Language Arts

CKLA Preschool is a comprehensive English language arts curriculum designed to build foundational language and literacy skills and plant seeds of knowledge. The program provides engaging, developmentally appropriate plans for infusing 45 minutes of daily instruction into familiar preschool activities, such as morning circle, learning centers, small groups, whole group, book readings, and transition times. CKLA Preschool offers instructional plans for approximately 115 days of the school year.

• Read the General Overview of CKLA Preschool.
• Explore the Preschool Visual Component Guide.
• Watch a video introduction to CKLA Preschool.
• See an overview of major domains of study included in CKLA (Preschool–Grade 5).
• Learn about CKLA Preschool Implementation for additional guidance and information on professional development.
• Review CKLA Preschool FAQs.

For grades K–3, CKLA is organized in two strands: Skills and Listening & Learning.

Skills: The Skills strand teaches reading and writing in tandem. In grades K-2, children practice blending (reading) and segmenting (spelling) using the sound spellings they have learned. Decodable stories are introduced halfway into the kindergarten program. In K–2, stories are 100% decodable—made up entirely of words and sound spellings the students have been taught, or “tricky words” that also have been explicitly taught.

The Skills strand also addresses handwriting, spelling, and the writing process. In grade 3, the focus of the Skills strand shifts from decoding to grammar, spelling, and writing.

The CKLA Skills strand was designed to be fully in accord with the findings of the National Reading Panel and is aligned with the goals in the “Reading Foundational Skills” section of the Common Core State Standards.

• Read an overview of the CKLA Skills Strand.
• Download a detailed Scope and Sequence for the K-2 and grade 3 CKLA Skills Strand.

Listening & Learning: The Listening & Learning strand builds on research confirming that in the early grades students’ listening comprehension outpaces their reading comprehension. The engaging CKLA content goes well beyond standard early grade language arts fare to include important historical and scientific events, ideas, and people.

Listening & Learning lessons include teacher read-alouds, class discussions, vocabulary work, and extension activities. These read-alouds and exercises are organized in domains, each focused on a particular topic, such as insects, the five senses, or early Asian civilizations. The pacing is planned to keep the class focused on a domain for 10 to 15 days of instruction in order to build knowledge and reinforce vocabulary. In addition, the domains are carefully organized to build on each other within and across grades.

• Read an overview of the CKLA Listening & Learning Strand.
• Download a detailed Scope and Sequence for the K-2 and grade 3 CKLA Listening & Learning Strand.

As in preschool through grade 3, in grades 4 and 5 CKLA presents materials rich in history, science, and literature, designed to both deepen and broaden students’ knowledge and skills. Compared to earlier grades, these CKLA units guide students through more sophisticated writing tasks.

In grades 4 and 5, CKLA is organized in domains, focused units of study ranging from 10–20 or more days of instruction. Lessons for grades 4 and 5 are planned for 90 minutes of daily instruction.

Unlike the K–3 CKLA materials, grades 4 and 5 do not have two separate strands of instruction for Skills and Listening & Learning. With the strong foundation of reading skills and knowledge acquired in the K-3 CKLA program, students in grades 4 and 5 are increasingly able to tackle complex written text with rich academic content.

While lessons vary day to day, each unit includes the following:

• Read-alouds
• Whole-group, small-group, and partner reading
• Close reading
• Literal, inferential, and evaluative comprehension questions
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Writing
• Morphology
• Spelling
• Unit assessments