Dear PS 107 Families,
The first full week of school is in the books, classroom routines are being practiced and solidified, and students are beginning to dive into the curriculum. I’m so excited about our new literacy curriculum, Wit and Wisdom, which, along with our existing foundational skills curriculum, Recipe for Reading, brings our school fully in alignment with what’s commonly known as the Science of Reading, a vast body of interdisciplinary research relating to how children learn to read (and write!).
HOW WE TEACH READING + WRITING AT PS 107
Indeed, reading and writing instruction are going to look quite different this year in kindergarten through 4th grade (5th grade is working through how the new curriculum fits into their departmentalized structure), and there is going to be a learning curve for all of us, but we are so excited to be on the forefront of District 15 schools, implementing a structured literacy approach to reading and writing.
Last school year, we were fortunate to be named one of the New York City Public Schools’ structured literacy pilot schools. For years, most NYC schools, including PS 107, have been teaching reading using a “balanced literacy” approach. This approach is what most teachers have been trained to use for the last three decades, including myself. However, in recent years, research has clearly demonstrated that balanced literacy is not working for a large group of children, and many students struggle with reading and writing throughout their school careers. When our school was offered the opportunity to transition from balanced to structured literacy, we jumped at the chance.
Since last school year, thanks to a grant we received from our State Assemblymember Robert Carroll, our staff has been immersed in what research says about how children learn to read, how to make sure every student learns to read, and what to do when a child encounters difficulty in learning to read. The research is telling us that while reading is more challenging for some students than others, with evidence-based reading instruction, nearly every child can become proficient by the end of 3rd grade. Decades of research have determined that reading occurs in a specific way in the brain in all people. It does not occur naturally the way that speech does. The process must be taught. It is a process of building neural pathways in the brain that link sounds of speech to written symbols or letters. The strings of letters are attached to meaning, and then those ‘letter strings with meaning’ are stored in the brain’s “letterbox” for later retrieval that is instantaneous and effortless. This process is called orthographic mapping and it is our goal to help our students build a giant ‘letterbox’ of instantly retrievable words. That translates into fluent reading and subsequent comprehension. Guessing at words based on context does not aid in orthographic mapping, phonics-based decoding does.
If your family has been a part of PS 107 for some time, you’ll notice big changes in how we teach reading this school year; if you’re new to PS 107, jump on board, it’s going to be a fantastic journey! It’s an exciting time to be in education as all elementary schools in the New York City public schools align instruction with what the research is telling us.
These are some key parts of our literacy instruction this school year:
Explicit and Systematic Phonics Instruction: We will have an order or continuum of phonics skills, progressing from simple to complex, that will be followed throughout the early grades. Students will progress through the continuum as they master skills. The curriculum that we use is Recipe for Reading, an Orton-Gillingham-based phonics curriculum. In the intermediate grades (3-5), word study will continue with more grammar and morphology (learning about word parts such as Greek and Latin roots).
Phonemic Awareness: This is the ability to get to the individual sounds in words by listening and to identify and manipulate those sounds orally. While this skill will be emphasized in grades K-1, we will make sure all students at PS 107 have this necessary foundation. Students in the intermediate grades may need to practice these skills until they have firmed up this foundation of reading. Don’t be surprised if you have a 2nd-5th grader who will be working on phonemic awareness. This is a skill that the research has indicated is enormously important. The curriculum that we use is Heggerty Phonemic Awareness.
Decodable Readers: Our early readers will be working with decodable readers. These are books or passages that only include words that the students can ‘decode’ (sound-out) according to the skills they have been taught thus far. Our kids need practice with the phonics skills they are learning and these books and passages provide that practice. So be aware that at times, your primary students may be bringing home a sheet of paper with a passage for practice rather than a book.
This also means that your child will no longer be assigned a reading level that corresponds to a letter of the alphabet. This practice, based on the A-Z leveling system, has no research backing its use. Instead, students will work with a variety of texts. Some texts may address specific phonics needs, some may be grade-level text to build knowledge that is related to their grade level, some may be interest-based, some will be at a determined level for fluency practice, but they will not be confined to a certain ‘level.’
Sometimes children will bring home a book for homework that seems too easy – or too hard. This is OK! If the text is too hard for them to read independently, you can read it with them or, if there are a lot of pictures, they can look through the book and learn through images. If the text appears too easy, that is also fine! They are being challenged daily with grade-level text in their classrooms.
Assessments: As noted above, your child will no longer be assigned an A-Z reading level, such as A, or M, or R as in the past, which were based on a flawed reading assessment called the Fountas + Pinnell Benchmark Assessments. Instead, students will be given universal screening assessments three times a year. Students in K-2 will be assessed with Acadience Reading screening assessments. Students in grades 3-5 will be assessed with MAP Growth screening assessments, which are computer-based. These nationally-normed short assessments give us a good indication of whether your child is on, above, below, or well-below grade level. If children are below or well-below grade level on these assessments, we will give more detailed diagnostic assessments to find out which areas in the continuum of phonics skills they need support with. As students become proficient word readers, comprehension is a natural outcome. Comprehension will also be checked with three-times-a-year assessments. If your child shows a weakness in any area, they will be closely monitored and given interventions to help them become stronger in their area of weakness.
Small Group Instruction: There will be time set aside in every classroom for small-group instruction. Students will be grouped according to various reasons: needs in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, writing projects or knowledge building/interest.
Early Intervention: If we see any signs that your child may be struggling with the foundational skills of reading, we will not take a ‘wait and see’ approach; we will immediately implement interventions and monitor their progress. The best solution to the problem of reading failure is early identification and intervention.
Knowledge Building and Vocabulary: Research has indicated that reading comprehension is closely connected to the background knowledge we have on a topic we’re reading about and by understanding the vocabulary contained in the text. Therefore, this year, PS 107 is adopting a knowledge-building literacy curriculum called Wit and Wisdom in Kindergarten through grade 4. (Grade 5 will be piloting certain modules this year as we determine how the curriculum works with our departmentalized structure.) Our students will have the opportunity to build a broad knowledge base on history/social studies, science, and the arts. Kids will have access to complex text, often read aloud by their teacher, and in the process, they will learn more complex vocabulary. The research tells us that building knowledge and vocabulary contributes significantly to reading comprehension and should be taught beginning in the earliest grades.
Comprehension: The ultimate goal of all reading instruction is for students to understand what they read. The model of The Simple View of Reading demonstrates that reading comprehension occurs only when students have both decoding/word recognition skills and language comprehension skills. Children need the essential skills to get the words off the page as well as knowledge, vocabulary, and a good understanding of how our language works in order to comprehend what they read. We must provide instruction that will help students achieve these goals.
Independent Reading: We believe in the importance of developing a love of reading! Part of this is achieved through learning to read, which is our primary objective. We will also be providing students with opportunities to read books of their choosing independently throughout each week. They will also read independently for homework and when they have free time in the classroom.
Writing: The research shows that writing is best taught when connected to content that children are reading. Therefore, students will be writing about the topics they are learning about in each Wit and Wisdom module. Students will have the opportunity to write in multiple genres across the school year. Writing helps students develop a deeper understanding of the texts they are reading.
Handwriting: Handwriting instruction is extremely important, though it has been deemphasized in the last few decades. We will be bringing handwriting instruction back, and all students, in Kindergarten through grade 5, will have regular handwriting instruction. This is something that you will want to monitor closely at home as well, as students with handwriting difficulties go on to have difficulties with writing in general. By the end of 2nd grade, we want letter formation to be automatic and fluent for all students. This year, we are using Recipe for Reading’s handwriting instruction in Kindergarten and 1st grade; Handwriting without Tears in 2nd-4th grades; and Zaner-Bloser Handwriting in 5th grade.
We now know a great deal about how the brain develops as we learn to read and what instructional practices are most effective for all children. We are committed to being guided by scientific research to ensure that we deliver on the promise of literacy for every PS 107 student. On Curriculum Night (which is tomorrow, Thursday, September 21st), your child’s teachers will tell you more details about what reading and writing will look like in their classroom this year. Remember that this is new to all of us, and I thank you for your support this year as we are all learning brand-new curriculum and pedagogical methods.
CURRICULUM NIGHT
Please join your child’s teacher(s) for Curriculum Night tomorrow, Thursday, September 21st, 4:30-7:30 pm. All presentations will be virtual, so you can tune in from home, work, or on your commute! The schedule is below, and with the exception of specialty teachers, all classroom teachers will be providing you with the link to join their presentation directly. Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have not yet received a Zoom link.
4:30-5:30 pm, Specialty Teacher Roundtable: Hear what’s in store for your child this year in Art, Library, Music, Physical Education, and Science! Join the Specialty Teacher Roundtable with this link: https://zoom.us/j/97771665561?pwd=MG9jQjYrKzdibURabDE3clJkaUxSdz09
5:30-6:30 pm, Presentations from teachers in PreK, 3rd-5th grades (links will be sent by classroom teachers)
6:30-7:30 pm, Presentations from Kindergarten-2nd grades (links will be sent by classroom teachers)
Ms Rinah and I will be stopping by presentations, and we look forward to seeing many of you there! Note that presentations will not be recorded, though teachers will share their presentation slides afterwards.
WELCOME TO OUR RECESS COACH!
We are thrilled to be able to bring a recess coach from Asphalt Green’s Recess Enhancement Program (REP) to PS 107 this year. Our coach, Ms Destiny, will be with us Mondays-Thursdays, every week, at all recess periods. Ms Destiny will be organizing cooperative games that students are invited to play (note that participation is completely voluntary, and children can still engage in free play if they wish). More broadly, Ms Destiny will be helping our students to understand the importance of:
making the rules of a game clear to all participants,
giving everyone a chance to play, no matter what their skill level, and
cooperating and collaborating with our peers to make recess fun for everyone.
Ms Destiny will even be with us during indoor recess on inclement weather days, which will allow our students to engage in physical activity, even when it’s not so nice outside. Check out this video from Monday’s indoor recess, which was an absolute blast! We are so grateful to the PTA for funding a recess coach at PS 107 this year.
HISPANIC/LATINX HERITAGE MONTH
Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month began on Friday, September 15th and runs through October 15th. Our parent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team hung posters of Hispanic/Latinx icons around the school on Friday. Our staff DEI Team is also working on a presentation that teachers will do with their classes this month on the contributions of the Latinx community to American culture, and our parent DEI team has some special activities planned as well. If you’d like to do more at home with your children, check out these ideas from PBS Kids.
OUR COMMITMENT TO ANTI-RACISM
It is critically important to us at PS 107 to honor and bring wider awareness to the many backgrounds, cultures, and identities that make the United States — and our school — such unique places. We aim to do this throughout the year by studying diverse texts, understanding how power and privilege play out, learning about multiple perspectives on specific issues and events, and acting as agents of change.
Heritage months like Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month provide us with specific times to learn about other backgrounds, cultures, and identities, but we do not believe this is enough. This year, we will also engage in a yearlong study of identity with our students based on the Learning for Justice Social Justice standards, and we will look at our new curricula through the lens of New York State’s Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education framework. As noted in our Parent Handbook, we are committed to anti-racism at PS 107, which is an active approach to combating racism at the individual, social, institutional, and structural levels.Our yearlong identity focus will help our students understand their unique identities and develop their sense of belonging in our diverse community.
Finally, l’shanah tova to all who celebrate! Have a sweet New Year!
Warmly,
Ms Joanna
PS Here are some additional resources for you to learn about our approach to reading and writing instruction:
The difference between balanced literacy and structured literacy, from the Mississippi Department of Education (MS has been a national leader in literacy instruction)
Reading 101: A Guide for Parents, from Reading Rockets
Scarborough’s Reading Rope, a model for how students become skilled readers