Language Arts includes the areas of Reading, Writing and Spelling. Reading instruction is literature based. There are many formats in which this occurs. We will read novels as an entire class, in small groups, in pairs, and independently. There are many opportunities for the children to talk and write about what they read.
Comprehension is emphasized throughout instruction.
Everyday there will be DEAR time, where everyone will Drop Everything And Read. Writing instruction is introduced as a process. Conferences are held with the children. Initially, the teacher is the primary editor, but as the year progresses, the conferences will teach the child to become more aware of the editing process. For example, one week they are contractions, while another week they are words with prefixes.