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Language and Literature

Honors-Level Literacy For All

Our goal is to provide students with research-based, rigorous reading and writing instruction focused on enrichment and inquiry, regardless of the classroom they are assigned. In past practice, only a handful of teachers were responsible for literacy intervention and practices included some that were remedial and segregated, contributing to unsatisfactory outcomes for students. Although pull-out remediation may seem like an easier way to get the results we want, literacy outcomes are complex. A student’s literacy identity is connected to expectations that we have for them as a reader and writer, as well as their success in literacy and the ways they see themselves in the curriculum.

The 5 Pursuits of Culturally Relevant Literacy
Teachers approach the student experience and our classes through the 5 pursuits listed below. These pursuits are part of the St. Louis Park Public Schools strategic plan. Enrichment isn’t always about offering students with high skill levels more work, it’s also about helping students find joy, work on criticality, and deepen their discovery of all of the pursuits. While some students are strong in each pursuit, others accelerate in some pursuits more than others. Enrichment isn’t always about offering students with high skill levels, more skills, it’s also about helping students find joy, work on criticality, and deepen their discovery of all of the pursuits. Rigor comes from and through all of the 5 pursuits.

  • Identity - students discover who they are, who others say they are, and who they desire to be
  • Skill - students demonstrate proficiency in reading (decoding, vocabulary, phonics, etc.)
  • Intellectualism - citing textual evidence and writing and expression of ideas
  • Criticality - critical thinking, students understand power, humanity, inequities, oppression, anti-sexism and anti-racism
  • Joy - students express happiness and a love for learning

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