Literature

​Reading: Fiction 📚

In our reading of stories, fables, and myths, your child will learn to:

• Become a Text Detective: Find answers to questions by looking back at the story itself.

• Retell & Understand: Summarize a story and figure out its main lesson or moral.

• Analyze Characters: Describe how a character's feelings and actions move the plot forward.

• Build Vocabulary: Figure out the meaning of new words, including the difference between literal and figurative language (like "it's raining cats and dogs").

• Follow the Plot: Understand the basic structure of a story—how the problem is introduced, what happens next, and how it gets solved.

• See Different Perspectives: Know the difference between their own opinion and a character's or the narrator's.

• Look at the Whole Picture: Use illustrations to help understand the mood or what's happening in the story.

• Compare Stories: Find similarities and differences between two stories by the same author, especially in a book series.

Reading: Non-Fiction 📖

When we read articles, science texts, and historical documents, your child will learn to:

• Find Key Information: Ask and answer questions by finding specific details in the text.

• Identify the Main Idea: Figure out the central point of a text and how the details support it.

• Understand How Things Connect: See the connections between ideas or events, using words like because, after, and as a result.

• Learn New Words: Understand specific vocabulary related to different subjects, like science or history.

• Use Text Tools: Use features like headings, bold words, and hyperlinks to find information quickly.

• Separate Fact from Opinion: Know the difference between their point of view and the author’s.

• Read the Images: Get information from pictures, maps, and charts to understand a topic better.

• Put It All Together: Describe how different paragraphs in a text connect to each other.

• Compare & Contrast Information: Find the most important points in two different texts on the same topic and compare them.

Foundational Reading Skills 🧠

These skills are the building blocks for strong readers. We will focus on:

• Word Decoding: Learn new phonics rules, prefixes (like "un-" or "re-"), and suffixes to figure out longer words.

• Reading Fluency: Read text smoothly and at a good pace, with expression and understanding.

• Self-Correction: Use context to notice when a word doesn't make sense and go back to fix it.

Writing ✍️

Your child will become a stronger writer by learning to:

• Write Opinions: Share their thoughts on a topic and use reasons and linking words like "because" to explain their ideas.

• Write Informational Pieces: Research a topic, organize the information, and use facts and details to teach others.

• Write Stories & Poems: Create their own narratives with a clear sequence of events. They will use descriptive language and even dialogue to bring their stories to life! For poems, they will learn to use rhyme and repetition to create meaning.