Documents and resources aimed at helping parents understand the Common Core Standards.

There are revisions to the standards. They are now called the Next Generation Learning Standards. Links to the overviews of the standards are below.     

• Pre-K-2 Next Generation ELA Standards
• 3-5 Next Generation ELA Standards
• Frequently Asked Questions about the New ELA Standards
• Pre-K-12 Next Generation Math Standards

Balanced Literacy is an educational approach to literacy instruction. It consists of many components including reading workshop, writing workshop, word study, phonics, read alouds, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, shared writing, interactive writing and independent writing. This approach allows for whole group and small group instruction where a gradual release of responsibility to independent work is shifted from the teacher to the student. In Ossining, it is our goal to provide our children with a great deal of time to read and write authentic texts.  Instruction is balanced in fiction and nonfiction reading and writing experiences. Students will read and write narratives, informational texts, and persuasive texts. Our common teaching tool was created by the experts at Teacher's College. Park and Brookside use Fundations to support foundational phonics skills and at Claremont and Roosevelt use Words Their Way. 

Please take a look at our writing program in action and at a video about guided reading.

Writing in Action

Guided Reading in Action

Kindergarten through fifth grade uses Math in Focus, Singapore Math. Sixth grade through eighth grade uses EnVisions.

Emphasis on student exploration, metacognition, classroom discussion, and small-group implementation model. Emphasis on attitudes to learning, in line with global research and instructional best practices. Teacher instruction is explicitly focused on supporting student-centered learning through problem solving tasks.  Every lesson begins with a ‘Think’ challenging problem and an ‘Engage’ problem to develop critical thinking skills. Student editions include Performance Tasks and Project work.  Enhanced support for problem solving and questioning strategies to build mathematical habits of mind and target the needs of all students.

Science 21 is an integrated K-6 science curriculum. Your children will have many opportunities to explore science, math, and technology through a hands on inquiry-based process. There is a great emphasis on investigations that are student centered and authentic to student lives.  There is a balance between process and content.  They will learn the scientific method and conduct a variety of investigations in physical, earth, and life science.  The curriculum is developed locally and regionally at the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES. It is directly aligned to the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards.  Our Ossining teachers have been directly involved in helping design the science units, piloting them and bringing them to our district.  Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade have transitioned to the new standards and other grades will follow in the near future.  This year third grade is piloting the new next generation science standards.

The new science standards are based on three dimensions.  

• Dimension 1:  Science and Engineering Practices
• Dimension 2:  Disciplinary Core Ideas
• Dimension 3:  Crosscutting Concepts

Our elementary social studies curriculum is based on an Integrated Social Studies/ELA program developed in conjunction with Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES.  The program is based on the NY State Social Studies and ELA Common Core Standards and the Ossining School District's Integrated Units of Study.

view a short video describing the program

A collection of materials and resources that will help parents and families understand the Common Core and how to help their child learn, including an FAQ, Parent's Backpack Guide to the Common Core, and What Parents Can Do to Help Their Children Learn

Fastbridge:
Used for universal screening, benchmarking and strategic monitoring. At Park School it measures letter naming, letter sounds, phonemic segmentation, and word identification. At Brookside, Claremont, and Roosevelt it measures oral reading fluency. This assessment is administered in the fall, winter, and in spring. It is also administered more frequently to track progress for students receiving reading support.

Teacher's College Reading Assessment:
Used to determine a student's independent and instructional reading level. The performance assessments are administered three times a year to guide instruction and move children forward as readers.

Formative Assessment:
Used to inform daily instruction. Teachers review student work and meet individually with students to set goals. Teachers conduct one-to-one conferences and target instruction for individual students in reading, writing, word study and math.  

NY State Tests:
NY State administers ELA/Literacy and Mathematics Common Core tests in grades 3-8 that are intended to measure student proficiency in the knowledge and skills students need to succeed in college and careers. These tests are administered in the spring.

NY State administers Science Performance and Written Assessments in grades 4 & 8 each year to determine how well students have learned the NY State Science Learning Standards. The Assessment in Science asks students to demonstrate scientific knowledge and to apply scientific concepts, formulate hypotheses, make predictions, or use other scientific inquiry techniques. These tests are administered in the spring.

Below please see a link to the Next Generation Learning Standards. Use the menu at the top to find necessary information.  

PK-12 Common Core Learning Standards in ELA and Mathematics

To learn more about the state assessments, please use the link below.

NYS Memo 

NYS Assessment Site

SIOP, Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol is a framework for teaching and learning. It has proven to be effective in addressing the academic needs of English New Learners. The eight components which include lesson preparation, building background knowledge, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice and application, lesson delivery and review and assessment are interrelated and have the power to meet all our student needs as well. Teachers in the Ossining School District have been trained in SIOP with the purpose of engaging not only our ENL students, but all students in meaningful learning opportunities.

Thinking Maps are organizational tools that provide our students with a common language for thinking. They are tools that help our Ossining students organize their thinking visually and comprehend new information. There are eight thinking maps each representing the eight thinking processes of all learners. They are used to help children think and reconstruct new thinking by sharing their thinking with others. Children learn to define and brainstorm, classify and sort, describe, sequence and order, analyze whole objects and parts, see analogies, compare and contrast, and determine the cause and effect of events. Our entire district has been trained in Thinking Maps, pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.