K-4 English Language Arts Program

To promote a consistent and viable balanced literary program in every classroom across the district, we selected the Pearson Reading Street program which provides instructional support in: spelling, vocabulary, phonics, fluency, reading comprehension, speaking, reading and listening. In 2009, all K-6 classrooms adopted Reading Street as the core literacy program.

Reading Street provides resources for both classroom and special education teachers as well as comprehensive technology support including online assessments, teacher guides and a full library of reading materials for student use, both at school and at home via the Internet.

Click here to view the November 17, 2009 School Committee presentation by Liz McGonagle, Former Assistant Superintendent/Director of Curriculum and Instruction on "Raising Achievement in Reading".

In 2008, a team of teachers at the Morse Pond School were introduced to IDEAL Consulting Services. The focus of their program is to use scientifically based principles and practices to assess and teach phonolgical awareness, reading fluency, reading comprehension, oral language/vocabulary, written expression and spelling. By looking at test results in each of these areas, teachers are better able to target the needs of struggling readers and use appropriate interventions to improve their skills. The program expanded to the K-4 schools in 2009 and is now being used as a key assessment component for struggling readers.

In 2009, the Falmouth Public Schools was part of a Cape Cod Collaborative grant that brought the Keys to Literacy program into the district. Our faculty has participated in research-based professional development in the three components of KTL:  Comprehension, Vocabulary and the ANSWER Key to Open Response. The Key Comprehension Routine is an evidenced-based program that is considered Tier 1 instruction when used by classroom teachers with all students, and Tier 2 instruction when used as supplemental instruction for struggling learners. KTL is another intervention practice that teachers are using to help their students who are struggling with reading comprehension and writing.