Sunny Hills Elementary – Literacy Lab - ENG160

Apr 2026 · 2nd Semester

Literacy Lab is a semester-long English course designed to strengthen essential reading, writing, and language skills for high-school students who need additional development to meet grade-level expectations. Students will engage in explicit instruction in reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, paragraph and essay structure, and the writing process. The course emphasizes real-world literacy tasks, academic habits, and strategic support for complex texts used in high school content classes. Through ongoing feedback, guided practice, and targeted skill-building, students will develop stronger confidence and proficiency as readers and writers. Skills Taught in Foundational Literacy: - Grammar & Sentence Structure (Parts of speech, Sentence types (simple, compound, complex), Avoiding fragments and run-ons, Combining sentences for clarity and variety, Punctuation and capitalization). - Paragraph Writing & Organization (Topic sentences, Supporting details, Cohesion and transitions, Paragraph structure and unity). - Academic Vocabulary & Command Terms (High-utility academic words for reading and writing, Understanding and responding to prompt verbs (ex. analyze, summarize, explain)). - Reading Skills / Approaching a Book (Previewing texts, Making predictions, Annotating and note-taking, Summarizing chapters or sections, Reflecting on comprehension). - Basic Digital Literacy (Applied to Writing Tasks) (Typing and word processing basics, Formatting paragraphs and essays, organizing online folders, Using digital tools for communication \[i.e. email, submitting forms, etc\]).