Language and communication are at the heart of the human experience. That is why Concordia strives to educate students to be equipped linguistically and culturally and to communicate both critically and creatively as informed global citizens. The ability to read, write, listen and speak effectively in increasingly complex situations and for a variety of audiences is the foundation of the English curriculum at Concordia’s Middle School.
Our Middle School English and Social Sciences classes and curriculum work in tandem to support a variety of topics. While each class is graded independently, the alignment of the curriculum and materials allows students to obtain an enhanced understanding of both subjects. Grades 5-6 and Grades 7-8 employ the same basic techniques and strategies in English class increasing in detail in complexity through each grade level.
The English curriculum focuses on five key strands, Writing, Reading, Speaking and Listening, Research and Media.
Students are taught a range of strategies in their writing, use grammatical conventions, and a variety of processes in order to communicate in effective, coherent and standard formats to different audiences for a variety of purposes.
General skills and strategies of the writing process
- Prewriting strategies
- Drafting and revision strategies
- Editing and publishing
- Evaluation of own and others’ writing
- Audience consideration
- Expository and autobiographical compositions, narrative accounts, business and personal correspondence, responses to literature
Utilization of stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing
- Descriptive language to clarify and enhance ideas
- Varied sentence structures to expand and embed ideas
- Transitional and supporting idea techniques; paragraph form
Grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions
- Cursive in daily writing
- Conventions of spelling, capitalization, punctuation in written compositions
- Use of pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions and all nouns in written compositions
Students read a diverse range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the numerous dimensions of the human experience. In the process, our students apply a wide range of strategies to decode, comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate a variety of both literary and informational texts. Students learn general skills and strategies of the reading process as well.
Our students process and adapt information from class discussion, lectures, speeches, media resources, and daily conversations while learning to appreciate and evaluate diverse opinions. They learn to adjust their use of spoken language to communicate with different audiences for different purposes.
General speaking and listening skills
- Begin to give reasons in support of opinions in response to others’ ideas
- Express ideas in a logical manner and remain on topic using specific vocabulary to establish tone and present information
- Explore a variety of verbal communication skills
- Incorporate level-appropriate vocabulary – idioms, similes, word play, metaphor etc
Our students create and communicate knowledge – utilizing a variety of informational resources to gather, interpret and synthesize information. They can identify intellectual property and recognize the importance of maintaining academic integrity and honoring original ideas.
General English research skills
- Identify topic, list questions, develop course of action
- Recognize and use a variety of print, electronic and primary sources to gather information
- Demonstrate ability to record and organize information
- Thesis statements, logical sequence, perspectives
- Use MLA
Our students are exposed to a wide range of media in order to learn to recognize media’s diverse characteristics and components as well as its role in society. Students use a variety of skills and strategies to interpret and evaluate media messages as well as to create and communicate knowledge through media.
General English media literacy skills
- Students use viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
- Understand messaging and techniques used to convey messaging
- Explore usage of symbols and images and techniques to establish mood; advertising is discussed as well
- Students understand the characteristics of the media