Students in the Framingham Public Schools participate in a balanced literacy program which consists of 8 components:

• read aloud
• guided reading
• shared reading
• modeled writing
• shared writing
• guided writing
• independent reading
• independent writing

Students will ...

• learn the skills necessary to participate effectively in class and small group discussions.
• understand and acquire new vocabulary using the dictionary and thesaurus with independence.
• use knowledge of correct mechanics in writing.
• read fluently, accurately, and with comprehension.
• understand the meaning of words through breaking them down into prefixes, roots, and suffixes.
• write legibly in cursive.
• identify and use correctly adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections.
• enjoy a variety of literary genres.
• read and understand the elements of fiction: setting, character, plot, problem, and solution.
• read, write, and analyze poetry.
• use the follow comprehension strategies:
• Connecting
• Previewing / Predicting
• Questioning
• Imaging
• Summarizing
• Inferring
• use knowledge of nonfiction text structures for comprehension: description, sequence, problem/solution and comparison.
• find evidence in text to support understanding.
• read aloud with phrasing and comprehension.
• read and understand elements of myths, fairy tales, fables, tall tales, legends, biographies, plays, fantasy, mysteries, realistic fiction, autobiography, magazines, newspapers, diary, journal passages, and letters.
• read nonfiction and identify author’s purpose – to inform/describe, persuade, or entertain.
• participate in the writing process: generate ideas, write, revise, edit, and publish.
• write for different audiences and purposes in a variety of genres.
• use correct spelling of 500 high frequency words.
• practice strategies to increase ability to spell correctly in written work.
• generate questions, gather information from a variety of sources, and share research in writing.