individual instruction that is differentiated to meet the needs of individuals. Reading instruction at the tier 1 level addresses the following and beyond: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Our AAPS Tier 1 Literacy Curriculum includes:

• Word Recognition

  • Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum 

  • Fundations, UFLI Foundations, or Morpheme Magic

• Language Comprehension

  • AAPS Adapted MAISA Reading and Writing Units 

Additional AAPS Tier 1 Literacy Supports Include:

• Flexible small group and individual instruction for students

• Adaptive blended learning opportunities with Lexia Core5

• Literacy Coaching for teachers

 Figure 1.1

Frequently Asked Questions About Literacy Instruction in AAPS

Q: I have heard the term Science of Reading a lot recently.  What does this mean?

A: Reading science, also referred to as the science of reading, is a cumulative and evolving body of evidence proposing explanations about reading development, writing development, and related issues. The science of reading informs what to teach and how to teach reading.

Q: What is AAPS currently doing to align instruction and resources with scientific reading research?

A: Based on current and emerging scientific reading research, we have done extensive work to make important shifts already to align instruction and resources with scientific reading research.  These shifts include:

• A focus on the Literacy Essentials to guide the professional learning path and resource selection in our AAPS classrooms 

• The adoption of a systematic and explicit phonics instruction program for grades K-2: Fundations in our Title 1 elementary schools in 2018 and UFLI Foundations in our Non-Title elementary schools in 2023 

• The addition of Morpheme Magic, a curricular resource for grades 3-5 to build awareness of the morphological structure of words in 2023

• Small group instruction that is both flexible and strategy based, a significant shift away from reliance on student reading levels

• The removal of reading levels from report cards and family communication to demonstrate a focus on the individual strengths and needs of each reader 

• 90+ AAPS elementary educators are engaging in the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, LETRS training, which provides educators and administrators with deep knowledge to become literacy and language experts in the science of reading

• Monthly professional learning sessions focusing on deconstructing the former three-cueing system, use of decodable texts, and the essential need for orthographic mapping when teaching high frequency words.  

• The adoption of Heggerty, a phonemic awareness curriculum, in all of our elementary schools in 2022

• The restructuring of instructional time in our literacy block to increase time spent daily on foundational skills instruction

• The creation of an explicit, developmentally appropriate scope and sequence to use with the Words Their Way curriculum to ensure all students have daily access to grade-level content and meaningful and authentic ways to apply their learning.

Q: What next steps will AAPS take to further align instruction and resources to scientific reading research?

A: While we take pride in the strides we have made to align practice to research in the area of literacy we aren’t finished yet.  Our upcoming action steps include:

• The addition of powerful decodable texts 

• An ongoing review of our current literacy curriculum to ensure alignment to scientific reading research

• A review of literacy assessments to ensure we are screening and diagnosing needs in timely and accurate ways

Q: Are there any helpful resources I can read to learn more about the Science of Reading and effective literacy instruction?

A: Below you can find a small sampling of resources to help you learn more about literacy.

• General Content Work Information

  • Seek Common Ground Family Guides

    • English

    • Spanish

• Science of Reading/Reading Related Research

  • Learning to Read: A Primer

    • Part 1

    • Part 2

  • Reading 101: A Guide for Families

  • Early Reading Accelerators’ Quick Start Guide

  • Research Recap: “Why the Early Reading Accelerators”?

Everyday Mathematics provides the core learning resource for Mathematics in the Ann Arbor Public Schools elementary grades. Everyday Mathematics (EDM) supports teachers in providing students with the mathematical instruction and experiences they need to ensure that their learning focuses on the major work of each grade.  Units of study are based on grade level goals for mathematical content and mathematical practice supported by aligned instruction and assessment. 

Units of study in Science teach both content and essential science practices to build science literacy. The Science Practices include the following.

• Using tools of science, e.g., magnifiers, scales, thermometers
• Observing and describing
• Making scientific drawings
• Using field guides and other science reference materials
• Using models in science
• Building to scale
• Graphing and interpreting data obtained in investigations
• Describing procedures in writing 
• Designing a fair test
• Forming conclusions

The elementary Social Studies program is grounded in three educational tenets: (1) students learn in many ways, (2) learning occurs in tolerant, collaborative classroom environments, and (3) units of study and their lessons need to incorporate what students already know and can do to extend to more complex understandings. Mastery of state standards develops through dynamic interactive lessons that always involve connecting social studies concepts, past and present, to students' lives. 

The elementary Social Studies program is guided by (1) The Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations and (2) the C3 Framework for College, Career and Civic Life for Social Studies State Standards (C3 Framework). The Michigan GLCEs define what the state expects students to know and be able to do in Social Studies at the end of each grade level. The MC3 Units of Study, created by MAISA, serve as the core learning resource used throughout the Ann Arbor Public Schools elementary grades. Supplemental materials have been created for the third grade study of the state of Michigan. 

The area of focus for social studies of instruction at each of the elementary grades is listed below.

• Kindergarten Social Studies: Me and My World

• First Grade Social Studies: My School and Family

• Second Grade Social Studies: My Community

• Third Grade Social Studies: Exploring Michigan

• Fourth Grade Social Studies: Regions of the United States

• Fifth Grade Social Studies: America’s Past

In addition to the Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations and our MC3 units from MAISA, our instruction is informed by the C3 Framework.

The C3 Framework is a companion to the state Social Studies GLCEs and offers a vision for social studies for the 21st century classroom. The C3 Framework stresses disciplinary integrity - the idea that inquiry driven by the tools, concepts, and habits of mind in civics, economics, geography, and history play a critical shared role in developing young people’s understanding of the world around them. The C3 Framework emphasizes civic action as a fundamental outcome of meaningful social studies experience. The C3 Framework views taking informed action as an essential skill that should be practiced by all social studies students in a vibrant democracy.