Deep understanding of each module and the Wit & Wisdom approach will empower you to fully leverage the curriculum to foster students’ knowledge and skill building.
As you begin to teach with Wit & Wisdom, you will want to do the following:
Many of our new teachers have reported that Wit & Wisdom required shifts to
Knowledge-building as a central focus,
Complex texts (in place of leveled texts) for all students,
Rereading to deepen comprehension,
Student-centered discussion and inquiry, and
Integrated skill instruction.
As a Wit & Wisdom teacher, you will facilitate students’ learning through their collaboration with classmates and independent work. Students learn and retain more when they productively struggle with the curriculum, doing the heavy lifting themselves. Your role is to facilitate. As they read (and reread) complex texts, you pose important questions for them to ponder, write about, and discuss. After you provide direct instruction, students practice the skill and receive feedback from you and their peers.
You must internalize the curriculum to teach it effectively. The Implementation Guide and Moving Forward with Wit & Wisdom deepen your understanding of the curriculum. Our preparation protocols at the module, Focusing Question Arc, and lesson level deepen this internalization, building understanding of the what and why of each module. Completing the protocols helps you understand how students develop knowledge and skills over the course of the module, arcs of lessons, and individual lessons; this understanding of how learning unfolds and what comes next help you guide student learning effectively and maintain appropriate pacing. After year 1, preparation time lightens. In subsequent years you can refer to year 1 completed protocols, updating and supplementing them as needed.
Consult the Wit & Wisdom Implementation Guide, pages 43–44 for guidance on setting up your classroom and preparing materials. Use the following checklist to plan and document progress:
Review the module and consider your students’ needs. Depending on your context for learning (in-person, online, or hybrid) determine which charts to post where and when for continued student reference.
See the Materials list in each lesson and communicate in advance to families/caregivers during distance learning.
As you know, students learn best when they feel safe enough to take academic risks. Think through how to establish your English Language Arts classroom community so that students know the routines and expectations and feel safe to engage in thinking, reading, discussing, and writing about module texts and topics. Consider teaching Module 0, a brief opening module that introduces the curriculum, establishes instructional routines, and fosters students’ connections to each other and their learning.
Engaging families and caregivers will also help build a strong learning community—particularly if your school will be engaged in distance or hybrid learning in the 2020–2021 school year. Share Family Tip Sheets to extend learning at home, available in English and Spanish.