At Potter Road, students engage in literacy lessons on a daily basis. Within literacy there are 5 main domains that our instruction is grounded in. This is our second year implementing two new literacy programs. In SEI classrooms and Dual Language English classrooms, we are using HMH Into Reading. In the Dual Language Portuguese classrooms, we use Marcha Crianca and Telaris. In the past, literacy has been taught from a skill and focus based lens. With our new curriculum, we are working on using specific reading strategies to build world knowledge. Students in grades K-2 engage in Structured Literacy lessons, and all students engage in Reading Comprehension lessons. 

Students in grades K-2 engage in Structured Literacy lessons daily. Structured literacy is our phonics block. HMH provides teachers with a systematic scope and sequence of phonics skills. During this time of instruction there is a strong emphasis on building letter name and sound knowledge, phonemic awareness (the manipulating of sounds within words) and using these skills to blend sounds together when reading and tap out words when spelling. Students practice reading words in isolation, and also within connected text, (passages, decodable books). When reading with your child at home, we ask you to help build your child’s skills by encouraging them to sound out the words, rather than just telling them the word. The Science of Reading research shows that students learn best when they are connecting letter sounds to tap out words. When spelling words, students use the orthographic mapping practice to say the word, count the sounds, and then write the letters that spell each sound in the box.  

Students also learn “heart words” which are irregular words.  These are words that are either not, or not yet decodable.  You may have heard these referred to as “sight words” in the past.  However, the Science of Reading research helps us to see that these words are often decodable in time, once students have learned all phonics rules.

Students in all grades engage in reading comprehension lessons daily.  The Science of Reading points out that in order for students to fully develop reading comprehension they must have both word recognition skills and language comprehension skills. HMH and Marcha Crianca provide students with High Quality Instruction Materials to use as tools to build comprehension. During the literacy block, students spend time reading authentic texts, explicitly working with vocabulary words. Throughout the reading of these texts, students are building both literacy knowledge (plot, theme, point of view) as well as real world knowledge.  Our HMH modules have essential questions that the instruction is grounded in. All texts tie back to the essential question.  Throughout the literacy block, students are writing about their reading.  Students may answer questions about a text or could be writing an essay based on the knowledge they have learned. 

Conversation starters to use with your student at home:

Please check out Potter Road's Lost and Found. If you see an item that belongs to your child, please have them retrieve the item and bring it home.

Want to be part of a team that will help with the process of identifying the new leadership for our Department of Fine and Performing Arts? This is an important opportunity to engage in a collaborative process that will help us determine the next Director of Fine and Performing Arts. Framingham Public Schools (FPS) encourages you to express your interest to serve either in Round 1 and/or Round 2 of this critical process.

If you want to participate in the Screening and/or Interview Committee and/or complete the Focus Group Survey to identify key characteristics and priorities of the new Director, be sure to apply by Friday, November 22, 2024.

Application to participate in the Screening and/or Interview Committee:

English: Director of FPA Interview Committee Application

Spanish: Solicitud para el Comité de Selección/Entrevista del puesto de Director(a) de Artes Plásticas y Escénicas

Portuguese: Diretor(a) de Artes Plásticas & Cênicas Busca/aplicação para comitê de entrevistas

Learn more about the process here: https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/41729005