Language Arts

Lower School Language Arts Program by Grade Level

Kindergarten

In Kindergarten students will be building their reading skills. We understand that students enter with a variety of reading levels.  At Charlotte Prep will work on developing phonemic awareness, listening and reading comprehension skills and story writing.  We teach in a variety of ways including whole group instruction, small groups and one on one instruction. 

By the end of Kindergarten students will be more independent readers.  They will be reading with increased fluency, using reading strategies to self-monitor and improved comprehension skills.  Writing will show an understanding of sentence structure.  Our students will learn to be authors and write their small moment stories with a beginning, middle and ending sequence. Most importantly students will have a solid foundation in literature with a love of reading and writing!

1^st Grade

Using the Reading Workshop model, students in the First Grade continue to be immersed in a print-rich environment.  They are read to and have the opportunity to practice their own reading on a daily basis.  Additionally, the children have daily writing opportunities in the Writer’s Workshop Program.  Direct phonics instruction is provided as well through our Grammar and Spelling programs.  At CPS, we believe that children develop best as readers and writers when their daily instruction provides a balanced literacy diet.  The blocks of balanced literacy instruction include: 

1. Shared Reading
2. Self-Selected Reading
3. Phonics/Word Study
4. Writing
5. Skill Lessons
6. Handwriting

2nd Grade

The second grade reading program is rich in literature.  Students are given ample opportunities to develop into mature, confident, and independent readers.  Students are exposed to a variety of genres such as myths, fables, folktales, tall tales, classic novels, poetry, and nonfiction.  Literature is often integrated with content areas, such as Westward Expansion and life cycles.   Students respond to the text verbally in groups, pairs, or independently through written work.

In second grade, students focus on many levels of comprehension.  Written work is more open ended and responses to literature are greatly increased.  The students are taught in a variety of ways including whole group, small group, and one-on-one instruction.  Strategies, vocabulary, spelling, and phonics are centered around weekly stories and themes.  This comprehensive program encourages students to read independently and learn language arts skills necessary for reading and writing in a variety of genres.  Vocabulary skills are enhanced through weekly skills such as compound words, synonyms, antonyms, and homophones.   

Students engage in a variety of writing experiences.  These include poetry, narratives, descriptive pieces, historical fiction, and beginning nonfiction reports.  Grammar, punctuation, and penmanship skills are emphasized, as well as individual writing 

3^rd Grade

The language arts curriculum in third grade is comprised of reading fluency and comprehension skills, writing, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and penmanship. Our grammar/writing mechanics curriculum provides students with in-class lessons and activities as well as reinforcement and enrichment opportunities for homework.  In spelling students will continue to explore phonics and spelling patterns as well as reinforcement of grammar and writing mechanics. 

Writing instruction is based on the writer’s workshop model which provides a lesson, time for students to write, conference individually with their teacher, and share their work.  In writer's workshop, third graders are exposed to the organization and thought required to create a story or write about a favorite topic and develop it into an understandable narrative with a voice and focus.  Students are also exposed to other genres of writing such as summaries, poetry, description, letters, and expository.

At the center of our language arts program, where students apply these language skills and concepts, is literature circles.  In literature circles, small groups of students gather together to discuss a piece of literature in depth. The discussion is guided by students' responses to what they have read.  Students may talk about events and characters in the book, the author's craft, or personal experiences related to the story. Literature circles provide a way for students to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss, and respond to books. Collaboration is at the heart of this approach. Students reshape and add onto their understanding as they construct meaning with other readers.  Literature circles guide students to deeper understanding of what they read through structured discussion and extended written and artistic response.   

4^th Grade

The fourth grade literature is rich in works of fiction, poetry, drama, biography, and non-fiction.  Children are encouraged to read independently nightly.  Fourth grade children are ready for longer complex forms of prose that these novels offer.  The children will also delve into poetry studies.  While children are exposed to the structures and components of poetry, the pleasure of the sound and sentiment are emphasized.

Fourth grade engages students in a variety of writing experiences.  These experiences will include stories (personal narratives, imaginative, expository), summaries, description, poems, and letters.  The students are introduced to academic research.  Students will learn how to gather information from different sources (encyclopedias, magazines, interviews, observations, atlas, internet), and write short reports presenting gathered information in the student’s own words. 

In fourth grade, children continue to identify and talk about parts of speech, including interjections, adverbs, prepositions, and regular and irregular verbs.  In the classroom, grammar instruction is an essential part, but only a part, of an effective language arts program.