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(How Muirlands' language arts teachers envision what students
should know and be able to do.)
A PORTRAIT OF STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
1. The language arts program is literature-based and meaning-centered.
It exposes all students to significant literary works. Our literature program
at grades 6, 7, and 8 parallels and reflects the thematic units studied
in corresponding social studies classes. The year-long theme for grade 6
is "Survival." For grade 7 it is "Change," and for grade
8 it is "Who Are We Americans."
Students read and respond to both self-selected and teacher-selected works.
They study a variety of literary genres including all types of primary-source
documents. At each grade level they study the elements of literature and
the elements of style.
(Grade 6 novels/novellas might include Marco of the Winter Caves,
Walkabout, Pyramids, The House of Dies Drear,
The Jataka Tales, Trojan War, or The Giver. The
grade 7 list includes The Bronze Bow, King Arthur and the Knights
of the Round Table, Samurai's Tale, A Midsummer Night's
Dream, Hamlet, and A Tale of Two Cities. At grade
8, the list includes The Crucible, When the Legend Dies,
The Fall of the House of Usher, Across Five Aprils, and
To Kill a Mockingbird.)
2. The program includes writing to construct and clarify
meaning and directs attention to the various stages of the writing process.
Students practice a variety of creative and expository writing. Writing
is literature-based and process-oriented. Students use writing to extend
and reformulate their knowledge, synthesizing new products based on literature.
The stages of the writing process are emphasized at all three grade levels.
Students write frequently. In pre-writing and during the editing process,
students work with rubrics/scoring guides. They talk to each other about
their work, act as peer editors, and collaborate on certain pieces. They
produce final drafts in which meaning is clear and the conventions of language
are used appropriately.
The eight CLAS (California Learning Assessment System) writing formats are
taught at all three grade levels, with special emphasis on the following
at each grade level:
Sixth -- autobiographical incident, first-hand biography, evaluation,
and short story;
Seventh -- autobiographical incident, evaluation, short story,
and observation;
Eighth -- problem-solution, observation, report of information,
and analysis (with speculation about cause or effect).
Students at all three grade levels study grammar and language usage. This
study is continually reinforced through the peer editing process, emphasizing
the practical application of their studies. At the sixth grade level, teachers
evaluate grammar usage through students' own writing and provide suitable
remediation throughout the year. This is supplemented with specific grammar
units that parallel student needs.
Emphasis is placed on parts of speech, language mechanics, and punctuation.
At the seventh grade level, emphasis is placed on sentence structure, language
mechanics, and syntax. Students study parts of speech in depth, providing
a solid foundation for more in-depth study at the eighth grade level. At
the eighth grade, students build upon the basics. They review parts of speech;
language mechanics; subject-predicate; and study subject complements, pronouns,
prepositional phrases, and simple, compound, and complex sentences.
Students at the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade levels systematically study vocabulary.
Some vocabulary is literature-based and some is based on the different levels
of the text Wordly Wise. Appropriate use of the dictionary is taught at
the 6th grade level.
3. The program includes attention to oral language development
and proficiency. Students communicate for a variety of purposes in creative
and innovative ways at each grade level. Their reading, writing, and oral
communication skills are integrated to help students construct meaning.
Scoring guides for oral presentations are used across grade levels throughout
the year. Students reflect upon and assess their own performance and the
performance of others. Students talk about works they have read; all are
given opportunities to participate.
4. The program includes an assessment component that encompasses
the full range of language arts goals and incorporates performance-based
approaches to assessment. Students at each grade level regularly work in
cooperative groups to discuss and respond to works of literature or to do
background research on related topics. These tasks allow for experiences
in other content areas such as art, music, science, and history, both through
individual work and collaboration.
Students produce both short and long-term performance tasks, many of which
are presented to real audiences. Students at each grade level, and in various
scholastic disciplines, maintain working folders from which they generate
individual school-wide portfolios.... Each student portfolio will contain
student-selected work reflecting each of the following dimensions of learning:
effective communication, analytical and critical thinking, global perspective
and social responsibility, creativity, citizenship, inquiry and problem
solving, and growth and learning.
The school-wide portfolio will follow the students from grade 6 to 7 and
from grade 7 to 8. This will provide the opportunity for students to review
work completed in the previous year and design goals and objectives for
the learning year to come. In addition, students can reflect upon their
own growth in their school career. This portfolio culture will produce students
who are actively involved in their learning.
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from Believing in Ourselves: Progress and Struggle in Middle
School Reform. By Anne C. Lewis. Published in 1995 by the Edna McConnell
Clark Foundation.