Reading & Language Arts

The Language Arts curriculum affords students with strong foundations in reading, writing, language, and communication skills.  Teachers are committed to modeling and developing a love and enthusiasm for reading.  Books are everywhere, from well-stocked classroom libraries to a 12,000-volume school library and standalone literacy library with guided reading selections and professional development literature.  Students are exposed to a wide variety of developmentally-appropriate literature, expository texts, and poetry through read alouds, book clubs, independent reading selections, and class novel studies.  Special care is given to text selection to nurture lifelong reading habits and maximize opportunities to develop comprehension, analysis, and critical thinking skills at students’ individual reading levels.  Students learn to craft strong narrative, informative, opinion, argument, and poetry writing through explicit instruction and teacher modeling, daily practice, and prompt individual feedback.  Students develop effective communication in all subject areas through technology, class discussions, presentations, and public speaking opportunities.  The blend of instructional practices caters to the unique needs of each student, while fostering a joy surrounding reading and writing across all grade levels.