Language Arts

Severn’s comprehensive, integrative Language Arts curriculum prepares students to be life-long readers, writers and thinkers. We focus on a variety of genres from literature and nonfiction to poems and plays. Our curriculum connects subject areas from math to language arts to social studies to science.

Kindergarten - Grades 2 Language Arts
Reading is instructed through a multi-sensory approach in the Lower School. Reading fluency, phonics, comprehension, grammar, spelling, writing and vocabulary are all integral components of the Language Arts curriculum for students in Kindergarten, First Grade and Second Grade. Students move their bodies to act out letter sound chants or move letter tiles to build and form word families, while listening, saying, and writing letters and their corresponding sounds. Emphasis is placed upon bridging phonemic awareness and phonics to the development of reading fluency.

Students are actively engaged in developing an understanding of and making connections to the stories and texts read. Our differentiated, leveled readers lead each child to excel at individually appropriate reading levels, while focusing on the grade-wide themes, skills and vocabulary. An emphasis is placed on the development of writing skills. We believe every child is an author and guide them through the writing process of developing their ideas, to writing a draft, to sharing and celebrating their creations.

Grades 3, 4, 5 Language Arts
In Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades, the focus shifts from learning to read to reading to learn and applying the information and text ideas in meaningful, purposeful ways. Our students study appropriate leveled narrative and expository books and texts related to our Social Studies units and genre studies while expanding reading comprehension and fluency. Our students actively engage in the reading process through reflecting, making connections, drawing conclusions, and analyzing multiple perspectives through peer conversations, multi-media presentations, and written responses.

Acquisition of writing skills is achieved through practice of different genres of writing. Students are challenged to write critically and revise and edit effectively. The use of technology and small class sizes enable Severn to dedicate a high level of support to developing writing skills. Differentiated reading groups are flexible and fluid in nature to continually adapt to student’s learning interests, strengths and skill development. Vocabulary instruction is supported by the use of high-quality classroom language, reading aloud to students, wide independent reading and direct instruction of word-learning strategies.

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