Our Balanced Literacy Curriculum incoporates a number of components including read alouds, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, writing, and spelling. Students at all grade levels are exposed to a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction literature. The primary resources for instruction in kindergarten, first, and second grades are leveled texts and "big books". In grades 3-5, the Scott Foresman Reading 2004 program is utilized. Peterson Handwriting is the adopted method of teaching letter formation in kindergarten and first grade and cursive in grade 2.
Our literacy curriculum addresses all of the National Reading Panel's essential elements of a quality literacy program (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension) and is aligned to the PA State Standards for Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking.
Our goal is to develop independent readers and writers who effectively use strategies, make meaning from text, and ultimately develop a love of literacy. Qualifying students who experience difficulty in acquiring literacy skills have access to a variety of interventions including Title I Reading Support, Reading Recovery, Scott Foresman Early Reading Interventions and the Wilson program.
Families are encouraged to support their students' literacy development by reading to their children and listening to them read for at least twenty minutes per day.
