ELA (English Language Arts)

As a dual language school all instruction is conducted in English and Spanish.

Literacy

Teaching the children in two languages requires a strong balanced literacy program with a good comprehensive language strand that addresses children’s language development needs as well as their literacy development. Our focus in the classroom is the development of the entire spectrum of communication skills. Thus, literacy, ESL and native language arts development is not only done during the literacy block, but throughout the day through integration into all the content areas. Learning a second language requires experiences to be made meaningful and purposeful  if students are truly going to develop the necessary discipline to learn in two languages. We take every opportunity to teach children language by including lessons on literacy and language development through all the content areas.

English/ Spanish Language Instruction:

A balanced literacy approach is used for English language instruction, which consists of: independent/ paired reading, shared reading, guided reading , literacy centers, literature circles, writer’s workshop, interactive read aloud, word study, author studies, book clubs, interactive writing, and teacher/student reading and writing conferences.

Assessments:

Periodic assessments are conducted  in both languages throughout the year to inform instruction.