Curriculum
Fifth grade ELA is where we lay the foundation for middle school language arts. Students will expand their vocabulary and learn techniques for decoding words in context. We for our students to read with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension and enable discussion. We will learn about the stages of the writing process (pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) and be able to produce clear and coherent writing (narrative, informational, persuasive) in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Our fifth-graders will conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge and make formal presentations, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details.
Sixth-grade ELA expands off the concepts learned in fifth grade. Sixth-grade students will learn to cite textual evidence to support literary interpretations and inferences. We will expand our reading comprehension abilities by studying themes or central ideas of a text, identifying literary elements, and determining thematic contributions to a text. Students will also develop the ability to compose a five paragraph persuasive essay with a well-developed central argument and topic sentences that reference literature. Additionally, we will compose a narrative essay which develops real or imagined circumstances using effective techniques, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
Seventh-grade ELA is where we begin to fine-tune many of our middle school skills and begin to transition into higher level language concepts. Students will enhance their vocabulary through a systemic program of study. We will analyze plot development in a literary work and discuss the relevance and appropriateness of sources for a particular topic. Seventh-grade students will be guided towards writing in a fluent and grammatically correct manner. Students will learn to work collaboratively and to present ideas and opinions confidently during group discussions.
Eighth-grade ELA will lay the final layer to middle school language arts preparing students for their high school English courses. The eighth-grade reading curriculum focuses on citing textual evidence to support analysis of text, identifying dialogue lends to characterization. For writing, students will successfully compose five-paragraph narrative, persuasive, and expository essays. Additionally, students will be asked to create, compose, and present an oral presentation.