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Reading
As students enter first grade, they are at various stages of literacy. Our goal for each child is to build a strong foundation for reading success and to develop a love of literature.
BCSD Reading Guiding Principles
BUILDING A COMMON LANGUAGE AROUND READING INSTRUCTION
The Bedford Central School District grounds its literacy instruction in the Science of Reading and current brain research on how students acquire reading skills. The following Guiding Principles, developed by our BCSD Reading Committee (May 2023), describe the key components and essential elements of effective reading instruction.
In order to advance active learning in the Bedford Central School District, reading instruction will…
Align with the New York State Learning Standards and the Science of Reading
Be research-based and address components of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency) and the key factors of biliteracy (linguistic comprehension, oracy, explicit phonics/decoding, transfer) at developmentally appropriate levels
Build comprehension through oral language, vocabulary, developing background knowledge, direct instruction in metacognitive strategies, and writing about reading
Include high-interest texts, at different levels of readability, to provide students with choices that support them to become self-motivated and engaged readers
Utilize reliable, research-based assessments to inform instructional practice
Provide responsive approaches, including interventions, based on assessments that align with standards, curriculum resources, and instruction
Include appropriate resources, materials, and practices to provide effective and responsive instruction for all learners
Be supported by equitable resources so that students have access to culturally and academically appropriate materials
Provide an explicit connection between reading and writing instruction.
Utilize instructional practices, including direct instruction with the gradual release of responsibility, designed to move students towards independent, strategic, and skillful reading and writing.
Children can be engaged in processing units of language through:
Oral language usage opportunities
Direct and Explicit Instruction
Read aloud
Shared reading
Independent reading
Small group phonological and phonemic awareness
Buddy reading
Building vocabulary
Fluency
Comprehension
Writing
It is our goal in First Grade to create an environment where students choose to write about the topics they know and value. Therefore, our initial focus in writing is on personal narrative. We begin by teaching the writing process which includes:
● prewriting
● drafting
● revising
● editing
These stages encompass the many steps of writing from choosing a topic to publishing a finished product.
3 Genres of Writing Taught:
Narrative
Persuasive (Opinion)
Informational/ Explanatory
Key Structures of a Science of Reading Based Classroom
Use decodable readers, not leveled readers. Decodable readers—simple books that focus on the letter-sound correspondences that students have learned—support students in developing their phonics knowledge. They support the systematic approach to instruction aligned with the Science of Reading. Once students are fluent readers with phonics based strategies for decoding longer words, they are ready to read age appropriate texts.
Provide students with phonics-based scaffolds. This is the part where learning to decode actually rewires students’ brains for reading. It requires that you provide scaffolds and ask students to practice sounding it out rather than responding to context clues.
Provide all students with dedicated, systematic phonics instruction. Effective phonics instruction—for every student—takes time and is deliberately sequenced and linked to their reading and writing practices.
To build comprehension skills, develop students’ knowledge. The Science of Reading shows that literacy skills grow best on a foundation of knowledge. In other words, the more you know, the easier and faster you can understand texts you encounter in the world.
Vocabulary Development: A strong focus on vocabulary including root words, prefixes and suffixes will help students learn to make meaning of new words they encounter in the texts they read.
Grammar instruction connected to writing: Students will learn the parts of a sentence in order to compose sentences that clearly communicate their thoughts through writing. Instruction will build from simple sentences in our youngest grades to developing more complex sentences with increasingly sophisticated use of punctuation and syntax.
Differentiated instruction allows all students multiple entry points into learning. A cohesive curriculum with explicit guidance is the most beneficial element of teaching reading effectively and allows all learners to thrive. It gives every student the support they need now both extending and scaffolding curriculum to meet all learners needs.
Modified from Amplify Five incremental shifts from balanced literacy to the Science of Reading
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