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ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
By year’s end, students will be able to:
• Write with proper sentence structure, including capitalization and punctuation • Understand the elements of an analytical paragraph • Summarize ideas within an expository paragraph
• Organize their writing with a topic sentence, body, and concluding sentence
4th Grade - Reading Skills Curriculum Reading Objective
The 4th grade reading program is committed to educating our students to: Read for Pleasure, Read for Information, and Read as Scholars.
Students will be introduced to:
• Developing personal preferences as readers
Mission Statement | English/Language Arts The work of the Dalton Middle School English Department is grounded in the belief that students who learn to communicate effectively will become dedicated scholars and critical thinkers. Through the study of classical and modern literature, the curriculum explores the moral complexities of the human condition. Through collaborative and individual Assignments, the literature program is a well-balanced, multi-dimensional, student-centered endeavor that encourages children to be creative, use resources thoughtfully and responsibly, and engage in inquiry-based learning. A sequential skills development program provides the underlying foundation for students to become successful readers, writers, listeners, and speakers. The comprehensive program empowers students in developing the ability to “Go Forth Unafraid” as independent, lifelong learners.
4th Grade - Writing Skills Curriculum Writing Objective
The 4th grade writing program is committed to educating our students to: Engage in the Writing Process
Students will be introduced to: • Organizing and expressing ideas clearly, using a variety of genres in a workshop environment • Engaging in pre-writing • Writing multiple drafts
• Developing an understanding of revision and copy-editing
• Extracting essential information from texts
• Making inferences and interpreting authors’ aims
• Making connections between texts and the outside world. • Drawing clear conclusions from texts.
Continued reinforcement will be placed on:
Reading skills learned and practiced in the First Program
By year’s end, students will be able to: • Have some facility with annotating a text
• Understand why texts should be annotated when reading
• Have a basic knowledge of the elements of a story and figurative language • Be able to recognize a variety of genres
• Be comfortable participating and engaging in class discussions • Understand how to make inferences about literature
5th Grade - Writing Skills Curriculum Writing Objective
The 5th grade writing program is committed to educating our students to: Internalize Writing as a Process.
Students will be introduced to:
• Writing a well-structured paragraph (topic sentence, supporting details with quotations, and concluding sentences). • Writing with sentence variety
• Using quotations directly from the text
• Writing short stories and poems with the notion of structure and form
• Writing and publishing for different audiences
• Fostering a unique voice and style
• Understanding grammar/usage
Continued reinforcement will be placed on:
• Writing creatively as poets and storytellers
• Pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing
Continued reinforcement will be placed on:
Writing skills learned and practiced in the First Program
• Organizing and expressing ideas clearly
• Writing and publishing for different audiences. (Proper use of “I statements” and “You statements”) • Utilizing and practicing revision and copy-editing.
The Dalton School Middle School Curriculum Guide
