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  • The English Language Arts and Reading program for Boerne Independent School District supports the district’s mission through the development and delivery of TEKS-based instruction and assessment for grades 6-12 in the promotion of life-long literacy and college and career readiness. Our program focuses on student proficiency in critical thinking skills as applied to reading, written and oral communication, and media analysis.

    We believe the key to being a great reader is to read extensively and the key to being a great writer is through exposure to great writing. Reading is not solely reserved for the classroom; life-long learning stems from becoming a life-long reader. We encourage students to set aside time to enjoy uninterrupted reading, allowing them to absorb and contemplate ideas from their reading experience.

Curriculum

  • Boerne ISD Secondary English Language Arts and Reading has adopted StudySync® by McGraw-Hill as its official instructional resource.

    StudySync® is an integrated print and digital ELAR program for grades 6–12 suitable for multiple implementation models both online and off. An easy-to-use, multimedia-rich curriculum, StudySync brings great literature to life and supports student exploration in the classroom and beyond.

    The instructional resource provides a learning environment that purposefully evolves to meet the specific needs of 6th-12th-grade classrooms. The program focuses on building strong, skills-based foundations for students in grades 6–8 and provides flexible instructional choices for teachers and a guided path towards independent critical thinking and analysis skills for students in grades 9–12.

    Students access the resource through the McGraw-Hill button via the student portal, Clever.

    Secondary English Language Arts and Reading teachers also utilize classroom libraries to support literacy instruction. According to the National Council of Teachers of English (2017),

    Classroom libraries—physical or virtual—play a key role in providing access to books and promoting literacy; they have the potential to increase student motivation, engagement, and achievement and help students become critical thinkers, analytical readers, and informed citizens As English language arts educators, we know that no book is right for every student, and classroom libraries offer ongoing opportunities for teachers to work with students as individuals to find books that will ignite their love for learning, calm their fears, answer their questions, and improve their lives in any of the multiple ways that only literature can.

    For these reasons, we support student access to classroom libraries that 1) offer a wide range of materials to appeal to and support the needs of students with different interests and abilities; 2) provide access to multiple resources that reflect diverse perspectives and social identities; and 3) open up opportunities for students, teachers, and school librarians to collaborate on the selections available for student choice and reading.

     

    National Council of Teachers of English. (2017). Statement on Classroom Libraries. NCTE. https://ncte.org/statement/classroom-libraries/.