Franklin Lakes School District

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English Language Arts

Through its K-8 English Language Arts program, The Franklin Lakes Public School district seeks to provide students with ongoing, authentic reading and writing experiences that are both personally enriching and academically challenging. We strive to develop engaged students who are able to listen, understand, appreciate, and communicate ideas effectively. Students will collaborate thoughtfully and solve problems creatively with sensitivity to diverse perspectives. Through an evidence-based approach to reading, writing, speaking, and listening, students will critically examine texts and media to better understand themselves and the world in which they live.

 

Evidence-Based Literacy: The Science of Reading

Decades of research has confirmed two things are necessary to build motivated, proficient readers:

  1. instruction in systematic phonics, phonemic awareness, and other foundational skills to develop decoding skills, and word recognition; and
  2. exposure to complex texts and knowledge building to develop comprehension.

K-6 English Language Arts

Beginning in September 2025, FLPS will shift to an updated and comprehensive evidence-based “Science of Reading” approach to literacy instruction that honors the interconnected relationship between reading, writing, speaking and listening. 

Science of Reading and Writing Literacy Model
When we read, we transform print into speech; when we write, we transform speech into print. These are deeply interconnected processes develop together and reinforce one another. For example, teaching students how to spell provides them with essential knowledge about how sounds and letters connect, which helps them recognize and decode words that contain taught sound-spelling correspondences. 
 
Reading allows students to acquire new knowledge and understand how texts are written, while writing about their reading experiences deepens comprehension.  In grades K-6, reading and writing will intentionally be taught side-by-side to leverage the reciprocal relationship between reading and writing.
 
For 2025-26 we are thrilled to partner with The Reading League to ensure all K-8 ELA educators receive essential professional development that deepens knowledge of the Science of Reading research-base. Learn more:

 

The district has adopted the following ELA High Quality Instructional Materials:

 

7-8 English Language Arts

The grades 7-8 ELA instruction capitalizes on student engagement and sustained reading and writing skills by focusing instruction on the deepening of analytic, critical reading skills and complex writing expectations to prepare students for high school.


The reading program balances the teaching of touchstone texts with student choice in rich literature. Students work with a variety of genres that require them to deeply analyze character, plot, setting, point of view, author's purpose, text structure, and elements of the genre. Students explore a variety of writing forms and genres with a deepening expectation for understanding and application of the elements of each.  Standard English conventions and grammar are emphasized.  Word study aims to nurture curiosity for vocabulary and word meanings.