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Literacy

The Ambitious Instruction: Accelerating Learning plan brings the district back to the basics of quality learning and teaching. It unites all content areas around (1) formative practices, (2) explicit instruction, and (3) meaningful student engagement. Each grade level and content area will embrace specific instructional practices around these areas.

The following equity-oriented practices provide the framework for Ambitious Instruction: Accelerating Learning.

  • Using high-quality, standards-aligned, district-adopted instructional materials
  • Focusing on culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practices that promote learning
  • Leveraging technology to empower students to create, collaborate, communicate, and think critically

Act 20 (Early Literacy Remediation Plan)

As part of Wisconsin’s commitment to supporting strong reading skills under Act 20, all schools are required to provide science-based early literacy instruction. Please visit the Act 20 (Early Literacy Remediation Plan) page to learn more.

MPS Reads

In support of our Ambitious Instruction Plan for reading, each month we will feature below suggested titles for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students. The goal is to

  • assist teachers, librarians, parents, and others in finding interesting books that will encourage and excite students to read more literature and informational text;
  • suggest titles that allow students to see themselves, explore other cultures, and discover more about the world in which they live;
  • increase the volume of books that students are reading independently to ignite a passion for reading.
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June 2025 Selections

Learn about the selections for June 2025. Titles include Chicken Soup for the Soul Babies: Keep Trying (Don't Give Up!); Parachute Kids: A Graphic Novel; The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman; Powerless (The Powerless Trilogy); Redes; and All About Nothing.

Gigi Shin, holding an artist's paintbrush, with an easel and artworks behind her

May 2025 Selections

Learn about the selections for May 2025. Titles include Tiny Feet Between the Mountains, Home in a Lunchbox, Finally Heard, Tricky Chopsticks, The Many Masks of Andy Zhou, La trenza o el viaje de Lalita, and Gigi Shin Is Not a Nerd.

A fierce, tough-looking buffalo with horns and lots of fluffy fur frowning at us

April 2025 Selections

Learn about the selections for April 2025. Titles include A Whale of a Time: A Funny Poem for Each Day of the Year; My Block Looks Like; Cruzita and the Mariacheros; Call Us What We Carry; ¿Dónde estás, primavera?; and Buffalo Fluffalo.

A parent and child, both holding nautical spyglasses, grinning and gazing across the pretend ocean

March 2025 Selections

Learn about the selections for March 2025. Titles include Wind Watchers; Molly, by Golly! The Legend of Molly Williams, America's First Female Firefighter; Felice and the Wailing Woman/Felice y La Llorona; The Prince and the Coyote; Pitu le baila al mar; and Ahoy!

Three Black children in a museum, looking at large paintings of themselves as adults in the future

February 2025 Selections

Learn about the selections for February 2025. Titles include The Doll Test: Choosing Equality; When the Schools Shut Down; Kin: Rooted in Hope; La academia; She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman; and Dear You, Dream Big!

Brothers Max and Jay, wearing traditional Bribri head wraps, gazing fiercely in opposing directions

January 2025 Selections

Learn about the selections for January 2025. Titles include I Need a Hug/Necesito un abrazo; Something, Someday; The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum; Al otro lado; The Accidental Apprentice (Book 1 of 4 in Wilderlore); and Saints of the Household.

Christopher and Mal huddling together on a mountain top as a huge dragon flies over them

December 2024 Selections

Learn about the selections for December 2024. Titles include Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon; Maddi's Fridge; This Is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World; Mañanaland; Boy 2.0; Betting on You; Por ahí viene el huracán; and Impossible Creatures.

Billy Mills in a track suit with USA on the chest, running, with a large eagle flying behind him

November 2024 Selections

Learn about the selections for November 2024, Native American Heritage Month. Titles include Clack, Clack! Smack! A Cherokee Stickball Story; Fatty Legs; Indio no más/Indian No More; Borders; Creeboy; Opuestos; and Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills.

Taína holding a hibiscus flower, surrounded by vines in the moonlight

October 2024 Selections

Learn about the selections for October 2024, Hispanic Heritage Month. Titles include Meowl-o-ween; There's a Ghost in This House; The Snips: A Bad Buzz Day (Graphic Novel); Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World; Al principio, viajábamos solas; and The Moonlit Vine.

Carlitos, holding a small flag of Puerto Rico and running on a bayside street with his cat at sunset

September 2024 Selections

Learn about the selections for September 2024. Titles include Big Kids NO Everything; Bitsy Bat: School Star; Remember; Isla to Island; Summer of the Mariposas; Ain't Burned All the Bright; Ni gua ni miau; and Across the Bay.

A smiling girl wearing swim goggles in the gently swirling water of a pool

August 2024 Selections

Learn about the selections for August 2024. Titles include Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women; BASH! Vol. 1 (Graphic Novel); El parlamento de lechuzas; A Letter from Your Teacher on the First Day of School; Call Me Adnan; and When You Can Swim.

Bobby, smiling, with fire coming from his hands, his feet, and the top of his head

July 2024 Selections

Learn about the selections for July 2024. Titles include Mell Fell, Birdie's Beauty Parlor, Swim Team, Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer, Forgive Me Not, Bitter, La frisita que voló el Caribe, and Like Lava in My Veins.

Wisconsin Literacy StandardsMission

The mission of the Milwaukee Public Schools Department of Curriculum and Instruction is to develop students’ understanding and thinking through the integration of reading and writing, which will prepare all students to become critical consumers of information as well as to convey sophisticated and complex ideas. The district will achieve this by implementing the following practices:

  • Creating a culture for learning that engages all communities of culturally and linguistically diverse individuals
  • Using culturally and linguistically responsive dispositions that honor our students’ native languages to build bridges to standardized English
  • Building socially and emotionally safe environments that promote risk taking and a diversity of perspective
  • Designing and engaging students in rigorous and relevant lessons that are aligned to the curriculum
  • Implementing research-based instructional practices and instructional frameworks grounded in a high-quality, balanced assessment system that offers a tiered system of support for all students

Vision

The vision of the Milwaukee Public Schools literacy department is to educate all students to proficiency and beyond in order to prepare them for success in higher education, careers, and responsible citizenship. The ultimate goal of literacy education is to celebrate and utilize the language and literacy practices of our culturally and linguistically diverse learners as a tool to bridge, foster, and add academic literacy to students’ repertories.

 

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  What is the Ambitious Instruction Plan?

The Ambitious Instruction Plan outlines the goals, vision, essential skills, strategies, and professional development in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics. All classrooms will ensure that student learning experiences are aligned with high-quality instruction that prepares all learners for proficiency.  

  Should all teachers be implementing the Ambitious Instruction Plan?

It is recommended that all teachers follow the best-practice frameworks that are outlined in the plan. The plan fits nicely with many different approaches, is flexible to accommodate a variety of teaching and learning styles, and ensures a high standard of care for every learner.  

  What does the Ambitious Instruction Plan mean for my child?

The Ambitious Instruction Plan ensures that all students are receiving high-quality instruction to support their academic growth in literacy. The plan guarantees that teachers plan for multi-layers of support based on individual student need.

  Where can I find out more information about the Ambitious Instruction Plan?

There is detailed information by grade level on the MPS website, including a copy of the plan. Additional resources can be accessed on the MPS website, in district offices (contact information is listed on this page), or by contacting your child's teacher. The school principal or classroom teacher is able to provide further information and resources if requested. 

© Milwaukee Public Schools 2025
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