Complementing and Supplementing Your Core Science of Reading-Aligned Literacy Curriculum

Many districts have shifted their focus over the past several years in search of literacy curricula that aligns with the Science of Reading. Implementing research-based instruction is non-negotiable for educators at the state, district, and school levels, yet challenges in finding and providing comprehensive instructional materials persist. Even with a core curriculum, teachers face obstacles that may inhibit student learning. This is troubling when we consider data related to the widening achievement gap and the national reading proficiency rate. In order to provide the highest quality instruction, teachers may need to complement or supplement their core curriculum with resources that are founded in research, sound pedagogy, and best practices. For many teachers, knowing how and where to start will begin the path to success.

Best Practices for Elementary Literacy Instruction

Teachers combine the science and art of teaching to create unique, responsive learning environments that reflect their instructional styles and target their students’ specific needs. However, research indicates that all elementary students benefit from certain routines, practices, and learning experiences. No matter the instructional resources that teachers use, effective literacy instruction should include the following:

• Explicit, systematic instruction in foundational reading skills, comprehension, language, vocabulary, and metacognition.
• Daily opportunities for reading and writing, including shared and independent experiences.
• Scaffolded and/or differentiated instruction to support diverse learning needs.
• Equitable access to engaging, diverse, and culturally relevant texts.
• Integrated literacy and content instruction to build knowledge, vocabulary, and overall comprehension.
• Ongoing assessment that includes opportunities to formally and informally collect student data.

Though this list is not exhaustive, teachers can use the information as a guideline to examine their curricular resources and make informed decisions about how to implement literacy instruction. Many districts adopt a core curriculum, which often includes some or all of the best practices listed above, but each program prioritizes these practices differently and may not provide adequate support for all teachers and students to succeed. The burden falls on the teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, and district leaders to determine the gaps in the core curriculum and find opportunities to extend student learning with additional resources.

The Importance of Understanding Who and What You Teach

Before seeking additional complementary and supplementary literacy materials, it is important for teachers to gather information to implement effective literacy instruction. This can feel like a daunting task, so teachers can consider the following recommendations as they begin the work.

It is worth noting that no program is perfect because it is impossible for one program to anticipate the literacy needs of all students. The best instruction often combines resources, practices, and instructional components from multiple sources so that teachers can tailor their instruction to meet their students’ needs. By answering the questions above, teachers can gather some baseline information, so they can plan more impactful literacy instruction by leveraging the curricular resources they already have and strategically adding other instructional materials to enrich learning and fill gaps.

The Difference Between Supplementing and Complementing

Since no singular program has everything students require, teachers need to complement or supplement their literacy instruction. Often, people use the terms supplement and complement interchangeably, but there are slight differences that can help teachers determine the best approach for helping students learn.

Does this distinction matter for elementary teachers? The quick answer is “yes” and “no.” Teachers need to know that there are times when they will need to use resources outside of their core curriculum to both enhance student learning and fill gaps. That being said, if a teacher accidentally uses “complement” in place of “supplement” or vice versa, it isn’t such a big deal. The point is that teachers need to know when, why, and how to use additional materials to improve their literacy instruction.

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Examples for Complementing and Supplementing a Core Literacy Program

Opportunities to enhance instruction or fill learning gaps will vary depending on the core curriculum being used, but there will always be ways to build onto what a core program does to support diverse groups of learners. Let’s take a look at some ideas for using supplemental and complementary resources to help elementary students develop more literacy proficiency.

Scenario: Mrs. Jackson is a first-grade teacher whose core literacy program organizes content into topic-based units. In her next unit, students will be learning about transportation, including different modes of transportation on land, in the air, and in the water. Mrs. Jackson knows that there are different ways she can improve her literacy instruction to enhance the content and fill learning gaps, so students build more knowledge about transportation and deepen their comprehension.

Mrs. Jackson will complement her instruction in the following ways:

• Take virtual field trips to a train station, on a hot air balloon, and on a ferryboat.
• Have students build transportation models with different materials, label their features, and write about their models.
• Have students interview one of the school bus drivers to learn about their daily responsibilities and the different parts of a school bus.

Mrs. Jackson will supplement her instruction in the following ways:

• Read aloud texts about different types of water transportation to frontload information and prepare students for learning.
• Add books, passages, and multimedia resources about transportation to her library for students to read in shared and independent reading experiences.
• Implement learning centers with transportation-themed vocabulary.

Additional ideas for complementing a core literacy program:

• Practice digital storytelling using devices such as computers or tablets, along with wordless books, to create and record stories.
• Implement research projects that include reading and writing to extend learning related to the content in the core curriculum.
• Incorporate learning centers that focus on literacy activities to build students’ comprehension, language, and foundational skills.
• Conference with students to provide targeted, actionable feedback on reading or writing.

Additional ideas for supplementing a core literacy program:

• Using timed reading passages to practice and improve oral reading fluency.
• Implement phonics instruction that is systematic and explicit.
• Extend your classroom and/or digital library to include multicultural texts, graphic books and comics, and a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts that fill gaps in cultural representation and engage striving readers.
• Engage in interactive read alouds to model fluent reading and metacognitive skills.

There is no doubt that high-quality curricular resources are essential for elementary learners, but it is important to remember that teachers have the greatest impact. They make the ultimate decisions about the literacy materials they integrate into their instruction, so it is critical that teachers feel empowered and informed to make the best choices. Whether relying on their core literacy program or adding supplemental and complementary resources, teachers must ensure that they provide effective literacy instruction to all learners. This requires a great deal of effort, continued learning, collaboration, and practice from teachers. Effective instruction and student learning happen when teachers know their students, their curriculum, current research, and best practices for implementation.

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Research

• ^{National Institute for Excellence in Teaching. (2020). High-quality curriculum implementation: Connecting what to teach with how to teach it. Retrieved from https://www.niet.org/newsroom/show/high-quality-curriculum-implementation-connecting-what-to-teach-with-how-to-teach-it}
• ^{Reading Rockets. (n.d.). Literacy programs evaluation guide. Retrieved from https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/curriculum-and-instruction/articles/literacy-programs-evaluation-guide}