Language Arts

Our intermediate grade students continue to develop their phonics, word analysis, spelling, reading fluency, and cursive handwriting skills begun in the primary grades.  Whole group Orton-Gillingham instruction and dictation reinforces concepts introduced in the basal reading series.  Students apply their higher level thinking skills through reading and analyzing various genres of literature, as well as composing expository, informative, and opinion pieces.  Emphasis is given to the writing process and developing good writing habits.  Intermediate grades delve deeper into the mechanics of writing and grammmar application through writing poetry, essays of varying lengths, and STREAM group projects.  Students build their oral expression skills through presenting their written work with classmates and parents.  Vocabulary is stressed in order to teach students literal/non-literal meanings, the relationship between words, and the nuances of different words within the context of text. 

 Textbooks used:

• Third grade:
  • Treasures Reading Series
  • English- Level 3
• Fourth grade:
  • Treasures Reading Series
  • English- Level 4
• Fifth grade:
  • Treasures Reading Series
  • English- Level 5
  • Vocabulary workshop- Grade 5

• Demonstrate proficiency in reading comprehension on the appropriate grade level
• Decode words using Greek and Latin prefixes
• Decode multisyllabic words
• Analyze and explain the structure of an informational text
• Analyze and explain the cause and effect of events or concepts
• Describe and evaluate the essential elements of the story
• Compare and contrast different text
• Use correct sentence structure when writing and speaking
• Apply the steps in the writing process
• Understand plagiarism and be able to paraphrase, summarize, and quote information when researching
• Write an opinion piece, informative text, and explanatory text
• Recognize and produce the common elements of poetry