Oral Language COMPREHENSION

Listening and speaking are important components of the language arts program. Strong reading comprehension starts with strong oral language comprehension. When reading, students use their mental storehouse of sounds and vocabulary to match what they see in print to what they know about the English language. Through sharing in Morning Gathering, classroom presentations, writing shares, and class plays, students develop awareness of sounds and spoken language, and add to their mental lexicon. They also learn to express their ideas confidently, concisely, and clearly. In the spirit of Quakerism, students are taught to be active listeners who listen expectantly to their classmates, ask thoughtful questions, and offer insightful points to move toward greater understanding. 

Reading Comprehension

The Lower School curriculum is built on the idea that students need both strong wordrecognition skills and strong language comprehension in order to be skillful, engaged readers. Throughout their time in the Lower School, students have opportunities to “crack the code” of the English language, including the conventions of how words, sentences, and genres are structured. The program also focuses on building students’ analytical skills, helping them to discern layers of meaning in grade-level texts. The teachers use a variety of approaches to support their readers, and students explore a wide range of authors and genres, including a balance of fiction and nonfiction. Ultimately, the goal is for students to discover new ideas, discern deeper truths, build empathy, make connections, and explore new perspectives through the texts they read. In the Quaker tradition of learning in community, teachers and students have opportunities to work in partnerships and small groups to discuss texts in order to expand and deepen their understanding.

Writing

At the Lower School, reading and writing go hand-in-hand. Taking cues from their favorite authors, speakers, and poets, students learn how to use spoken and written language to share their stories, insights, and ideas with others. From year to year, students explore a range of different kinds of writing—opinion and argumentative, informational, poetry, and narrative—gradually deepening their understanding of how to write with clarity and creativity. As with the reading program, Sidwell Friends understands that to be a skillful writer, children need strong transcription skills (fluent handwriting, typing, mechanics), as well as a vast storehouse of vocabulary and content knowledge to support ideation. Through direct instruction, one-on-one conferring, and small group work, they learn to express and substantiate their ideas, to systematically organize their ideas into sentences and paragraphs, and to communicate effectively with different audiences.