Featured Interview

The demand for innovative and engaging curricula is at an all-time high. Recognizing this urgent need, Lavinia Group has introduced its groundbreaking RedThread Knowledge Middle School ELA Curriculum. This program is designed to bridge the gaps left by traditional education and prepare students for the future by fostering essential skills. Under the visionary leadership of Jillian Roche, the Director of Curriculum at Lavinia Group, RedThread is redefining middle school education with its focus on critical thinking, creativity, and practical real-world applications. This curriculum doesn't just teach students; it empowers them to think deeply and innovatively, setting a new benchmark for educational excellence.

Roche's journey from new teacher to successful school leader informs her understanding of the challenges educators face. Her firsthand experiences have shaped the development of a curriculum that not only meets academic standards but also ignites a passion for learning. She knows what it's like to be in the trenches, and her dedication to creating a supportive and inspiring educational environment is evident in every aspect of the RedThread curriculum.

The RedThread Knowledge Middle School curriculum stands out by offering rigorous, knowledge-building, and easy-to-implement instructional materials. By incorporating structured literacy, culturally responsive instruction, project-based learning, and explicit writing instruction, it equips students to become independent learners and creative change-makers. This curriculum goes beyond the basics, providing students with the tools they need to think critically and act innovatively in an ever-changing world.

Join us as we delve into the motivations, design, and impact of the RedThread Knowledge Middle School ELA Curriculum through an insightful Q&A with Jillian Roche. Her vision and expertise shine through in every element of this program, promising a transformative educational experience for students and educators alike.

Q: What inspired the creation of the RedThread Knowledge middle school ELA Curriculum?

A: We realized there was a significant gap in the current curriculum landscape. Now, more than ever, we need to cultivate a generation of students capable of thinking critically about the texts they read. We need them to become creative change-makers and to be equipped to solve the problems they will face in the future. The traditional curriculum simply isn't sufficient to teach these essential skills. Additionally, educators are experiencing burnout, and many are leaving the field. We cannot expect them to meet all the current demands of schools while also creating or reinventing a curriculum to address these needs.

Q: How does the RedThread curriculum support both teachers and students?

A: If teachers have a curriculum that excites them, that they love, and that is easy to implement, they are more likely to remain in the profession. Similarly, if students are engaged and curious about the world, if they fall in love with learning and see themselves as writers and creators, they will become the independent learners and critical thinkers our world needs. We created the curriculum we wish we had as students, teachers, and school leaders because we recognized the need for it.

Q: Why are high-quality instructional materials crucial for middle school ELA education?

A: High-quality instructional materials are crucial for middle school ELA education because the pandemic significantly widened the gap in students' reading and writing skills. Even before the pandemic, many students struggled with these fundamental skills. These instructional materials are essential for improving student learning outcomes and enabling them to become proficient readers, writers, and critical thinkers. Research shows that students with access to high-quality, grade-level curricula consistently outperform those who do not. The more you know about the world, the better you'll be able to comprehend what you read.

Q: What should high-quality instructional materials look like?

A: A curriculum needs to be rigorous, addressing all the standards for a grade level and using challenging grade-level texts. Beyond that, it should foster a love of learning.

Middle school students require high-quality texts, including complete books and novels that reflect real-world reading experiences, as well as short, authentic texts like news articles, poems, and speeches that help them fall in love with reading and ignite their curiosity.

The curriculum should be knowledge-building, teaching students valuable information about the world while developing their reading and writing skills. It should offer a variety of perspectives, making learning relevant and applicable to the real world.

Finally, a high-quality curriculum must be easy to implement, ensuring teachers can use it effectively without extensive preparation.

Q: Why is it important for students to read full books as part of their English language arts program?

A: Other curricula teach grade-level standards and use grade-level texts, but these texts are often just short excerpts from longer works. This approach doesn't give students a chance to fall in love with literature. In our RedThread curriculum, students read full books. They get to experience the complete arc of a novel or unpack an author's full argument, and these books represent diverse perspectives. This allows our increasingly diverse student populations to see themselves in the texts they read.

Q: Why is project-based learning a key component of the RedThread curriculum? 

A: Other curricula may assess students on their ability to answer multiple-choice questions or write literary response paragraphs, but they often overlook the importance of skills like collaborating with peers on project plans or convincing an audience through persuasive media campaigns. RedThread aims to develop these real-world skills in students, such as public speaking and project planning.

Additionally, RedThread is designed for simplicity of use, ensuring teachers can implement it easily while keeping the content exciting and engaging for both teachers and students. We carefully considered both teachers' and students' enjoyment and love of learning while designing this curriculum.

We crafted projects that develop real-world skills, challenging students beyond typical worksheets and posters. Through these projects, students learn to collaborate with others, develop public speaking abilities, craft persuasive media, and hone their storytelling skills.

One of my favorite projects asks students, after reading a historical fiction novel and learning about a historical time period, to become content creators. They create a history podcast to inform their audience about a historical event. Students research the topic, create a script with their group, and explore how a historical podcast differs from a textbook article. They focus on creating an engaging conversational tone and making their product interesting to listeners. Ultimately, they record the podcast. By engaging in such projects, students make topics like the labor movement of the early 20th century relevant to their world today.

Q: What are some common pitfalls that exist in middle school literacy curricula?

A: One major mistake is focusing solely on foundational skills, which is crucial but often limited to early skills like phonemic awareness and decoding. As students reach middle school, the benefits of strong phonics instruction diminish if they’re not also building their knowledge and developing comprehension. It’s essential to focus on a knowledge-building curriculum and teaching vocabulary to help all students — regardless of their background — access a broad base of information about the world.

For middle schoolers, an ELA curriculum must be applicable and authentic. A hallmark of the middle school years is that students want a rationale. They want to know why they are learning something, when they will use it, and why it matters to them. There's a misconception that for something to be authentic and applicable, it has to exactly replicate a student's experience. Middle school students love to engage in debate, so we choose texts and craft essential questions around those texts that get them thinking and determining how they view the world for themselves.

In the RedThread curriculum, students might consider questions like, why do people achieve different levels of success? How much power should a government wield over its people? To what extent are others responsible when they witness prejudice, discrimination, or oppression? As they engage with these questions, they're thinking about how the learning itself is authentic and applicable to them, even if the text they're reading is about events that happened across the world or decades ago.

Q: How does RedThread address culturally responsive teaching?

A: Culturally responsive teaching is essential for all educators, regardless of location. It involves considering students' cultures when teaching, which can often be misinterpreted. For instance, creating a rap about content and calling it culturally responsive isn't sufficient. A curriculum alone won't ensure culturally responsive teaching, but RedThread is designed to help teachers implement it effectively. Some ways we do this, which are grounded in the work of Zaretta Hammond and other thought leaders in culturally responsive instruction include:

• Text Selection: We ensure students are exposed to a wide variety of experiences and perspectives, guaranteeing that almost any student engaging with the curriculum will see themselves represented somewhere within their learning.
• Student Discourse: Culturally responsive teaching requires teachers to decenter themselves and focus on student voices. By driving discussions and learning, students develop as independent learners, thinking critically about their peers' ideas rather than relying on the teacher for validation.
• Learning Partnerships: Significant progress occurs when students work independently or in small groups while teachers provide one-on-one coaching. The curriculum includes time for this personalized instruction and offers resources like coaching tips and conversation scripts to ensure valuable and effective learning experiences.

Q: What is the culminating experience for students who use RedThread in middle school?

A: By the time students complete the final unit in eighth grade, they engage in a unit focused on becoming change-makers. They study historical change-makers and define what it means to be a change-maker themselves. We don't want students who are going to sit back and be passive, leaving the problems for someone else to solve — and students don't want that either. In this final unit, they read powerful historical speeches and are then challenged to think about a change they can make in their own community. Students identify an issue, research it, and craft a persuasive speech to deliver to an audience, empowering them with the skills, knowledge, and ability to affect change. Ultimately, this empowerment is what we value more than any test score or numerical indicator of success.

Redefine Reading and Writing Instruction with RedThread 

Unlock your middle school students' full potential with a curriculum designed to inspire critical thinking, creativity, and a lifelong love of learning.