Language Arts
Language Arts: September 2021-2022
There are many skills to evaluate in Language Arts: reading; writing; speaking; listening and viewing. Reading is essential to a student's success in writing and all other curriculum areas. My hope is that all students will read at grade level or beyond by the end of the school year. This means that each child's reading level will be monitored closely to ensure they are keeping pace with the grade level benchmark. Reading habits, decoding skills, fluency and comprehension will be assessed in a number of ways: tests, growth patterns, anecdotal observations, one on one reading conferencing, and daily five practices.
Writing practice will be done daily on a wide range of topics and in all subject areas. Students will practice reading their writing out loud to themselves as well as collaborate with larger audiences to share their work. Sentence structure is of prime importance. Being able to write a clear, complete sentence is key. In Term 1 this will be the primary focus. In Term 2 students will focus on writing coherent paragraphs. Finally, in Term 3, Grade 3 will be writing short stories. 3M writers will incorporate word work into their daily writing practice. Spelling and vocabulary study will be a major focus.
Speaking, listening and viewing skills will be strengthened in a number of ways. Reading to others (reading buddies) is a great way to experiment in making words more exciting. Students can read their books to parents after school. Listening to others read introduces students to above level books; models good interpretive reading; teaches critical listening; introduces new genres; and introduces new vocabulary. I plan to read some interesting novels to my 3M students this year. Parents can take an active role by reading to your child in the evenings. Multimedia sources will be used to enhance student viewing skills.