To master the standards our district has implemented a Balanced Literacy model for literacy instruction. In this model, the skills and strategies of reading, writing, language and speaking/listening are taught and practiced across the strands, not in isolation. Our students must be proficient in all strands to be successful in each. We have tied the learning standards to over-arching literacy and conceptual understandings. These overarching understandings allow students to make connections to their learning across all curricular areas.