LANGUAGE ARTS / Overview

Becoming literate is of fundamental importance to our children’s success in school and in life. Learning to read and write fluently, to speak articulately, and to listen carefully are all addressed in the Falk language arts curriculum. Students are immersed in all aspects of literacy every day, in both the formal block of instructional time designated as “language arts” and in other curricular areas as well.

Primary / LANGUAGE ARTS

At the primary level we are helping our students move along the literacy path from emergent reading and writing to the beginning stages of fluency in both areas. At the emergent stage they are learning about reading and writing, in the early stage they are learning to read and write, and they move into the fluent stage when they reach a level of independence in their reading and writing. Using multiple texts and a writing workshop format, we seek to help our students experience the joy of reading good books and the power of expressing themselves through writing. Using discussion, oral and silent reading, and process writing, we immerse our students in a literacy-rich environment.

Intermediate / LANGUAGE ARTS

In intermediate language arts, we look at what the children already know and then help our students strengthen their skills and expand their knowledge. Independent reading is at the heart of language arts in the intermediate grades. To maximize growth in this area, we enlist activities that help students read on their own, become more facile at reading, and begin to see with the eyes of the author. We teach and practice strategies that are used by successful readers and examine why these strategies work. Language arts also focuses on writing to learn, writing across the curriculum, and the process of writing. Students attain developmentally appropriate skill with the physicality of writing and letter formation, spelling and punctuation. We begin to work on automaticity and speed, using writing as a tool for learning and expressing oneself. The best way to learn anything is by doing it, by being able to initiate and repeat the process in a different situation., and by keeping the skills in context where there is a need to use them correctly and efficiently.

Middle Level LANGUAGE ARTS

At the Middle Level, we believe language arts is about exploring one’s self and the world in which one lives through reading, writing, and discussing important and developmentally appropriate themes and issues. The predominant way in which we accomplish this is through inquiry-based instruction highlighted by a three year research strand, semiotic analysis of media and media text, and self-designed reading studies . Since adolescence is a stage marked by cognitive, physical, and emotional growth our curriculum and instruction are designed to engage the entire child. Our reading selections recognize teen life by exploring themes such as growing up, relationships, difference, and relevant societal issues. We analyze, create, perform, debate, compose and dream. We see skill and content as inextricably connected.