English Curriculum
High Standards and Best Practices
Our goal is simple: every student should love reading and writing. As a certified member of the California Association of Independent Schools, we employ an array of learning strategies, including journals, essay and report writing, presentations and demonstrations, problem solving and group learning. They encourage students to:
- Think Independently
- Develop critical thinking skills and creative abilities
- Ask and answer interpretative questions
CAIS’ English program moves students from an emphasis on listening and speaking in the younger grades to basic rules of language and applying meaning to complex and creative modes of writing and communication in the later grades. Materials reflect our attention to grammar and mechanics while promoting creativity. Students write for different audiences and purposes in both creative and expository forms.
Teachers assess students at the start of the year to ascertain beginning, developing and proficient levels of learning. Students self-evaluate periodically. Middle school students coordinate and take part in their own conferences with parents and teachers.
Standardized testing begins in third grade, and continues through eighth. CAIS students consistently score at or above independent-school norm.
English Program Language Arts Subjects
Reading for Fluency and Comprehension
- Phonics skills
- Strategies for decoding words
- Fiction and non-fiction literature
- Class discussion
- Reading out loud
- Written and oral book reports
- Plays
- Literature circles
Writing
- Editing and revising techniques
- Writer’s Workshop
- Journal writing
- Self reflection
- Writing for different audiences and purposes
- Creative and expository forms
- Vocabulary and spelling
- Grammar and mechanics
- Handwriting—printing and cursive
Teachers assessment of student skills
- Reading and writing conferences
- Observation of classroom work using checklists and charts
- Classroom tests
- Standardized tests
- Homework
- Portfolios
- Peer review
- Presentations and performances
- Students’ self reflection
The English program boasts a spelling bee, an author’s fair, and a literary magazine. Students also periodically submit poems and essays to outside competitions.
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