The EMC Program: Key Components for Long-Term ELLs

* The EMC Write-In Reader. This is the key component to help students build reading comprehension, vocabulary, oral and silent reading fluency, and test-taking skills. The EMC Write-In Reader allows students to mark up the text and respond to it as they work through one of eight reading strategies for each selection. Each grade level of The EMC Write-In Reader uses 25–35 selections from the basal anthology as part of a full, interactive reading program.

* Word Study Resource. This vocabulary resource provides rich word study work with 30 weekly vocabulary lessons that are both fun and rigorous, with interesting, hands-on vocabulary activities that culminate in assessments based on the SAT. The introductory material provides an abundance of meaningful, hands-on activities that help students learn how to take word study beyond memorizing vocabulary lists to tackle unfamiliar words in any context.

* Language Essential: Grammar and Writing. The EMC grammar and composition textbook is linked to the basal literature program but also can be used as a stand-alone for deeper understanding in grammar and composition. Use it for the writing units at the back of the book. English Language Learners should find the following especially helpful to improve their writing: Unit 19, Writer’s Workshop: Building Effective Sentences; and Unit 20, Writer’s Workshop: Building Effective Paragraphs. Note, too, that lessons in Units 2–18 target students’ grammar and style weaknesses.

* New York ELA/Regents Practice. In addition to test practice opportunities integrated throughout EMC’s core components, test practice is also included in the New York ELA/Regents Practice books. The practice books include Test-Taking Skills Worksheets, Sample ELA and Regents Tests, and the ELA/Regents Practice Answer Key. Note that middle school books list grade levels on each test. If you are a teacher of older students using a middle school book, you can place a sticky note over the grade level before you copy the test so students will not see the grade level indicator.

Teacher Support Materials

* The EMC Write-In Reader Teacher’s Resource corresponds to The EMC Write-In Reader. It includes Lesson Plans, correlation to NCTE and IRA standards, pretests and post-tests, professional development information on a strategies-based reading approach, and point-by-point instruction and modeled think-alouds to help teachers conduct the lessons in The EMC Write-In Reader. A gray-shaded box with each lesson plan lists information about reading strategies, reading skills and test practice, the reading level, difficulty and ease factors, and a synopsis.

* Lesson Plans with Alternative Teaching Options and Readability Guides. This resource drives the EMC program, showing all activities that are part of the textbook anthology program in a comprehensive way. The EMC program is based first on a readability guide that rates each selection as easy, moderate, or challenging according to various difficulty considerations and ease factors; the Lesson Plan for each selection has been developed based on these difficulty considerations, with Reading Strategies Resource and Write-In Reader lessons developed specific to the selection challenges. Note: Use these Lesson Plans for selections in the hardbound Literature and the Language Arts textbook. Lesson Plans for Write-In Reader selections are located in The Write-In Reader Teacher’s Resourcein.

* Reading Strategies Resource. In this component, the EMC program works one of eight major reading strategies before, during, and after reading for each selection. This is delivered as a Reading Strategies Mini-Lesson and Test Practice page (provided as blackline masters) and point-by-point Teaching Notes and Modeled Think-Alouds for the teacher.