Language+Arts

Language Arts:

Language Arts incorporates all subject areas. Each day we read and write, solidify skills in spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization, as well as obtain basic vocabulary building strategies. Our goals are ambitious. We believe in encouraging the students to make connections between subject areas, to sharpen their skills while challenging them to work to their fullest potential. We tie our language arts materials to content areas in social studies, science, and math. We see these areas as being braided together, and work to make sense of one in terms of the other.

Reading and writing in fifth grade center around learning to read for information in the content areas and synthesizing the material in a cohesive and cogent manner. While we spend time working on how to read a text, how to pull out the main ideas, and take notes, we are learning how to write well constructed paragraphs and will hone basic writing skills. Later we will pursue more research skills and write well constructed essays, reports, and opinion pieces, offering a variety of avenues for expression for final projects.

Reading is always uppermost in our minds. We provide several times a week for silent reading in class and expect the students to be reading a minimum of 20 minutes five nights a week at home. They keep a weekly reading record, which is initialed by a parent and then returned to school on the assigned day. In the fall we will be reading by genres as well as in whole class and small book groups. The study of each genre will end with a book project focusing on one or two of the elements of literature (plot, setting, character, theme), or particular characteristics which pertain to the specific genre. Read Aloud is also a large component of our language arts program. Sharing a book with the entire class enables us to engage in a wide variety of discussions with a common ground for reference.

In writing there will be less of an emphasis on experiential pieces (although that is a critical component of any good writing program) and more focus on writing in the content areas. Throughout the year, all steps of the writing process are emphasized, with special attention paid to the editing phase, no matter what type of writing is being done. A variety of forms of writing will be explored including poetry, letters, speeches and play writing. A significant portion of the writing will be as an extension of our social studies and science curricula.