Literacy

Language Arts encompasses the area of Reading, Writing, Spelling, and Handwriting. Each of these areas is woven in our Language Arts Program.

The print-rich environment of the integrated language arts classroom provides a wide rang of genre and levels of reading materials to meet the needs and interests of students. Big books, classroom libraries, class sets of novels, and literature anthologies are the core of the program.

When choosing reading materials for the classroom, teachers consider the following criteria:
 * ability to activate prior knowledge
 * ability to decide vocabulary in text
 * ability to retell events in the text
 * ability to relate story structure
 * appropriateness of the theme
 * individual interests of the children

The Language Arts block may include any or all of the following:


 * Time for Demonstration-teacher reads aloud to children every day


 * Time for Reading-children read silently every day


 * Time for Response-children respond to what they have heard of read through discussion, writing, art, craft, drama, music or other expressive mode


 * Time for Teaching-structured activities to teach reading strategies, word attack skills, and writing skills


 * Time for Writing-children write for extended periods each day


 * Time for Sharing-children come together in pairs, small groups, or as a class to talk about what has been read, written and discovered.

Teachers flexibility structure the block of time so as best to meet the changing needs of the children.