This year your child will begin their English Language Arts class

with Miss. Morris. Language Arts will be approached in a way

that enables students to listen, speak, read, write, view and
represent as they begin to understand and appreciate language and use it
confidently for communication and learning. Our English Language Arts class
will follow this broad guide and timeline. *Please note that it is subject to
change based on student needs.
September/
October

November

December

January/February

March/April
May/June

Classroom community building (working

cooperatively as a group)
Establishment of expectations/routines
Baseline assessment/observations
Word families (Introduced as whole group lessons
then practiced through partner reads, word work
centers, mini books, multidisciplinary word
cheers/chants.)
Spelling (To start, words included will be from our
word families and sight words that are being studied
and later on, words that accompany literature
studies and have specific spelling rules. Spelling will
be practiced through word work stations.)
Alphabetizing
Beginning of reading strategies
Read aloud novel Georges Marvelous Medicine
Parts of a story
Spooky Stories (Guided Reading)
6 Traits of Writing: Ideas
Halloween compositions
Heroes Acrostic poem
Remembrance
Spelling
Reading strategies
Comprehension strategies
6 Traits of Writing: Organization
Holiday themed centres

Mini books

Character sketches

Grammar practice

Dictionary work
Spelling
Reading strategies
Holiday/seasonal literature
Comprehension strategies
6 Traits of Writing: Word Choice
Author study Eve Bunting
Poetry - Diamante
Spelling
Compound words
Contractions
6 Traits of Writing: Sentence Fluency
Novel Study Fantastic Mr. Fox
Spelling
6 Traits of Writing: Conventions
Readers theatre
Spelling
6 Traits of Writing +1: Presentation/Publishing

What can you do at home to help your

child in English Language Arts?

READ, READ, READ to/with your child.

There will not be a formal home
reading program in English Language
Arts, as students are already
participating in one with their French
Language Arts, but reading to and with
your child is key to helping them
develop the passion and drive to
practice and advance in this skill.
Choose books that have repetitive
phrases so they can start to feel
confident in their abilities.
Begin by reading one page and then
having them read one page.
Make reading fun. Curl up somewhere
comfortable together. Have them
provide silly sound effects for parts of
the story. Read together in funny
voices.
Talk about the book.
Keep a list of books your child has read
and celebrate their success when they
reach a particular number.
Have your child read the same book to
you several days in a row. This is a
great way to enhance fluency.
Point out rhyming words or challenge
each other to find rhyming words. This
enhances our work with word families.

Your childs learning will be assessed in

the following ways:
Teacher observation, anecdotal records
Student-teacher
communications/feedback
Checklists
Portfolio samples
Specific skills will be monitored on an
ongoing basis
Quizzes
Student self-reflections/evaluations

Feel free to contact me with any

questions.

Nesta Morris:
nesta.morris@wolfcreek.ab.ca