Among the books students will use are Joy Hakim's Making Thirteen Colonies , From Colonies to Country and selections from War, Terrible War . To Be a Slave , and Hughes and Meltzer's African American History . Students will use Rand McNally's Classroom Atlas and Atlas of American History. Each teacher will use other books as appropriate. The English curriculum is a combination of concurrent strands including writing, independent reading, literature studies, and language arts skills.
Writing includes both expository and creative writing.
Expository writing skills are developed first through written comprehension assignments and then through essays and research reports. Creative writing includes work on independent projects in writers' workshop and writing guided responses to topics suggested by teachers. In addition, students use creative writing within the social studies curriculum in the form of historical drama, letters, diaries, dialogues. Students are also encouraged to contribute to Cornucopia , the Bank Street Upper School literary magazine Students are expected to read independently, and to share with others their feelings and opinions about what they read. Students will read at home as well as in school.