English
The English curriculum at Sea Crest School includes the instruction of reading and writing with the supporting skills of grammar, punctuation, spelling, handwriting and speaking. Keeping our core beliefs in these areas in mind, our program emphasizes the development of skills necessary for clear communication while discovering the joy of fine literature and satisfaction of creatively expressing one's thoughts in writing and speech.
Reading
- Reading is a process of “making meaning,” not decoding.
- Reading should happen daily.
- Reading should be enjoyable.
- Reading is holistic (Language Learning + Understanding).
- Reading is connected to writing.
- Children need to be read to on a regular basis for pure enjoyment and to experience expressive/fluent reading.
- Reading is personal.
- Reading should reflect the appropriate level and interests of the student (Just-Right Books); students need to feel successful as readers.
- Choice fosters a love of reading.
- Readers need to be able to reflect on their own progress/process.
- Readers read for many different purposes.
- Reading for information requires a different set of skills and strategies.
- Reading instruction should teach towards independence (Introduce/Model/Guided Practice/Independence).
Writing
- Everyone is a writer.
- Writing is a tool for thinking.
- Writing grows out of many different purposes. Writing is purposeful.
- Writing is a complex process.
- Writing, Reading, and Speaking are related skills (interconnected).
- Writing development is on a continuum.
- Conventions of finished and edited texts are important to readers and therefore to writers.
- Writing is a form of individual expression (students need to be allowed to find their own voices).
- Writing should happen daily for many purposes across disciplines.
- Writing instruction should build towards independence (teacher as coach, not dictator).
- Writers need strong modeling of both process and product (immersion in genre-specific mentor texts).
- Instruction during the immersion phase needs to be explicit to make the most of mentor texts. (What makes this piece effective? What lesson can you take away from this mentor and apply to your own writing?)
- Mini-lessons and student conferences provide teachers with the opportunities to “coach” students through the writing process.
