The English Language Arts program for grades 9-12 was unanimously approved by the District 88 School Board during its meeting last week after Learning Services Director Paul Henn gave an overview of the changes.

Typically, the school had done K-12 ELA program adoption but recently broke it down by grade. New kindergarten through fourth grade ELA programming was adopted a few years ago because of an accelerated need.

This year the focus was on ninth-12th grades. Next year it will be the fifth through eighth grades.

Henn said the cornerstones of the state’s ELA program have not changed as to what the school is doing but how the school does it.

“There is a lot of realignment work,” he said.

In the past, the state aligned itself with the Common Core system. Those standards are still part of ELA, but they have been condensed. The ELA program will still have three basic strands — reading, writing and listening, speaking, viewing and exchanging ideas.

The state also included five foundational concepts: reciprocity between strands, bundling, student self-selection, perspective and purpose of writing.

Henn explained reciprocity between strands is how the three strands of reading, writing and listening work together.

Bundling was related to how these items were packaged together.

Student self selection was added to emphasize student choice.

Henn said, “They really wanted kids to have a chance to take a look at literature and experience literature that connected with them.”

Perspective was a new addition from the state. The idea is to consider an author’s time and place and how they influenced the writing.

Henn said each student reading these works has a unique perspective that influences how they see the world.

Purpose for priting related to the different types of writing instructed in classes.

The overview included a list of recommended ELA classes for ninth-12th grades. Henn said these classes are nearly identical to the previous program. He said the biggest change was in the alignment of standards and new benchmarks.

Henn reminded the board that updating programs is an ongoing process.

In the ninth grade, students have a general ninth-grade English class covering reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.

A similar general English class is available in 10th Grade.

Ninth- and 10th-grade students have the option of an honors elective if they qualified.

The 11th- and 12th-grade students have several options each semester.

In 11th grade, students are required to take a Writing and World Literature class, choosing from two options.

In 12th grade, students can select two classes from three categories: Writing, Modern Literature and Performance.