The first year of implementing the Wit & Wisdom curriculum across Grades K-3 has been highly successful. Wit & Wisdom is the component of our literacy program that focuses on reading comprehension, fluency, vocabulary development, writing, and speaking and listening. Our K-3 Literacy Plan has provided the vision and structure guiding this work.

To support effective implementation, a comprehensive professional development schedule was established to provide teachers with ongoing training as well as collaborative planning time. Teachers at each grade level also participated in grant funded monthly after school planning sessions. In addition, the K-3 literacy team, with representation from each grade level, met regularly throughout the year to address implementation questions, support instructional practices, and review the vertical alignment of skills and expectations across grades.

Targeted professional development has also been provided to strengthen key instructional practices, including Socratic Seminar facilitation, writing instruction, assessment practices, and alignment with Geodes decodable texts. Teachers have begun reviewing student work from assessments together in order to better understand how literacy skills progress across grade levels.

At the Coventry Grammar School (CGS), all grade levels are currently teaching Module 2, demonstrating consistent pacing and alignment with district expectations. Thirty-minute instructional walkthroughs have been completed in all eighteen classrooms, with administrators providing feedback, identifying instructional trends, and supporting continuous improvement in implementation. Teachers have established strong classroom supports, including focus walls, word walls, and anchor texts aligned with the modules. In addition, report card reading standards have been aligned with the standards addressed in each Wit & Wisdom module.

At the G.H. Robertson School (GHR), Grade 3 has implemented three modules of the Wit & Wisdom program. Teachers have participated in professional development sessions throughout the year and have collaborated with the district’s K-12 Literacy Specialist to study lessons, integrate instructional strategies such as Socratic Seminars, and develop a pacing guide to ensure consistency. Students completed Module 1 on ocean exploration and its influence on people’s lives, are currently studying space exploration in Module 2, and will engage in Module 3 this spring, which explores the experiences of immigrants.

Across all classrooms implementing the program, the principal and the Director of Teaching and Learning will complete three 30-minute walkthroughs by the end of the year to observe instruction, identify successes and challenges, and inform future professional learning. These walkthroughs have been conducted twice in each of the six Grade 3 classrooms, with a third planned for the spring.

Family engagement has been an important component of the implementation process. During fall Open House events at both CGS and GHR, families were introduced to the Wit & Wisdom curriculum and provided with strategies to support student learning at home. At CGS, families also participated in an art scavenger hunt through the school hallways to explore the artwork connected to the modules. Prior to each module, families receive a Family Tip Sheet outlining upcoming learning topics, anchor texts, supplemental readings, and discussion questions for use at home, along with suggestions for additional books families may wish to read together. CGS also shares weekly updates about classroom learning in its newsletter, and Grades 1-3 send home fluency practice passages to support reading fluency development with families.

As a result of these coordinated efforts, students are actively building knowledge and vocabulary across a wide range of content areas, including the five senses, farms, the power of books and libraries, animal features, the four seasons, the American West, ocean exploration, and space exploration. This first year of implementation has laid a strong foundation for continued growth in literacy instruction and student learning in the years ahead.

Many thanks to the Board of Education for adjusting this year’s calendar to allow for three additional half professional development days, which proved to be invaluable.