
New MS Recommended Reading List
Explore the exciting new texts recommended by the members of the 2021 Culturally Responsive Literature and Nonfiction Review and Recommendation Committee!

Actively Learn
Are you interested in using Actively Learn with your students this year? Check out the "Getting Started Guide" below.
Actively Learn
All middle grades E/LA teachers and students will have “Prime” access to Actively Learn for the 2021-2022 school year! C&I will also be funding a number of “Unlimited” Text Rental subscriptions for teachers and students. Teachers and/or site leaders may express interest in receiving “Unlimited” text access by completing this request form.
Click here for a list of available titles from our SFUSD Recommended Reading Lists - including the new additions - as well as titles from our Culturally Responsive Classroom Libraries. Or, explore their full catalog.
We will be scheduling several trainings in the fall to learn more about the platform and its many features. In the meantime, you can get a head start with these resources:
- Actively Learn 1 page flyer
- Getting Started Guide and Overview Video
- List of Available Titles: SFUSD and Full Actively Learn Catalog (may not be fully updated)
- January 20 Training Recording and Slides
- April 7 “Teaching Novels in Actively Learn” Recording and Slides
Independent Reading
In SFUSD, we value the love of reading and expect that students will be reading widely both fiction and nonfiction titles of their choosing. SFUSD Libraries has compiled a list of Recommended Titles for Middle Schoolers.
We highly encourage students to use Hoopla or to visit the public library to select these texts and others from their expansive collections.
SFUSD's Comprehensive Approach to Literacy in Secondary English/Language Arts for Middle School
A comprehensive literacy model provides numerous and varied literacy opportunities for all students. SFUSD's approach encourages teachers to be strategic about when to work as a whole class, with a small group, or one-on-one; identify the instructional needs of each student based on the task at hand; and offer specific learning experiences based on these needs.
To ensure that we are meeting the needs of all students, we must incorporate many approaches to teaching literacy within E/LA classrooms in middle school. The research based components outlined in the SFUSD Comprehensive Approach to Literacy (CAL) model provide a rigorous reading and writing focus in the secondary classroom. These components are in alignment with the CA Common Core Standards for Literacy and encourage teachers to increase the opportunities for students to access reading, writing, speaking and listening within the English/language arts class. The components provide a framework for the reading and writing process to advance the development of proficient readers and writers throughout our district as they prepare for college and career. Read more in the Introduction to the Comprehensive Approach to Literacy Components
CAL Resources:
- SFUSD's Comprehensive Approach to Literacy: Workshop Lesson Plan Terms & Synonyms
- Opportunities for Integrated ELD within SFUSD's Comprehensive Approach to Literacy
- Secondary English/Language Arts Workshop Lesson Plan Template
- Secondary English/Language Arts Minilesson Plan Template
The workshop approach to the teaching of reading and writing is a student centered approach, one where the students are active participants in their learning.
Educators implementing the workshop approach hold the belief that students learn to read and write by actively and purposefully engaging in those behaviors.
(Atwell, 1998; Rief, 1992)
Questions? Contact us!
Amy Bloodgood
Secondary E/LA Teacher on Special Assignment, 6-12
Erin O'Brien
Secondary E/LA Teacher on Special Assignment, Accelerated Literacy Network Coach, 6-8

Check out the eStandards
Designed by the Sacramento County Office of Education, eStandards correlate the ELD Standards to the ELA & Literacy Standards. eStandards apps are available for iPhone and Android.
This page was last updated on August 11, 2022