Language is an essential and joyful component of life and includes reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Currently, reading is being addressed through the short stories, drama selections, informational reading samples and more in the Prentice-Hall literature book, supplemented with class sets of novels – many correlating with historical eras being studied in students’ social studies classes. Of course, the Accelerated Reader program carries a great weight in Language Arts and ensures students are reading independently. Writing is addressed through the teaching of specific essay styles, fictional narratives, and poetry. Language Arts classes and Social Studies classes work in tandem on research projects throughout the year. Grammar is addressed through daily warm-ups, specific lessons from the Prentice-Hall grammar book and reinforced by the use of a computerized drill program called Perfect Copy. Vocabulary and spelling are taught along with reading selections. Additionally, students make specific studies of Greek and Latin roots and affixes.

New this year is a school-wide vocabulary program centered upon the Academic Word List – a list of 358 words used in academia and/or present in more than one discipline. Throughout the curriculum year, students participate in a variety of group investigations, literature circles, and group presentations. Likewise, students have many opportunities to participate in speech presentations including voluntary Oral Language Festival and Henry Greve speech contests. The goal of Language Arts is to encourage and facilitate growth and excitement for Language Arts.