At HKIS, we believe literacy — reading, writing, speaking, and listening, is a keystone to all learning. We value questions as much as answers, the process as much as the product, and connections as much as content. Rich literacy skills enrich all facets of life, helping our students grow into curious, reflective people who can understand and contribute to the world around them.
In the Upper Primary, students build on the strong foundations they have developed, introducing greater complexity, deeper thinking, and more independence.
We teach and assess according to our HKIS English Language Arts Reporting Taxonomy, informed by Marzano's ELA Critical Concepts and the Common Core Standards (U.S.A.). This Reporting Taxonomy outlines the most important learning we expect students to demonstrate over time and ensures consistency across grades and divisions. Marzano's Critical Concepts prioritize the most essential areas of student learning, bundling similar concepts together for focus and depth. Below are the Reporting Categories and Measurement Topics included in the Upper Primary curriculum.
| Reporting Category | Measurement Topics |
|---|---|
| Comprehension and Analysis | Analyzing Text Organization and Structure |
| Analyzing Ideas and Themes | |
| Analyzing Language | |
| Decoding | |
| Composition and Communication | Generating Text Organization and Structure |
| Generating Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning | |
| Generating Narratives | |
| Revision and Style |
HKIS Upper Primary Literacy Instruction
Workshop: During workshop time, students learn literacy skills, then practice independently with texts or writing while the teacher conferences with individuals and small groups.
Read Aloud: The teacher reads aloud a carefully chosen book, modeling how readers think, while students practice noticing vocabulary, character, and key details and discuss the text as a class.
Shared Reading and Close Reading: In shared reading, students read a grade level text together to practice reading smoothly and accurately and to develop comprehension. In close reading, students revisit a short text multiple times with different lenses to deepen their understanding of meaning, language, and craft.
Interactive Writing: The teacher and students plan and write together, practicing the writing process as a shared, supported experience.
Strategy Groups: The teacher works with small groups of students on the same targeted reading or writing skill, providing focused instruction in decoding, comprehension, spelling, or grammar.
Word Study: Students study word parts and origins to understand spelling patterns and word meanings, applying this knowledge when editing their own writing.
Grade Overviews
Grade 3
In Grade 3, students build a strong foundation as independent readers and writers. They learn to understand texts more deeply and communicate their ideas clearly in writing.
Reading
Students learn to:
Identify the main idea and key details in both fiction and nonfiction texts
Explain lessons and messages in stories, including folktales and fairy tales
Retell stories and describe how characters’ actions affect events
Begin comparing ideas across texts
Use strategies to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words
By engaging with different types of texts, such as short fiction stories, informational texts, poetry, and short novels, students practice thinking about what they read and talking about their ideas with others.
Writing
Students learn to:
Organize their writing with a clear beginning, middle, and end
Write different types of texts, including narratives, opinion pieces, informational articles, poetry, and fairy tales
Share opinions and support them with reasons and details
Use descriptive language and dialogue in stories
Students learn to independently navigate the writing process, including planning, drafting, revising, and editing, to strengthen their communication.
Grade 4
In Grade 4, students continue to deepen their understanding of texts and begin thinking more critically about what they read and write.
Reading
Students learn to:
Identify themes and summarize texts with supporting details
Compare different perspectives, including firsthand and secondhand accounts
Analyze how texts are structured (headings, use of text features, organization)
Describe characters, settings, and events using evidence from the text
Expand their understanding of academic vocabulary and figurative language
By engaging with different types of texts, such as realistic fiction, informational texts, historical accounts, and dramatic texts, students develop their ability to examine multiple perspectives and think more critically about what they read.
Writing
Students learn to:
Organize writing into clear paragraphs and sections
Write in a range of genres, including realistic fiction, informational texts, opinion writing, and drama
Use clear reasons and evidence to support their thinking
Strengthen writing through revision, including improving clarity and sentence structure
Students focus more intentionally on crafting their writing for an audience and improving the precision of their language.
Grade 5
In Grade 5, students refine and extend their literacy skills, engaging in more complex texts and expressing their ideas with greater clarity and sophistication.
Reading
Students learn to:
Summarize and synthesize information across texts and formats
Identify and analyze themes, claims, and supporting evidence
Compare multiple texts and perspectives on the same topic
Understand how authors use structure and language (e.g., symbolism, imagery, figurative language)
Interpret more complex ideas in fiction, nonfiction, and media
Students learn to make their thinking more visible as they engage with a range of text types, including realistic fiction, informational texts, fantasy, and opinion pieces.
Writing
Students learn to:
Develop well-structured texts with clear introductions, logically organized ideas, and strong conclusions
Support claims with reasons and evidence from multiple sources
Write across genres, including feature articles, fantasy, opinion pieces, and realistic fiction
Revise and edit writing to improve clarity, precision, and style
Students take increasing ownership of the writing process, refining and publishing pieces with a clear sense of purpose and audience.