BISD ELA and Writing
From K through 12th Grade, students in BISD are provided with a wealth of writing opportunities from their classroom teachers. The school year begins with the writing modes of narration and description and progresses to expository and persuasive writing. All writing teachers have been trained in the Six Traits +1 writing program, and Mentor Sentences are used daily in the classrooms to provide interactive models of good writing for the students. Daily journaling in all writing classrooms encourages students to clearly express their opinions and allows them opportunities to craft a variety of genres including poetry, literary nonfiction, drama, and fiction. Research and MLA documentation skills taught throughout the school year are seen in action in synthesis essays. In PreAP and AP English classrooms, argument and analysis are taught throughout the year to prepare the students for the two AP English Exam opportunities during the junior and senior years of high school.
ELA/Reading Mission Statement
The ELA/Reading Vertical Team (all ELA and reading teachers in the district) will set and revise curriculum parameters and guidelines to facilitate the horizontal and vertical alignment of language arts skills, encourage excellence, and guide students to become lifelong readers, skilled writers, and analytical thinkers.
ELA/Reading Vision Statement
The ELA/Reading Vertical Team (all ELA and reading teachers in the district) will be educational innovators responsible for finding, designing, and sharing effective teaching strategies and common assessments, and we will continually communicate with our colleagues in order to implement research based best practices into our classroom.
ELA/Reading Values Statement
The ELA/Reading Vertical Team members (all ELA and reading teachers in the district) must be positive role models by always striving to improve as we generate honest and ongoing discussions and interactions on effective teaching strategies with our district colleagues to promote in our students a love of reading and writing.
2011-12 ELAR Vertical Team Members
ELA Tammy Jordan, Donna Oates, Darlene Gauthier, Kim Long, Pam McLelland, Kathy Christman, Ona Beth Day, Larissa Solis, Larry Pawlik, Cindy Waldrop, Kathryn Baulch, Kathryn Davis, Cheryl Majetich, Jean Toland
Reading Clarissa Cantu, Ann Margaret Eddy, Keri Meschko, Robin Spyers-Duran, Cyndy Veselka, Crystal Atteberry, Leticia Hernandez, Jennifer Rust, Cheryl Reinke, Betsy Ilgenfritz
