The Clarkstown School District and NYS provide Link IB World School with English Language Arts (ELA) standards, curriculum, and common required assessments. Literacy is fundamental to learning and permeates our entire curriculum. By learning the language arts, as well as learning about and through language, we nurture an appreciation of the richness of our language and a love of literature. The ELA expectations are arranged into three main communication strands: oral communication, written communication and visual communication. These communication strands are organized into sub-strands which include listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and presenting. To transform ELA Standards into instructional practice, we embrace Balanced Literacy utilizing Teachers College Reading and Writing workshop approach.
Literacy Block includes:
Unit 1: Establishing Reading and Writing Routines
Unit 2: Close Reading and Opinion Writing
Unit 3: Building Knowledge Through Inquiry and Information Writing
Unit 4: Character Analysis and Descriptive Writing
Unit 5: Gathering Evididence and Presenting an Informed Opinion
Trimester 1: Narrative
Trimester 2: Expository
Trimester 3: Opinion/Persuade
Trimester 4: Expository