Curriculum & Assessments
Curriculum & Assessments
INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS AND CURRICULUM
LITERACY
Our school’s goal is to improve all pre-kindergarten through grade eight student’s academic performance in Language Arts Literacy by providing high quality, effective, and varied research-based instruction.
Literacy Department
Our team of certified Reading Specialists provide coaching to all ELA teachers to ensure the highest quality instruction in reading and writing. They also provide Tier III intervention for our most challenged readers to remediate skills and enable them to catch up with their grade level group.
Orton-Gillingham
Kindergarten, first and second grade teachers at Haledon Public School are trained in the Orton Gillingham program. The Orton-Gillingham methodology focuses on phonetics and emphasizes visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. Instruction begins by focusing on the structure of language and gradually moves towards reading. This program provides students with immediate feedback and a predictable sequence that integrates reading, writing, and spelling. This comprehensive approach to reading instruction benefits all students.
Balanced Literacy Approach
Students at the Kindergarten through 5th grade level are taught using a Balanced Literacy approach. It's called Balanced because it balances explicit instruction in phonics and reading skills with independent learning and language exploration. This program is more structured that a Whole Language approach, but it retains the use of authentic literature and personalized instruction that is key to developing each student to his or her fullest potential.
Code X
Our middle school students are taught with a more sophisticated version of Balanced Literacy, using a mixture of materials including a research-based program entitled Code X and a selection of high-quality books and authentic non-fiction materials.
MATHEMATICS
Our school’s goal is to improve all pre-kindergarten through grade eight students’ academic performance in mathematics by providing high quality, effective, and varied research-based instruction in order to provide all students with the skills necessary for success.
Our kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms have implemented the latest edition of the McGraw-Hill "My Math" program. This program focuses on the daily use of best practices and differentiated instruction. Students begin with hands-on mathematics activities and move on to more abstract concepts such as algebra very quickly. Facts and skills practice is constantly reinforced with engaging programs such as IXL or Reflex Math games.
Math is never far away throughout the day as students make connections between mathematics, science and literature. A great story can often become a springboard for teaching or reinforcing a concept. This linking of mathematics and literacy effectively enhances children's learning in all related curriculum areas.
Students in grades six through eight are currently using the Glencoe series "Math." During the middle school years students build upon the strong mathematical number sense which has been cultivated throughout grades K to five. At this point, our middle school students deepen their understanding of more complex mathematical concepts and begin to apply them to sophisticated algorithms. In grade 8 some students may test into the Algebra I program at Manchester Regional High School, where they are able to earn high school credit.