Our Program Literacy/English
Literacy/English
Lower School
The literacy program in the Lower School is built upon 120 minutes of literacy blocks per day that begins with an introduction of reading and writing skills in kindergarten and culminates in grade five with confident and independent readers and writers. The emphasis of learning to read in the primary grades shifts to an emphasis of reading to learn in the elementary grades. Basic skills are taught in a sequential program that progresses within the grade level and across the six years of the Lower School program. Using a variety of differentiated methodologies, reading instruction combines targeted instruction (phonics K-2) and balanced literacy. Balanced literacy includes read alouds, shared reading and writing, guided reading and writing, independent reading and writing, and writer’s workshop. A piece of our balanced literacy approach includes the Orton-Gillingham methodology. The Orton-Gillingham method is a multi-sensory approach to teaching reading, writing, and spelling across the curriculum. It provides the skills necessary to teach phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, fluency, and comprehension. Words Their Way is used to immerse students in word study in order to gain a better understanding of spelling and vocabulary by looking for letter and word patterns. Many meaningful reading and writing activities are integrated within the science and social studies curricula.
Middle School
The Middle School English program prepares students to become independent learners who think critically and are able to clearly express themselves both verbally and in writing. The primary focus of the program is using literature as a tool to become more critical readers, critical writers, and critical thinkers. Students are exposed to an array of classic and contemporary literature, with each grade level reading at least one Shakespearean play. The intent is for students to know the feeling of excitement and enthusiasm at the insight literature provides about the world and our shared experiences in that world. Teachers strive to create a balance between the use of literature and informational texts. Students write about what they read with an emphasis placed on developing a solid thesis statement that is supported with textual citations. Students write critically analyzed narratives, poetry, informative/explanatory compositions, research reports, responses to literature, and argument compositions. Language conventions encompass sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. Students also study Greek and Latin roots, dictionary and thesaurus skills, and vocabulary from their literary texts.
