Commack School District

Excellence in Education

Reading

CMS Reading Department

Kerry Vitola - Lead Teacher

The reading department serves Commack Middle School by offering reading and math academic intervention services (AIS) to those students who qualify, by offering reading instruction in small-group settings to students who need skill development, and by offering support and guidance to the general staff in the teaching of reading across the curriculum.

Reading Department Services

Wilson Reading Program

(alternate-day instruction for students deficient in basic phonemic skills)

AIS classes in reading
(alternate-day program for students with deficiencies with basic comprehension skills and strategies).

AIS

Criteria for Placement in AIS classes

All students receiving a score of “1 “or “2 “on the New York State assessments in grades 3 - 8 and who did not exit out of the program in the intermediate school are scheduled into the appropriate AIS classes.

For all other students, multiple criteria are used for placement and include a consideration of:

classroom performance in reading/language arts or English,
the teachers’ and guidance counselors' recommendations,
and a review by the student's house Instructional Support Team (IST)

The AIS Curriculum

Reading AIS provides instruction in developing and improving skills in reading comprehension, phonics and decoding, writing, listening, problem solving, and computation in response to each student’s individual needs. Students learn to apply these skills and strategies to their work in academic classes. Instruction is provided by a reading specialist.

Grading Policy for AIS Classes

At the end of the regular marking periods, students will receive a mark of “pass” or “fail” and comments appropriate to their efforts and achievement in the course.