Teaching of the English Language includes the following elements:
Decoding written language (phonics)
Fluency in reading and reading comprehension
Grammar
Writing (spelling; sentence and paragraph structure; proper use of vocabulary; expressing ideas clearly, creative writing)
Penmanship (proper handwriting)
These language skills are foundational in education. They are the skills that children will need to engage with any academic subject they study (at primary school and beyond). It is critically important that they acquire these skills properly. An excellent basis in language arts at primary school is the toolkit that will allow children to apply themselves to their other learning. It will make the rest of their schooling easier and more productive.
At Saint Andrew’s Orthodox Church School we use a Classical language arts programme produced by Memoria Press. We have chosen to follow their curriculum because it is very thorough. It is careful to drill every student in these basic skills until they have mastered them. The programme is also very much literature based. Throughout the course children engage with a multitude of storybooks of the highest quality. The curriculum is diligent about choosing the great books that meet a Classical School’s requirement of teaching the true, the good and the beautiful.
The methodology used to teach Language Arts is different from the way we teach the other subjects. As you read through the Introduction to Our Curriculum and the documents detailing the other subjects, you will notice that Saint Andrew’s Orthodox Church School is a lively environment with a lot of emphasis on interactive group activities. The Language Arts classes are the time in our day when we teach our students to sit calmly and focus quietly.
Our students learn English, and at the same time they practice the dedicated concentrated work that is required for scholarly excellence. Children learn to apply themselves to developing their skills in reading and writing, experiencing something of the peacefulness and quiet joy of hard work at their books.
We take this approach in the Language Arts class for two reasons. The first is that it is an opportunity for a few hours in the day when students can practice this necessary style of study. Our students find it easy to apply themselves during these times because they are only expected to show such restraint for a limited amount of time in the day. Secondly, we have chosen Language arts as the time for more individual quiet work because this approach befits the subject matter. Penmanship, grammar, spelling and phonics require careful repetitive work to master. Listening to books being read is its own sort of exciting, and writing requires you to focus inwards and order your own thoughts.
The benchmarks covered in each year are as follows:
Primary 1
Phonics
Students will:
Recognize each letter of the alphabet and assign its correct sound
Have working knowledge, both oral and written, of 35 essential English phonograms
Understand and demonstrate ability to rhyme
Reading
Students will:
Understand left to right progression
Master short vowel (CVC) words through decoding (reading)
Be able to read 67 common sight words, basic number words, and color words
Demonstrate individual progression with speed, fluency, and expression when reading
Have the ability to answer simple questions about a text they have read
Follow a storyline in a book above their personal reading level
Correctly use vocabulary above their individual reading level
Have the ability to correctly predict events within a story
Be able to orally retell a story in narrative format
Recognize main characters, setting, and basic plot of a narrative
Recall facts from a nonfiction story and be able to verbalize how they relate to subject matter
Writing
Students will:
Understand that what is said orally can be written by the encoding of sounds
Neatly write all letters and numbers using correct formation
Accurately and neatly copy text from the line above to the line below
Spelling
Students will:
Write correct letter to sound correspondence for all letters of the alphabet
Encode CVC words dictated to them
Grammar
Students will:
Understand the basic attributes of sentence structure
Recognize three sentence end marks (period, question mark, exclamation point) and know when to use them
Use and understand capitalization at the beginning of a sentence, for the pronoun "I," and for the name of a person
Understand the basic attributes of sentence structure including capitalization and punctuation
Identify plurals and possessives
Primary 2:
Phonics
Students will:
Master CVC, CVCC words, silent e and long vowel teams, schwa, and rhyming
Have working knowledge, both oral and written, of all 44 English phonograms
Demonstrate mastery of letter sounds, short vowels, long vowels with silent e, long vowel teams, consonant blends, consonant digraphs, r-controlled vowels
Have working knowledge of diphthongs, homonyms, contractions, and compound words
Answer oral questions in complete sentences
Reading
Students will:
Demonstrate individual reading progression with speed, fluency, and expression
Answer simple questions about a text independently read
Follow a storyline in a book above their personal reading level
Use vocabulary above their individual reading level
Know how to correctly predict events within a story
Compare and contrast aspects of a story
Orally retell a story in narrative format
Recall facts from a nonfiction story and be able to verbalize how they relate to subject matter
Decode words within real literature
Use a Table of Contents
Recognize plot, setting, characters, author, and illustrator of a story
Sequence events from a story
Writing
Students will:
Be able to legibly write all letters in cursive using correct formation
Form letter connections in cursive correctly
Accurately and neatly copy text from the page above to the page below
Correctly copy from the board to paper
Write in complete sentences
Read something written in cursive
Maintain correct manuscript
Spelling
Students will:
Encode level-appropriate spelling words
Spell these words correctly in writing
Grammar
Students will:
Introduce verbs and their tenses
Introduce adjectives and articles
Introduce common and proper nouns
Use possession and abbreviations
Identify the four types of sentences
Recognize and use correct punctuation and capitalization
Primary 3:
Phonics
Students will:
Demonstrate mastery of hard and soft c and g, long vowel teams, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, vowels with "y," plurals (both regular and irregular), root (base) words, and diphthongs
Have working knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, and homonyms
Know basic syllabication rules
Locate phonetic chunks within both single syllable and multisyllabic words
Recognize incomplete sentences
Master formulating and writing complete sentences
Reading
Students will:
Understand complex poems in teacher-led discussions
Compare and contrast ideas
Sequence events within a reading
Distinguish between fact and fiction
Gain exposure to a variety of literary genres
Understand the attributes of folk tales
Use context clues to attain meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary
Continue oral reading improvement with regard to decoding, speed, fluency, and expression
Gain exposure to lengthy poems
Determine meaning of advanced English vocabulary (derivatives) by recognition of Latin root
Writing
Students will:
Know formation of cursive letters with correct connections and display fluency in writing
Implement the 3 P's and 3 S's in writing
Complete conversion to all cursive in all subjects by end of the year
Be introduced to a friendly letter
Be introduced to poetry composition
Be exposed to paragraph writing and descriptive paragraphs
Spelling
Students will:
- Demonstrate mastery of phonograms introduced through encoding of weekly word lists
Grammar
Students will:
Display mastery of introduction to the eight parts of speech by recitation
Give examples for the eight parts of speech
Primary 4
Reading
Students will:
Consistently use a variety of word attack skills to decipher unknown words and their meanings
Demonstrate continued improvement in speed, fluency, and expression when reading orally
Display reading comprehension on grade-level text
Display aural comprehension of material above grade level
Analyze illustrations within a story
Compare and contrast ideas within literature
Recognize dialogue within a story
Adjust expression when reading dialogue orally
Understand common idioms
Ascertain characters, plot, and setting of a story
Sequence events within a story
Understand complete and complex sentences
Determine meaning of advanced English vocabulary (derivatives) by recognition of Latin root
Recognize rhyming structure
Gain exposure to characterization
Writing
Students will:
Create and compose from an outline
Form a good topic sentence
Be exposed to figures of speech (alliteration, simile, etc.)
Be introduced to finding the moral or primary theme of a story
Paraphrase and narrate a piece of writing
Copy Scripture selection, poem, or other document
Break text down into an outline
Summarize a text
Create multiparagraph compositions as a class under teacher direction
Spelling
Students will:
Demonstrate mastery of phonograms introduced through encoding of weekly word lists
Correctly use prefixes and suffixes
Grammar
Students will:
Memorize basic grammar rules
Memorize plurals, possessives, and compound words
Understand synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms
Master basic capitalization rules
Master basic punctuation rules
Recognize four types of sentences
Recognize sentence parts
Understand two types of pronouns (subjective and objective)
Penmanship
Students will:
Exclusively use cursive when writing
Write legibly with correct grip, spacing, slant, and size
Primary 5
Reading
Students will:
Define vocabulary using context clues
Have level-appropriate comprehension of material read
Compare and contrast
Orally read with level-appropriate speed, fluency, and expression
Memorize and recite selected poems
Understand allegory
Understand idioms
Understand characterization
Have aural understanding of texts above their personal reading level
Accurately analyze illustrations
Gain attention to detail
Accurately identify character, setting, and plot of a story
Recognize literary devices (puns, foreshadowing, conflict)
Composition
Students will:
Master how narrative elements work together to communicate a thought
Expand vocabulary
Expand precision in speech
Further develop ability to format a paragraph
Master identification of plot components
Orally present an essay
Properly apply grammar concepts learned to this point
Spelling
Students will:
Demonstrate mastery of level-appropriate word lists
Correctly use prefixes and suffixes
Correctly use possessives and contractions
Master vowel pairs and digraphs
Grammar
Students will:
Master basic grammar rules pertaining to sentences
Understand verbs (tenses, phrases, physical, mental, and "to be")
Master types of questions
Correctly encode dictated sentences
Penmanship
Students will:
Exclusively use cursive when writing
Write legibly with correct grip, spacing, slant, and size
Primary 6
Reading
Students will:
Read orally with level-appropriate speed, fluency, and expression
Display level-appropriate comprehension
Determine meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues
Memorize selected poem
Deliver good oral recitations
Understand literary devices: aphorism, rhyming structure
Accurately identify the primary theme, moral, or Central One Idea of a story
Aurally understand texts above their personal reading level
Answer abstract questions
Improve critical reading analysis
Display growth in narration skills
Be introduced to logic-level questions
Composition
Students will:
Master the ability to retell a story
Master paraphrasing a text
Master identification of characters, setting, plot, action, time, place, manner, cause, suffering, reversal, and recognition within a narrative
Expand their vocabularies
Expand their precision in speech
Display proficiency in developing a topic sentence
Properly format an essay
Display proficiency in sentence and paragraph formation
Spelling
Students will:
Demonstrate mastery of level-appropriate word lists
Correctly use prefixes and suffixes
Correctly use homonyms and abbreviations
Master digraphs
Understand syllabication
Grammar
Students will:
Master basic grammar rules for verbs, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives, direct objects, and indirect objects
Master basic grammar rules pertaining to types and parts of sentences
Master verb phrases and six verb tenses
Continue working with principal parts of verbs
Master infinitives and participles
Correctly encode dictated sentences
Penmanship
Students will:
• Continue perfection of legibility and beauty in handwritten material
Primary 7
Reading
Students will:
Orally read with level-appropriate speed, fluency, and expression
Display level-appropriate comprehension
Determine meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues
Memorize selected poems
Give good oral delivery of recitations
Understand literary devices: simile
Accurately identify the Central One Idea of a story
Aurally understand texts above their personal reading level
Answer abstract questions
Improve critical reading analysis
Grow in narration skills
Composition
Students will:
Be introduced to invention
Produce expositional writing
Master identification of basic plot components (i.e., setting, plot, characters)
Improve mechanics of writing
Display a more developed and consistent writing style
Improve in usage of syntax
Advance in usage of figures of description and speech
Show coherence in presentation and flow of ideas
Spelling
Students will:
Master level-appropriate word lists
Correctly spell compound and hyphenated words
Correctly spell Latin and Greek roots
Master prefixes and suffixes
Understand syllabication
Grammar
Students will:
Master basic grammar rules for verbs, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives, direct objects, and indirect objects
Master application of the above mentioned rules
Identify the subject of a sentence
Master eight pronoun types
Master adverb usage
Master transitive and intransitive verbs
Correctly encode dictated sentences
Penmanship
Students will:
- Continue perfection of legibility and beauty in handwritten material