Central Bucks School District Elementary Language Arts Curriculum

Language Arts

The elementary language arts program in Central Bucks links to the Pennsylvania standards. The curriculum integrates all the language arts – reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and researching – and helps students apply those skills to meaningful tasks. The writing component emphasizes the process that writers engage in during writing – planning, drafting, responding, revising, editing, and publishing – as well as the final product. Finally, the language component addresses skills such as spelling, mechanics, usage, and grammar within the context of reading and writing tasks, rather than in isolation.

Kindergarten	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5	Grade 6

	Kindergarten § Experiment with written language, including drawing, labeling, phonetic spelling, and simple stories. § Dictate stories. § Participate in writing and publishing class books. § Share writing with others. § Print own name. § Match letters and sounds. § Begin to print alphabet letters. § Match words that rhyme. § Participate in finger play, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and dramatization. § Recite own name, address, telephone number, and birthday. § Follow simple oral directions. § Speak in complete sentences. § Participate in show and tell. § Capitalize first letter of name. § Recognize groups of words as sentences.
	Grade 1 § Participate in daily writing activities for enjoyment, in response to experiences and literature, and as creative expression. § Be introduced to the steps of the writing process: pre-writing, detailing, responding, revising, editing and publishing. § Print correct letter and number forms. § Develop the readiness for spelling, including letter sound correspondence and use of phonetic spelling. § Follow oral directions to a satisfactory conclusion. § Actively listen to gather information, to respond to questions, and to respond to literature. § Use capital letters for names, and the first word in a sentence. § Use period and question marks correctly. § Use simple sentences.
	Grade 2 § Use the writing process for friendly letters, personal stories, informational pieces, and creative pieces. § Show logical sequencing of ideas in written pieces. § Expand simple sentences with descriptive words and phrases. § Reduce and use uniform size and spacing of letters in printing. § Begin formal spelling study, moving from phonetic to conventional spelling. § Use the word-study technique for spelling words. § Express self clearly in complete sentences while retelling a story, stating directions, or participating in discussions. § Use elementary research strategies to gather, organize, and present information. § Use capital letters in proper names, places, months, days of the week, and holidays. § Be introduced to commas, apostrophes, and exclamation marks. § Write sentences as complete thoughts. § Recognize parts of speech - words that name, describe, or tell action. § Apply correct usage, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation in final drafts of compositions. § Reduce sentence errors such as fragments and run-ons. § Use commas correctly in dates and addresses, for items in a series, and greeting/closing of friendly letters. § Identify nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns. § Write to a narrative prompt.
	Grade 3 § Increase independent use of process writing to write for a variety of purposes. § To tell stories using personal narratives. § To inform or persuade, using structured paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details. § To respond to literature. § To create short poems and fictional stories. § To respond via letters. § Form cursive letters and maintain spacing between letters. § Learn assigned spelling words at instructional level. § Be introduced to dictionary and glossary skills and the use of the Franklin Speller. § Give clear and concise oral directions. § Perform tasks using auditory memory skills. § Give oral current event and book reports. § Effectively use library reference materials. § Formulate questions for research and gather, analyze, organize, and present information in a short report. § Write to a narrative prompt.
	Grade 4 § Use the writing process, learning to revise and edit pieces with a partner, for a variety of purposes. § To write personal narratives with extended descriptions of people, places and dialogue. § To write paragraphs to inform and persuade, including how-to, compare/contrast, and summaries. § To create fictional stories and poems using figurative language. § Develop legible cursive handwriting using correct letter formation and proper spacing and slant. § Learn assigned spelling words at instructional level and develop strategies to self-correct spelling. § Participate in formal oral activities (discussion, book reviews). § Listen and respond orally to a variety of literature. § Actively listen and participate in cooperative learning situations. § Be introduced to formal study skill and test-taking strategies. § Effectively use reference materials for research and write reports using more than one source. § Learn note taking, outlining, paraphrasing, and summarizing techniques. § Apply correct usage, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation in final drafts of compositions. § Use correct paragraphing, underlining, quotation marks, plural possessives. § Determine functions of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions. § Vary sentence structure. § Write to an informative prompt.
	Grade 5 § Refine use of revising and editing with peers: revise, proofread, and edit own work. § Independently use the writing process for extended personal narratives and create pieces, working on dialogue and description. § Use a variety of ways to develop and enrich informative paragraphs. § Learn persuasive writing techniques in paragraphs, letters, editorials, and literary response. § Use legible handwriting with uniform size and spacing. § Learn assigned spelling words to be accountable for correct spelling across the curriculum. § Apply rules for using prefixes and suffixes. § Give oral report that expresses opinions and defines point of view using notes and outline. § Explain reasoning behind an answer. § Follow multi-step directions. § Learn study skills and test taking strategies. § Begin using electronic research skills. § Use multiple resources, note taking, and outlining to write an original report with introduction and conclusion. § Learn bibliography skills. § Follow capitalization and punctuation rules learned previously. § Apply correct usage, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation in final drafts of compositions. § Vary sentence structure by using compound sentences. § Use commas with phrases and clauses. § Review parts of speech and basic parts of a sentence. § Write to a persuasive prompt.
	Grade 6 § Independently use the writing process and work in writing groups, with emphasis on revision. § Use a variety of modes of writing: personal narratives with reflection; informative/explanatory/investigative essays; persuasive essays; literary responses; business letters. § Refine handwriting skills to achieve maximum legibility. § Be accountable for words presented across the curriculum in spelling instruction. § Use reference materials and computer spell-checks to verify spelling. § Present formal oral reports with notes and visuals. § Actively listen, reflect, and respond appropriately in small group and whole class discussions and activities. § Apply study skills and test-taking strategies. § Extend independent use of electronic and printed reference materials. § Apply research skills independently: formulating questions; gathering data; organizing data; interpreting data; presenting information in oral, written, and word-processed form; self-evaluating process and product of research. § Be accountable for correct capitalization, punctuation, and usage, with emphasis on direct quotes and business letters. § Vary sentence structure by using complex sentences. § Refine knowledge of parts of speech, including verb tenses, pronoun usage. § Identify parts of sentences, and work on phrases, direct objects, and subject/verb agreement. § Write to an informative prompt.

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Central Bucks School District
20 Welden Drive Doylestown, PA 18901
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