The Middle School Language Arts course is designed to meet the needs of students grade six through eight. The curriculum integrates Six Traits of Writing and Framing Your Thoughts in support of writing skills. In addition, students read in a variety of genres and receive instruction in comprehension strategies: making connections, vocabulary-building, making inferences, and synthesizing. Novels, short stories, plays and non-fiction support integration of other academic disciplines into the core middle school language arts curriculum. Readers spend time learning about character development, plot, and internal and external conflicts.
In response to differentiated, language-based instruction, students challenge themselves and demonstrate learning with a variety of means of expression. They develop and communicate clear ideas through in-class projects, response journals, narrative and creative writing. The fine arts, field trips, and hands-on opportunities support multi-sensory approaches to learning. Above all else the course focuses on developing the pragmatic and academic tools students will need to mature into effective high school students and community members.