English Department Mission Statement
English Language Arts is a Standards Based Curriculum which focuses on literacy skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) essential for effective communication. Contextual vocabulary, grammar, and spelling are emphasized as essential to becoming proficient readers and writers. Development of inference, interpretation and analyses are an integral aspect of the English curriculum.
The scope and sequence of writing within the curriculum enables all students to expand writing techniques such as topic limitation, organization, sentence structure, peer editing and revising. The ability to speak and to listen requires the skill to focus on the core of the subject matter, to interpret the information, and to respond concretely. The structure of the English curriculum is based upon a belief that differentiated instruction in all skills addresses the individual needs of the students.
In collaboration with the school librarians, all students receive orientation in basic library skills, including the use of the online public access catalog and specialized guides to periodical literature. This forms the foundation of research necessary for the research and critical paper. The technological aspects of literacy are addressed through basic word processing techniques as well as manuscript forms, research paper formats and the incorporation of graphs and charts into projects.