7.13 - Reading and Literacy

SERIES 7 - EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

“The development of literacy will be one of the primary aims and focuses of effort in the School. This will include a great deal of reading from a variety of both fiction and nonfiction primary literature. Particularly in the early grades, the School will emphasize reading and more reading.” –LCS Charter

Most American schools dedicate two or more hours each day to “literacy.” A majority of time is spent teaching children the fundamentals of reading strategies, such as making inferences, predicting, classifying, and “looking for the main idea.” The purpose of these exercises is to bolster test scores, independent of real knowledge. In contrast, Liberty strives to develop the appreciation of language, increase specific knowledge, and provide meaning to students through the achievement of Primary Literacy, Mature Literacy, and Moral Literacy.

1. Primary Literacy
   Primary Literacy begins with phonic recognition. Our Charter states. “In the early grades, students will receive explicit, systematic phonemic awareness and phonics instruction. Children will be provided deliberate, coherent, direct instruction in letter-sound correspondences. Practices which teach children to rely on word-memorization (the look-say method) and guessing (through illustration and/or context) will be avoided.”
   
   Once phonetic decoding skills are introduced, fluency must be developed. Fluency allows students to focus their mental energies on comprehension rather than decoding. Fluency means “flowing,” and in this context it also means “fast.” Fluency takes practice—a lot of it. Selected phonics programs, stories, and books which have been approved by the BOD are used for the development of decoding skills and fluency at Liberty.
   
   Teachers should use discretion and select stories and books which meet the principles of this policy and the Literature Acquisition policy to the greatest extent possible. Child-centered stories and books of a trivial nature (see Mature Literacy below) should be avoided. If a teacher is uncertain as to the appropriateness of a particular book or story, he/she should consult the Literacy Review Team. Books in the classroom which do not meet the principles of this policy should be removed from the classroom.
   
   Although phonetic practice is necessary for developing early literacy skills, practice alone does not develop language appreciation. Language is at the heart of reading.
   
   The love of the sound of language will carry with a child if it is properly developed. Children need to discover at an early age the peculiar satisfaction that comes from experiencing form in language, as in nursery rhymes and poetry. When this occurs, children will continue to prefer the sound of beautiful or interesting language as they later select books for meaning. Furthermore, we believe young children should be shown incrementally what is beyond the realm of their experience. Children who are exposed to complex speech patterns learn to express themselves earlier and more fluently than those spoken to in careful sentences.
   
   In the early grades, nursery rhymes, poetry, fairy tales, and captivating stories beyond the students’ own reading abilities will be read aloud to children. In addition to the development of language appreciation, this practice fosters the desire in children to master the difficult skill of reading in order that they might gain personal access to the exciting world of stories.
    
2. Mature Literacy
   
   “Mature literacy develops as students become acquainted with a broad and rich body of knowledge and become familiar with many well-written, diverse, and meaningful works of literature.” –LCS Charter
   
   According to E.D. Hirsch Jr., one of the reasons children lag behind in their reading abilities, and are thus prevented from achieving mature literacy, is a huge vocabulary deficit. Hirsch advises, and Liberty advocates, time devoted to activities that “foster vocabulary, domain knowledge, and fluency.” Domain knowledge is the threshold level of knowledge needed to understand a topic. If one knows nothing of the game of baseball, for example, one can’t comprehend the sentence: “Jones sacrificed and knocked in a run.” The more domain knowledge acquired, the easier it becomes to read and understand a wider variety of material. Hirsch suggests, "Such knowledge could be conveyed through read-alouds, well-conceived vocabulary instruction, and a variety of cumulative activities that immerse children in word and world knowledge."
   
   In today's schools, the teaching of the kind of specific knowledge needed to become a fully literate individual is woefully inadequate. The texts and literature used in most American elementary schools are, for the most part, of a trivial nature. There is no shortage of material on topics like pets and sharing, but little on history, geography, and science. At Liberty, vocabulary and domain knowledge are developed by teaching the rich body of content knowledge defined in the Core Knowledge Sequence. Vocabulary is further developed through Greek roots and Latin language instruction.
   
   Finally, in order to immerse students in word knowledge and expose them to many well-written, diverse, and meaningful works of literature, we have supplemented the Core Knowledge Sequence with (primarily) classic works of fiction—stories which have withstood the test of time. In accordance with Liberty’s Charter, “The literature suggested by the Core Knowledge Sequence, as well as other literature that will be introduced, is chosen not only for its place in the core body of knowledge, its multi-cultural representation, and its rich use of language, but also because it provides access to deeper meaning of universal human problems, particularly those which preoccupy children's minds.”
   
   The faculty and Academic Advisory Committee and Board have developed and approved the following additions to the Core Knowledge literature sequence:

• Recommended read-aloud lists for primary grades
   
• Required reading from the Great Books lists for grades 2-12
   
• Required summer reading books for grades K-12
  
  The books on these lists were selected with consideration to exposing children to literature that they might not otherwise encounter. The books are intended to nudge students toward higher levels, not just in matters of syntax and vocabulary, but also in sophistication of plot, character development, conflict and resolution, and the sustained reading of lengthy works rather than excerpts. Teachers should become familiar with the books on the lists for their grades so that they can assist students in selecting books according to student interest and ability.
   

3. Moral Literacy
   
   At Liberty, character education is achieved through a coherent program of expectations, modeling, and study of historical and literary figures. Stories, poems, essays, and other writings in our curriculum are intended to help children achieve moral literacy. That achievement involves recognizing the virtues (e.g. honesty, compassion, integrity, perseverance, courage, citizenship), understanding what they are in practice, and developing a desire to do what is right. How is this accomplished?
   
   First, literacy gives children specific moral reference points. Literature and history are rich in moral literacy. Children need specific illustration of what is good and bad so that what is morally right and wrong can be known and promoted. Through the power of imagination children become vicarious participants in a story; they share in a hero’s choices and challenges and identify with his suffering and triumph. Because a child’s allegiances are based not so much on right versus wrong, but on who arouses his sympathy and who his antipathy, it is important to choose stories in which virtue wins over vice, as in fairy tales and other classic works. Frequent and strong identification with virtuous and victorious heroes allow children to rehearse and strengthen their commitment to goodness.
   
   The right defence against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments. –C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
   
   Second, reading and literacy promote fascination. Nothing compares with a story that begins “Once upon a time…” The imaginative process gives us hope because we want to believe that in the stories of our lives we too can make the right choices. Stories help us to make sense out of our lives. A plot. A purpose. A sense that our struggles have meaning.
   
   Third, reading and literacy create a living link to our culture, its history and traditions.
   
   Fourth, by teaching domain knowledge, children will become a part of a common world, a community of moral persons. Reading affords us the opportunity to do what we can’t often do in life—to become thoroughly involved in the inner lives of others. As with visiting foreign cultures, the sustained involvement with a character in a story enlarges children’s sympathies and gives them those broad, wholesome and charitable views that are the reward of both travel and reading. This involvement is not simply the sharing of adventures, but also of ideas, emotions, loyalties, and principles.
   
   “…Shall we just carelessly allow children to hear any casual tales which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their minds ideas for the most part the very opposite of those which we should wish them to have when they are grown up? We cannot…Anything received into the mind at that age is likely to become indelible and unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts…” –PLATO’s Republic
   
   Application of Liberty’s Reading & Literacy Program

• Reading is an important component of daily homework. Each student should read or be read to every day.
   
• Teachers will set expectations for reading homework for K – 3^rd grades.
   
• Students in 4^th – 6^th grades are expected to read at least 20 minutes per night.
   
• For students in 7^th – 12^th grades, the principal and teachers will determine the number of books from the Great Books list to be read per semester. Teachers will provide parents with discussion questions to verify the reading has been completed. Although reading time may vary on a daily basis, students should expect to read at least 30 minutes per night or 150 minutes per week.
   
• Students in 9^th – 12^th grades should expect to read at least 100 minutes per week.
   
• If literature is not assigned from the Core Knowledge Sequence or the approved additions to the Sequence for homework on any given day, students shall read literature selected from the approved Great Books lists for their grade(s). This homework is limited to the approved Great Books lists in order to ensure that the principles of this policy are fulfilled. Students may read books from the Great Books lists for higher grades with teacher and parent approval.
   
• Students may re-read favorite selections from the approved Great Books lists in subsequent years.
   
• Students may submit suggestions for additions to the Great Books lists to their teachers or the Headmaster for consideration and possible approval.
   
• Students are encouraged to read additional books of their own choosing over and above the required reading. Parents are encouraged to steer their children toward selections which support this policy and the school’s Literature Acquisition policy.
   
• All students are required to participate in the school’s summer reading program. Teachers will set accountability measures to ensure students complete the summer reading.
  
  Supporting References
• Liberty Common School Charter Application, October 1, 1996
• LCS K – 3^rd Grade Recommended Great Books List
• LCS 4^th Grade Great Books List
• LCS 5^th – 6^th Grade Great Books List
• LCS 7^th – 8^th Grade Great Books List
• LCHS 9^th – 12^th Grade High School Recommended Great Books List
• LCS Summer Great Books List
• The Vocabulary Deficit by Andrew Wolfe, The New York Sun, May 2, 2003
• The Book of Virtues, William Bennett
• On Learning to Read by Bruno Bettelheim
• The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim
• Books that Build Character by William Kilpatrick
• Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right from Wrong by William Kilpatrick
• Why Johnny Can’t Read by Rudolf Flesch
• Beginning to Read by Marilyn Jager Adams
• Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt
• Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
• The Disappearance of Childhood by Neil Postman
• The New Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease
• The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn
• Core Knowledge Newsletter

Adopted: 2/17/2005
Amended: 12/3/2011
Amended: 4/21/2016
Amended: 9/21/2017
Amended: 1/18/2018
Amended: 5/27/2021