Form I English Language Arts

Description:

In this interactive, multi-sensory, hands-on class, Form I Students delve into phonics and cursive penmanship, discover and apply spelling rules with grade-level spelling words, learn parts of speech, practice oral reading, and hear and recite classic works of poetry. With our commitment to incorporate the best of both classical tradition and contemporary research, this course uses researched-based best practices for helping students of all abilities and grade levels. Instruction will be individuated for students at various levels within Form 1. As space allows, parents of younger students are encouraged to sit in as often as possible to enjoy learning and engaging in the activities together with their students.

This class keeps it kinetic as students use large motor skills to draw cursive letters and multi-letter phonograms in salt boxes and to water-paint them on sidewalk before moving on to fine motor skills with pen and paper. Students will play games and relays, compose original sentences, and listen to beautiful literature read aloud.

Learning outcomes include growth in the foundational operations of language—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—as students learn to read so they can read to learn.

“Historically cursive was taught first to our nation’s children. Today, reading and dyslexia experts are rediscovering that teaching cursive first–before print or manuscript–improves long-term penmanship skills, helps children learn to read, virtually eliminates reversals, and enables children to read what is written by others. Cursive First introduces children to writing numerals, the cursive alphabet, and the most common phonograms of the English language.”

Cursive First will be used in conjunction with the coordinating instruction in Spell to Write and Read by Wanda Sanseri. Both curricula can be used with the beginning reader and writer or with older students transitioning from print to cursive.