English/Language Arts

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