Reading Resources

It is our goal, at Artman, to develop a fluent reader who can think critically, engage, interact, and question a text that is considered “at grade level”. We view all students as readers, and we develop reading skills while meeting the needs of all learners within the school. This is done by designing our instruction around each student’s strengths and areas of improvement. We create this differentiated learning environment through our guided reading groups, shared reading, literature circles, centers, and literature stations. Through our core values and focus areas we strive to make all children successful as readers.

Artman’s Core Values:

1. Literacy is essential
2. All students should see themselves as readers and writers
3. Data is essential for continued improvement
4. All decisions are student focused 
5. Collaboration within staff and families is essential
6. Instruction is always anchored in researched
7. Research on the Science of Reading is ever-evolving. As populations., communities and approaches evolve, so should practice.
    

At Artman, we focus on:

1. Phonemic Awareness – The ability to identify and play with individual sounds in spoken words.
2. Phonics – Reading instruction on understanding how letters and groups of letters link to sounds to form letter- sound relationships and spelling patterns.
3. Fluency – The ability to read words, phrases, sentences, and stories correctly, with enough speed, and expression.
4. Vocabulary – Knowing what words mean and how to say and use them correctly.
5. Comprehension – The ability to understand what you are reading.
6. Independent Reading , Ownership, and Passion for Literacy
    

Reading Global Assessments:

• We start each year screening every student in the areas of reading. One assessment tool we use is called Acadience Reading. The areas of phonemic awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words), phonics (letter-sound relationships), decoding (sounding out words), and fluency (accurately reading grade level text) are skills we assess three times a year—fall, winter, and spring In addition, we look at curriculum based- assessments and teacher input to compile and use this data to make instructional decisions for our school, classrooms, and individual students. Children in need of added support are identified and the implementation of scientifically researched-based skill interventions takes place. This is in addition to core instruction, in the classroom, through our MTSS process.
   

Reading Curriculum K-3:

• Artman has matched and aligned our curriculum to meet the rigor and depth of the PA Core Standards. A main resource used for our curriculum and instruction is McGraw Hill’s Wonders reading program. This series is a comprehensive language arts program that embeds the five principles of reading, which include phonemic awareness, phonics, alphabetic principle, vocabulary, and comprehension that focuses on a high depth of knowledge in every text. An important feature of the program is the opportunity for students and parents to support stories, vocabulary lessons, and extra reading practice for home. Students are assessed on the targeted skills, informing both teachers and families of their individual progress and providing data to drive further reading instruction within the classroom. In addition to Wonders, we create a classroom that is “rich with print.” Students will be engaged with many resources and print that spans an unlimited realm of genres, authors, and subject matter. In addition, we tailor our instruction and utilize research-based programs to support our students, as emerging readers, with programs such as ECRI, Heggerty, Sonday, UFLI, LLI and others.

Reading is Fundamental

• Artman has an annual book distribution through our Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program. Several non-profit organizations and community businesses generously donate monies every year to provide every child with the opportunity to choose a brand-new, high-interest book, from hundreds of books, to add to their home library.

Educate All Stakeholders

• In addition to our RIF program, Artman provides various resources for families and stakeholders, relevant reading to activities and strategies, current research, and Artman’s instructional philosophies, to support all students. These are shared in various forms, including online and in person.