Elmont schools expands reading program to second grade students

Elmont schools plan to expand the districtwide ‘Fundations’ curriculum, a program designed to bolster the reading skills of students, to include second grade students during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a statement released by the Elmont Union Free School District.

“Currently, for each building we are pushing in to execute a model lesson for all the Grade 2 teachers and any teachers new to the program this year,” said Gina Colica, a districtwide instructional coach leading the program along with fellow instructional coach Kate DeRuvo. Following the model lesson, a ‘Fundations’ lesson led by second grade teachers will be observed by the Colica and DeRuvo.

“Fundations is a multisensory approach to the five building blocks of reading,” the school district explained in the statement. The curriculum focuses on phonemic awareness, word study, phonics, vocabulary development, comprehension and fluency. The ‘Fundations’ curriculum consists of an approximately 30-minute daily lesson for kindergarten to second grade students across each of Elmont’s six schools.

On Oct. 14, the second grade class taught by Maria Leva at Alden Terrace School was visited by Colica, who led a lesson that day with second graders that focused on practicing “trick words,” such as “both,” “full,” and “walk,” the district’s statement said. Colica also called each student in the class to the front of the room to participate in Leva’s “Word Wheel” on the classroom’s smart board, which required students to read words aloud. The day’s lesson concluded with a read-aloud and a writing activity.

“Feedback has been positive from the teachers that we have met with, and the students seem eager and engaged during the model lessons,” Ms. Colica added.

Throughout the school year, Colica and DeRuvo plan to offer support to the district’s teachers through walk-throughs, meetings and courses regarding the ‘Fundations’ curriculum.