Language Arts
Vision
The vision of Friends School’s language arts program aligns with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) approach that all students must have the opportunities and resources to develop the language skills they need to pursue life’s goals and to participate fully as informed, productive members of society. The program assumes that literacy growth begins before children enter school as they experience and experiment with literacy activities.
Language arts classes are based on immersion in meaningful activities centered on reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Mixed-age classrooms provide an environment rich in variety and allow students to work at their own level. Projects that incorporate all the language arts motivate students to learn and integrate their skills and knowledge in a meaningful context.
Friends School is guided by NCTE standards for English Language Arts:
- Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
- Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
- Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
- Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
- Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
- Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.
- Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
- Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
- Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
- Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to develop competency in the English language arts and to develop understanding of content across the curriculum.
- Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
- Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Linkages
Friends School is committed to providing a language arts program grounded in Quaker and progressive approaches to education. Children learn to read and write in much the same way they learn to talk. It is a natural process that is encouraged when children see language being used and valued all around them, when they use literature and their own words for learning, and when the classroom is run so that children feel empowered and competent. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning and are guided to make choices (e.g. book selection, writing topics) in order to further their understanding of themselves as learners.
Strategies
Children are immersed in a language rich environment and are supported and guided in their early attempts to read and write. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening are integrated across the curriculum.
Students work on writing through use of the writing process; creating drafts, revising to improve the content, editing to check the mechanics, and finally publishing in a variety of forms. Students keep writing journals which serve as sources for pieces of rich writing to publish. Students submit their writing for “real world” publication in many ways; writing for a local newspaper column, submitting pieces for publication in anthologies, and creating books of their works for each other to read.
Reading is emphasized across the curriculum with a gradual change in focus from learning to read to reading for information. A half hour period of independent reading is part of each day, and students take part in literature groups as part of class. Students are read to at each grade level and the literature is discussed.
In addition to being immersed in a literature rich environment from which they absorb correct language use, students work explicitly on a variety of skills, including grammar, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, and writing mechanics.