William & Mary Language Arts Third Edition

The William & Mary Language Arts, 3rd Edition has added new features to enrich the units including technology integration, more differentiated products, additional alternate novels and activities, and a culturally-responsive teaching guide. The updated literature means the curriculum is more relevant to today’s students, focusing on diversity and representation of authors, characters, settings, and topics. The result is a program that maintains the reputation of William & Mary’s research-based curriculum framework and the integrity of their core teaching philosophy.

Activities throughout the William & Mary units are organized around broad, interdisciplinary concepts and content-based thinking models. As an example, the concept of change was chosen as a unifying theme for many of the units based on its ease of application to various areas of language arts and other areas of study. Students use the following set of core generalizations about change derived from extensive reading on the concept in philosophy, sociology, and science, as a starting point:

• Change is everywhere.
• Change happens over time.
• Change may be positive or negative.
• Some changes are caused by people, and other changes happen naturally.
• Some changes can be predicted, while others are unpredictable.

Assessment

Assessments are ongoing throughout the units and are comprised of multiple formative and summative options including pre and post assessments for literature, writing, and grammar. As well as rubrics for teacher/student conferences, self/peer/teacher evaluations, journals, and discussions.