Princeton Charter School (PCS) offers a public choice for students in kindergarten through grade eight. By explaining the PCS approach to teaching reading, this pamphlet, like the others in the Learning at PCS series, intends to help parents make an informed choice in schooling for their children.

What are PCS's basic objectives and procedures in teaching reading?

Language arts skills are the most essential part of a child's early education. Students must learn to read so that they can read to learn.

PCS's basic strategies in teaching reading are presented in the school's Charter:

In Kindergarten and first grade, children learn to read by developing both a sight vocabulary and knowledge of phonics. In the early grades, teachers read poetry, folk tales, fables, and legends out loud to give students experience with a variety of literature and to inspire their interest in reading. Class discussions, guided by the teacher's thoughtful questions, promote analytical thought, comprehension, and listening skills. By third or fourth grade the children read individually, then the class discusses themes, plots, and character motivations; they make inferences, form generalizations, and distinguish fact from fiction. Students read and summarize biographies. As they advance in school, the students read, discuss, interpret, analyze, and compare literature of all forms, including plays, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. By the end of eighth grade, students are careful readers, able to analyze the structure and style of a work of fiction, and to understand and summarize a written argument.

How are children taught to read at PCS?

In Kindergarten through second grade, a fundamental goal of PCS's program is to enable students to read fluently. In the first weeks of school, teachers assess their students' skills in the basics of reading: decoding letters; pronouncing sounds; syllables, and words; and understanding what they read. Because, in the early grades, children vary considerably in reading ability, teachers form reading groups of students who are approximately at the same level. These flexible groupings allow teachers to meet the precise needs of their students, and also give the students tasks that are challenging, but not overwhelming.

In the early grades, classrooms contain shelves of books, and a variety of literature is assigned that ranges from picture books to more challenging chapter books. Children are taught to choose texts appropriate for their reading levels. As children progress at PCS, the school makes available a wide range of carefully selected books; at PCS, reading remains a fundamental discipline through a student's entire school career.

PCS recognizes that not all children learn to read at the same pace. Just as children differ in the pace of their cognitive development, as well as in their physical, social and emotional growth, so too will they acquire the ability to read at their own individual pace. However, PCS works hard to ensure that students work to their full potential. For students who need either remediation or enrichment, PCS provides a formal tutoring program. This program provides students at diverse levels of achievement the opportunity to benefit from one-on-one instruction.

Does PCS use phonics or whole language instruction?

PCS teachers use a blend of strategies, but systematic phonics-that is, teaching students to pronounce words, letter groups, and syllables, is a fundamental step in learning to read at PCS. By learning the phonetic keys to language, children become fluent readers, able to focus on meaning as word recognition becomes automatic. Hence, in the early grades, PCS uses the Open Court Readings series, in which instruction is strongly phonics-based. From this base, other strategies are used, in particular, those that help children develop comprehension in their reading.

The PCS reading strategy recognizes that developing comprehension, building a vocabulary, and learning to make inferences about meaning from context are critically important to advancing reading skills. Throughout all their school years at PCS, children practice these skills either with the whole class, in small groups, or individually.

When do children read at PCS?

Because PCS considers reading a fundamental discipline, without which further learning cannot occur, language arts classes extend a full hour every day. As an adjunct to language arts classes, PCS has implemented a daily half-hour reading period during which students are expected to engage in silent and sustained reading. Reading is also emphasized in history classes, where students may be asked to read newspapers, magazines, internet sources, and fiction and non-fiction books in addition to their traditional textbooks.

How does PCS encourage its students to read?

As students master the basic skills of reading, they begin to read widely for pleasure and to improve all their language abilities. In grade two, students go beyond their basic reading anthology to some half-dozen prescribed books and an equal number of supplemental titles, plus folklore and biographies. This pattern of prescribed and supplementary reading continues through grade eight. The titles are selected by a committee of teachers, parents, and PCS board members whose choices are supplemented by recommendations of reading specialists.

What external measures are used to assess student progress in reading at PCS?

PCS annually administers the Educational Records Bureau (ERB) examinations in all grades except kindergarten and grade one. These tests have been used since the school opened in 1997, giving PCS administrators and teachers a significant comparative base. New Jersey's Department of Education annually administers standardized tests to grades three, four, and eight in all the state's public schools.

How do PCS students perform on external measures of their reading skills?

The ERB tests allow comparisons of students with suburban school and independent school standards. In reading comprehension, PCS students in all grades meet and usually exceed the suburban school norms and meet and often exceed the independent school norms. This result is true for the lowest scoring PCS students as well as for those who are more proficient. On the state tests, PCS students' reading comprehension skills meet or exceed the results of neighboring school districts. In the most recent examinations, for example, ninety-five percent of the eighth graders at PCS were either proficient or advanced proficient in language arts.

What can parents do to help their children read better?

Before they enter kindergarten, some children have learned certain basic reading skills from their parents or siblings. When others read to youngsters, discuss and ask them to explain what has been read and answer their questions, children are given a head start on systematic reading instruction. In part, this benefit derives from the emotional satisfaction and motivation to learn to read that young children receive when others read to them. If adults and older brothers and sisters read and obviously enjoy the process, the example will not be lost on younger children. Children quickly realize it's important to learn to read, but that it's also important that reading be enjoyable. As their skills develop, children should be encouraged to read to their parents and others.