Language Arts

Read. Write. Learn.

Kent School students experience a cohesive, spiraling curriculum in Language Arts that illustrates our commitment to developing excellent verbal, reading and written communication skills. Throughout Lower School, vocabulary and spelling are an important part of the weekly schedule for every student.  From sight words in Kindergarten to complex vocabulary and spelling skills in Fourth Grade, developing a more robust and purposeful vocabulary helps children become effective communicators.

By Grade Level:

List of 5 items.

  • Kindergarten

    Students build on phonological awareness skills to prepare them for success in First Grade and a comprehensive approach to reading fluency. Students learn to read, write and spell simultaneously practicing basic grammar skills and sentence structure in their writing. Self-guided reading is always encouraged so children develop a love of books and reading.

  • First Grade

    At the heart of First Grade’s curriculum is the Language Arts program, where reading, writing, spelling, listening, and speaking skills are developed and practiced throughout the day. Our comprehensive, explicit phonics instruction allows students to develop phonemic awareness, encoding, and decoding skills. Sight words and letter-sound relationships are presented in a systematic, detailed way that is designed to include multiple learning styles in each lesson. Weekly spelling homework and tests focus on the “Dolch” sight word vocabulary, while grammar, usage, and mechanics are practiced, with an emphasis on sentence construction, across the curriculum. The flexibility of the program allows for lessons to be adjusted, added, or deleted depending upon the needs of a particular class or group. Activities and lessons may be presented to the whole-class, in small groups, as partner work, or one-to-one with a teacher, and are regularly individualized to meet the needs of a broad range of learners. A wide variety of activities are designed to provide ample time for each child to be in front of the class, in authentic and appropriate ways, developing crucial public speaking skills. In this literature-rich environment, children find multiple ways to meaningfully engage with a wide variety of texts to build oral fluency while developing reading and listening comprehension skills.
     

  • Second Grade

    Language Arts builds on First Grade skills with an emphasis on writing in paragraph form and the introduction of creative writing through poetry and short stories. Reading remains a focus  with ample time in the daily schedule for student selected reading. Cursive is taught in Second Grade.

  • Third Grade

    Students are ready for more in depth non-fiction writing and complete projects that put their writing skills to use. Writing skills are honed through book reports and World Geography studies.

  • Fourth Grade

    Students are ready to read novels and think and write critically about them. Throughout the school year, Fourth Grade students will read up to ten novels as a class while also reading a second book of their choice each month.