Vocabulary for Voracious Readers

All elementary teachers in the Wauwatosa Public Schools use the Treasures curriculum as a road map to teaching reading. This primarily includes comprehension and fluency strategies and skills, vocabulary and work work/phonics development. In addition to using Treasures resources and materials, teachers are also required to use Literature Circles as a means of introducing students to literature that enriches their understanding of the world through new ideas, concepts and experiences that they may or may not ever encounter in their own lives. In order to effectively implement Literature Circles with students, part of the selection criteria for the books must be the inclusion of powerful and vivid language.

A $1000 Education Foundation of Wauwatosa (EFW) grant was awarded to Carrie Streiff-Stuessy and Donna Koeble of Washington Elementary. The trade book collection has been enhanced in order to more effectively implement new vocabulary, additional genres and multi-cultural themes. Students will utilize the new books in small group Literature Circles and during independent reading time in the classroom. The texts selected for this grant will directly assist in addressing the Reading Common Core Standards for 4th grade in relation to Vocabulary Acquistion and Use.

For more information on the EFW and the other 15 grants, visit www.tosaefw.org.