Reading
Grade K-5 Literacy Programs
Mission
The mission of the Malden Public Schools Literacy Program is to develop students who can read and write at high levels of achievement, both to learn and share new information and for their own enjoyment.
Goals
- Provide all teachers in grades K-5 resources and professional development to build strong literacy classrooms in grades K-5.
- Provide resources to families to help support literacy in the home.
Malden Public Schools Reading Program
The Reading program consists of a daily literacy block and a writer’s workshop. The literacy block consists of both whole group and small group instruction. Whole group instruction focuses on core lessons in comprehension and vocabulary. The teacher then meets with students in small groups that target students’ individual needs. While the teacher meets with small groups, students work independently and collaboratively on reading and writing tasks that relate to reading skills and strategies. Students might read a text with a partner or write in response to a text they have read.
The core text employed by students is Pearson’s Reading Street program, which is a comprehensive Literacy Program. The texts are accessible to students and parents online. Some key components of Reading Street include:
- Student knowledge is built around engaging topics with content-specific vocabulary, building science and social studies content knowledge as students learn.
- The program nurtures the love of reading through the use of award-winning, authentic literature from many different genres, including biographies, poems, folktales, and technical writing.
- The literature features an appropriate balance of 50% fiction and 50% nonfiction in the primary grades. As students become more familiar with informational text, that ratio shifts to 40% fiction and 60% nonfiction.
- Students will be guided through complex texts by using close reading routines in an on-level text, called Sleuth that encourages students to read like detectives.
- The program also helps to build foundations reading skills from listening to blending to decoding, and then using letter sounds to spell words. This solid base allows students to attack more complex texts and reading tasks.
In Literacy, students build confidence and learn to read and write in new and challenging ways. Students learn to write in various forms in response to text and other sources. Students also write narratives, informational and explanatory text, along with completing written research.
Malden Public Schools Writing Program
In grades K-5, students write every day in all content areas. During writing instruction, the teacher begins with a short lesson where they model an element of good writing. This is called a “mini-lesson”; “mini” because it focuses on just one teaching point.
Students then move to writing independently. The teacher might circulate from student to student providing feedback to help students improve their writing. It is through this individual or group conferencing with students that teachers can meet the varied needs of writers in their classroom.
At the end of the lesson, the teacher asks students to share their writing with partners or asks a few students to share their writing with the class. The sharing at the end of the writing time helps students develop a sense of audience. Students begin to understand that the purpose of writing is for others to hear their ideas and thoughts. Students are also given an opportunity to talk about their writing.
Resources for Families for Grades K-5 Literacy Program
Reading Program Outlines for Parents
The Malden Public Schools uses the Scott Foresman Reading Street program in grades K-5. The program provides opportunities for students to develop their reading across all of the areas of reading including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing.
The following are outlines by grade levels of the reading program:
Information on i-Ready
i-Ready is a computer based reading program that provides students with practice in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. All students Grades K-8 have a username and password for i-Ready. Students use the program during the school day.
i-Ready can also be used at home. Please see the following directions below to learn more about i-ready as well as how to log you child on at home. For the district code and your child’s username and password, ask your child’s teacher for information.
i-Ready Guide – Portuguese
i-Ready Guide – Haitian Creole
i-Ready Guide – Spanish
i-Ready Technical and Troubleshooting Guide
i-Ready ‘How to Log-On Using an i-Pad’ Guide
Our Contact Information
| Victoria Mulkern | Director of Literacy and Title I | vmulkern@maldenps.org | |
| Kerri Surette | Administrative Assistant | ksurette@maldenps.org | |
| Meredith O’Leary | Beebe School Literacy Coach | moleary@maldenps.org | |
| Erin Bennett | Ferryway School Literacy Coach | ebennett@maldenps.org | |
| Meghann McCarthy | Forestdale School Literacy Coach | mmccarthy@maldenps.org | |
| Heather Provenzano | Linden School Literacy Coach | hprovenzano@maldenps.org | |
| Kristen Reidy
Pierina Santosmargaritov |
Salemwood School Literacy Coaches | kreidy@maldenps.org |
