Secondary English (6-12)

Beliefs

  • Classrooms foster student agency by allowing choice and encouraging student efficacy.
  • True literacy is accomplished when reading and writing are taught as reciprocal processes that are integrally linked to one another.
  • Discourse and collaboration are essential to student learning.
  • Receiving timely and personalized feedback is one of the biggest factors of student success.
  • Reading and writing in the classroom should be purposeful and authentic in order to transfer skills to real world applications.

Guiding Principles

English Language Arts Classrooms

  • provide intentional instruction that is clear and purposeful to the learner
  • define assessment as any feedback from the student - it goes beyond a test or quiz, including observation, discussion, quick writes, exit slips, portfolios, etc.
  • use assessments to create the learners' pathway within the recursive reading and writing process
  • integrate technology in a meaningful way that promotes better understanding of the content
  • teach grammar and word study in context of what students are reading and writing
  • provide feedback during the learning so there is time to reflect, adjust, and act
  • recognize that students' questions matter more than the teachers'
  • value and promote collaboration, discourse, and inquiry
  • encourage and facilitate student voice and choice in learning
  • allow opportunities for students to reflect on their learning and evaluate their own performance

Parent Resources

Writing Contests and Student Publishing Opportunities