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The Middle School English Language Arts curriculum reflects the New York State Learning Standards in Language Arts: Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing for information and understanding, for literary response and expression, for critical analysis and evaluation, and for social interaction. Each of the following components will be emphasized in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade curricula in an effort to build upon the concepts and skills needed to reach mastery level on the New York State English Language Arts Assessment given to all 8th grade students:
1. Listening and Speaking: Students will do many formal and informal oral activities to enhance communication skills. Inferential thinking and literal thinking will be used in a variety of activities across grade levels: oral readings, presentations, introductions, announcements, class discussions, interviewing, conferencing and role-playing.
2. Writing: Middle School students will exercise techniques in both timed activities and process approach methods to writing. They will perform a variety of practical and creative writing activities with special emphasis on the techniques for planning and organizing, as well as publishing a final copy.
3. Reading: Students will read, discuss and interpret novels, short stories, plays, poems, essays and articles, to develop a lifelong love of reading and to improve the effectiveness of their own writing.
Most of the literature is integrated with other core area subjects. Therefore, there is a great deal of interdisciplinary instruction, particularly between the English Language Arts and the Social Studies classes. The literary selections and the listening, speaking and writing activities are incorporated throughout the study of a particular time period, a particular area of study, or a key theme.
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