ELEMENTARY
   After popping in to observe the Elementary's Language Arts periods, it is wonderful to see the Kinder to 5th grade progression in literacy! Lower Elementary has been focusing on learning beginning, middle, and ending letter sound recognition in consonant-vowel-consonant (cvc) words. Moving to Middle Elementary, spelling practice is continued. Reading sight words, responding to writing prompts, and verbally answering follow up comprehension questions to read aloud materials are other language arts activities occurring. Advancing into Upper Elementary, students are independently reading nonfiction passages, forming key vocabulary word banks, and retelling information learned by writing an expository paragraph.
   All classes are conducting teacher read alouds and dedicating a portion of time to Lexia online reading program. Elementary teachers encourage all households to have dedicated family literacy time – a time for adults to read their own books alongside their children, modeling reading for pleasure.
– Michele Sumpton, Elementary Division Lead

MIDDLE SCHOOL
   This week, students in English-Language Arts received their Creative Writing Journals. The response was overwhelmingly positive! The prompt for our story this week was for students to write how they would respond if they arrived at school and there were no teachers. Henry Lu chose to write his composition about Ben Grigsby.

• "Here's what I would do if I came to school and Ben was missing. When I arrived at school, I would ask 'Where is Ben'? The first place I would look for Ben is space. Yalin would help me find Ben. We would take a rocket & find Ben to save him."

   Among the other responses were student-led field trips to Starbucks, and of course Mars, as well a student organized party with household pets in attendance. Letting their imagination run wild on the page allows them the freedom and autonomy to safely explore any environment they choose. We look forward to more stories to come!
– Emma Woods, Middle School Language Arts

HIGH SCHOOL
   During the first quarter of High School English, we learned about story arcs and used plot maps to outline the arc of three short stories by authors like O. Henry, Edgar Allan Poe, and several others. Some of the stories we read were text-only, and others were in graphic novel form. Through our short stories, we learned about the use of irony in literature, with a focus on verbal, dramatic, and situational irony.
   In our current unit of study, we’re honing our skills as essay-writers, exploring several different literary concepts such as allegory, similes, metaphors, and story elements like setting and characterization. We’ll soon be applying these concepts to our novel studies of The Wizard of Oz (as a political and monetary allegory) and the first book in The Wild Robot series by Peter Brown. As a capstone project for the unit, we will write persuasive or informative essays with evidence from a variety of sources.
– Kantodeia Schnabel, High School English

ELEMENTARY
   Our Bulldogs in the Elementary division have been working in Lexia, reading aloud short stories as well as chapter books. While making literacy accessible to all learners, students have been discovering and attaining new vocabulary.
  Lower and Middle Elementary have been practicing pronouncing and writing sight words. They have been enjoying reading rhyming books such as Down by the Bay and Pete the Cat books. They even practiced making up their own rhyming words.
   Upper Elementary has already delved into descriptive paragraph writing this year. Using the hamburger model, students begin with the introduction and end with the conclusion –  represented by the top and bottom buns respectively. They are also using graphic organizers as a tool to help plan their thoughts and set up ordered sentences for descriptions of their STEM project in which they designed, built,  and presented a school of their creation. As part of their language learning, we are also working on how to be a good listening audience.
– Harriet Mukisa, Middle Elementary Lead

MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Our Middle School Humanities team works closely to plan cross-curricular lessons in Language Arts and Social Studies, enforcing learning as not merely subject-based, but teaching students that subjects often tie together. Students began a different type of study about Indigenous Americans this week .
  In Language Arts, students began reading Rabbit Chase, a graphic novel about an Indigenous middle schooler who gets lost on a school field trip and must work with mythological creatures from their tribe to get back to their family. Students have enjoyed the graphic novel, and are asking amazing questions about history, historical sources, and Indigenous cultures. 
   In Social Studies, they have been working with interactive maps, looking at how the United States was divided geographically before European settlers arrived. Students are learning why is it important for Indigenous people to tell their stories, myths, and traditions from their own perspectives.
– Emma Woods, Humanities: Language Arts

HIGH SCHOOL
High Schoolers are launching into English by studying neurotypes (types of brains) this week. Students identified their strengths and areas of growth, what tools work best to support them in the classroom, and how a neurodiverse community benefits everyone. Students worked on taking notes with the content, engaging in class discussions, and even built their own "brains." This work lays the foundation for students to better access English, express themselves, and empower them to advocate for their needs.
– Emma Woods, Kantodeia Schnabel, & Drew Vinson, English