English Language Arts
ELA Course Description: Students will focus on reading, writing, language, and speaking and listening skills. The curriculum is aligned to the Ohio Learning Standards. In this course, students are expected to read and comprehend literature and informational texts at the high 4-5 grade text complexity ranges (770-980 Lexile). Students will begin to focus more on reading with feeling and emotion than strictly fluency measured by words per minute. Students will begin to identify point of view in reading passages and will analyze multi-accounts of the same event or topic. Students will begin to explore language in reading and their own writing through the use of figurative language (metaphors and similes). Students will begin to use quotations as they cite textual evidence in their writing and will learn to develop a 3-point thesis as they develop and support a claim in their written work.
Enriched ELA Course Description:
In addition to the content described above, students in the enriched course will be presented with more complex reading, writing, speaking and listening, and research tasks from the College of William and Mary’s Center for Gifted Education curriculum. These resources are designed to “develop students' skills in literary analysis and interpretation, persuasive writing, linguistic competency, and oral communication as well as to strengthen students' reasoning skills and understanding of the concept of change. The units engage students in exploring carefully selected, challenging works of literature from various times, cultures, and genres; and they encourage students to reflect on their readings through writing and discussion. The units also provide numerous opportunities for students to explore interdisciplinary connections to the language arts and to conduct research around issues relevant to their own lives.
Enriched ELA Course Description:
In addition to the content described above, students in the enriched course will be presented with more complex reading, writing, speaking and listening, and research tasks from the College of William and Mary’s Center for Gifted Education curriculum. These resources are designed to “develop students' skills in literary analysis and interpretation, persuasive writing, linguistic competency, and oral communication as well as to strengthen students' reasoning skills and understanding of the concept of change. The units engage students in exploring carefully selected, challenging works of literature from various times, cultures, and genres; and they encourage students to reflect on their readings through writing and discussion. The units also provide numerous opportunities for students to explore interdisciplinary connections to the language arts and to conduct research around issues relevant to their own lives.