edTPA - Elementary Literacy - Foundations of Literacy Digital Reference Tool - LibGuides at North Carolina Central University

About the edTPA Elementary Literacy Option

From Terryl Yates's Elementary Literacy: Read Before You Start!

Writing an Elementary Literacy edTPA Portfolio

Making Good Choices (2025)
edTPA produced this document.
"This support guide will help you make good choices as you develop artifacts and commentaries for your edTPA assessment. This document is not a substitute for reading the handbook. Instead, it should be used as a reference where you can find supplementary advice for completing specific components of edTPA as needed ...each section of this document addresses key decision points that you will encounter as you complete your edTPA. Use the live links from the questions in the Key Decisions chart to locate the corresponding answers. Bold text provides specific directions to help guide your decision-making."

This digital activity allows you to go through the first steps of edTPA Task 1: Planning - if you've chosen Elementary Literacy.

Each step along the journey, you get to choose your path. It helps you remain focused on a single goal - which is really important for edTPA. You never want to go astray!

Here's a link to a Google Doc where you can record your choices. You'll need to copy and paste this into a new document to use it.

Elementary Literacy - Thinking Organizers

Elementary Literacy Thinking Organizers
Use these organizers (developed by Illinois State University) to plan each part of your Elementary Literacy edTPA. The organizers work the same way that question stems and response stems would work in your K-5 classroom.

Task 1 - Planning Commentary Components (Literacy Focus)

NCDPI - Literacy Instruction Standards
"The purpose of this document is to outline research-informed practices for each LIS for grades K-2. In addition to guiding English Language Arts instruction, many of these practices can be integrated into content area instruction to assist students in acquiring the literacy skills and disciplinary knowledge they need as they move through the elementary grades. While the LIS should not take the place of robust content area instruction in K-2, they include instructional practices that may support K-2 teachers to address the specific literacy demands of the different disciplines."
NC Standard Course of Study for ELA
These standards are from 2018-2019. In addition to standards for each grade level K-5, the document also provides a grammar continuum for skills like subject/verb agreement, conjunctions, prepositions, and commonly confused words. There is also a continuum of conventions such as capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
Common Core Standards - ELA
"The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects are designed to help students succeed in college, career, and life by the time they graduate from high school."

These rubrics are from the edTPA URLP document (Understanding Rubric Level Progression).

COMPREHENSION

COMPOSITION

COMPREHENSION

Using a Sentence Frame to Write Your Central Focus
How to Write Your Central Focus for Elementary Literacy

You should use Appendix A in the back of your Understanding Rubric Level Progressions (URLP). Look in the very back of that document and you will find Appendix A.

Step One: Decide whether you are doing Comprehension or Composition. The first 4 pages of Appendix A lists Essential Literacy Strategies (ELS) and Related Skills (RS) for Comprehension. The ELS and RS for Composition begin on the 4th page of Appendix A.

Step Two: Looking at the left hand column, choose one Essential Literacy Strategy.

Step Three: Looking at the right hand column, choose no more than two Related Skills.