For Immediate Release
Contact: Chad Colby: Chad.Colby@greatminds.org
Monday, March 2, 2020—Grades K–2 of Wit & Wisdom®, the English language arts curriculum from Great Minds PBC, earned a top rating from independent reviewer EdReports. The high rating for Grades K–2 follows one for Grades 3–8, making all available grades of Wit & Wisdom top-rated.
"We create curriculum that celebrates knowledge, respects the craft of teaching, and acknowledges the true capabilities of students,” Great Minds founder and CEO Lynne Munson said. “Teachers tell us Wit & Wisdom elevates their practice. Students say they can’t get enough of our books and lessons on riveting topics. They love writing about their new expertise. This is exactly the joyful teaching and learning we set out to achieve.”
The approach has earned multiple top ratings from independent reviewers using their unique rubrics. Wit & Wisdom is the only ELA curriculum to have earned a “meets expectations” rating for Grades K–5 from the Massachusetts Department of Education CURATE (Curriculum Ratings by Teachers) project. It earned a Tier 1 rating from the Louisiana Department of Education, highly respected for its curricular leadership. A Grade 5 Wit & Wisdom module was rated an “exemplar” by Achieve’s EQuIP (Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products).
“These reviewers are educator-driven, and so are we,” noted Rachel Stack, chief academic officer, Humanities. “With Wit & Wisdom’s high ratings, our teacher-writers have further proof that their exemplary materials stand out to fellow educators in independent reviews. This reinforces that we are creating the best, most knowledge-rich possible curriculum for students and teachers.”
EdReports reviews English curriculum for text complexity and quality; building knowledge with texts, vocabulary and tasks; and instructional supports and usability. The rubrics measure
whether the materials meet expectations for alignment to standards and include the depth needed to support students in college- and career-readiness.
The review of Wit & Wisdom Grades K–2 states:
Engaging and high quality texts are appropriately rigorous and incorporate multimedia options alongside printed texts. The program includes opportunities to apply reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills across a variety of tasks designed to grow students’ literacy skills over the course of the year while providing options to differentiate for time where appropriate.
The materials … provide ample opportunities for students to build knowledge through content-rich, integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language experiences. Students are supported in growing knowledge and vocabulary as they practice and apply skills in new texts and tasks. The materials include comprehensive instruction in writing, building research skills, and supporting students' developing independent reading.
Wit & Wisdom is based on the research showing knowledge-building curriculum is essential to teaching literacy. Students develop positive habits of mind, such as empowered, independent thinking, as they read, write, and speak on full-length texts from the greatest authors of our time. Students connect to these texts through the story, human emotion, and consistent lesson routine. Wit & Wisdom fosters a questioning spirit through research and examination of each text and cultivates connected knowledge of a subject across texts and lessons.
In addition to top reviewer ratings, Wit & Wisdom earns accolades from teachers and students in the classroom. Student achievement gains reflect the positive, effective learning experience. More Information is available here.
All Great Minds curricula embed the knowledge-building approach and are highly rated by independent reviewers. Eureka Math® has earned high ratings from EdReports and “exemplar” ratings by Achieve.
Great Minds is the only curriculum creator to have earned three Tier 1 ratings, the highest possible, from the Louisiana Department of Education. In addition to Wit & Wisdom, curricula earning the Tier 1 ratings were Eureka Math and PhD Science™. PhD Science was the first science curriculum to earn a Tier 1 ranking from Louisiana.
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About Great Minds: Great Minds PBC is a public benefit corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Great Minds, a nonprofit corporation. Great Minds provides the highest quality curricula to schools and districts nationwide, inspiring joy in teaching and learning. A 2016 RAND Corporation report found Eureka Math and its original version, EngageNY Math, to be the most widely used elementary school math curricula in the nation. In addition to the curricula Wit & Wisdom, Eureka Math, and PhD Science, Great Minds offers Geodes, a library of beautifully illustrated, content-rich books with phonics practice for emerging readers, the result of a collaboration between Great Minds and Wilson Language Training. Learn more at greatminds.org.
