This class builds on knowledge gained in previous grades, and focuses on developing four main areas of understanding: higher order analytical comprehension, grammar, writing and communication. In order to best prepare our students for the new Common Core standards, students will be taught using a technique that requires them to be actively involved in the learning process. To do so, we will be using a novel based curriculum.
The school year will be divided into three quarters:
Writing will play a key role in this year's curriculum. We will be building writing skills through personal experiences and responding to literature themes, such as tolerance, cultural diversity, acceptance, bullying and segregation. Journal writing will begin our writing journey as we will then venture into more formal essays. We will be referring to The Freedom Writer's activity guide to introduce certain writing concepts and build confidence
The school year will be divided into three quarters:
- August-December: The Red Umbrella / Informative/Explanatory/Interview writing
- January-May: Life of Pi / Poetry/Descriptive writing
Writing will play a key role in this year's curriculum. We will be building writing skills through personal experiences and responding to literature themes, such as tolerance, cultural diversity, acceptance, bullying and segregation. Journal writing will begin our writing journey as we will then venture into more formal essays. We will be referring to The Freedom Writer's activity guide to introduce certain writing concepts and build confidence
Our focus this month
Reading focus
We will be reading and working with the novel, Life of Pi, using vocabulary words, a study of the author and history of India. The themes will be discover in this novel will be: faith, perseverance, storytelling and fear. |
Language Arts focus
Adjectives Adverbs Prepositions Commas Quotations |
Writing focus
Descriptive Writing Poetry - writing and understanding of poems using American Literature textbook |