LA 4/5

Mrs. Simpson (2016 - 2017)

Why LA?

The aim of English Language Arts is to enable each student to understand and appreciate language, and to use it confidently and competently in a variety of situations for communication, personal satisfaction and learning.Students become confident and competent users ofall six language arts components through many opportunities to listen and speak, read and write, and view and represent in a variety of combinations and relevant contexts. (Alberta Program of Studies).

Supplies you will need this year in LA 4/5include:

  • Writing Toolkit
  • Binder/ LA duo tangs
  • Pen or Pencil
  • Highlighter
  • Dictionary/ Thesaurus
  • Pencil Crayons, Scissors, Glue etc.

Report Cards:

  • Assignments, projects and daily work70%
  • Tests and Quizzes30%

Writing:

  • The focus for writing throughout the school year will be based on the ‘Blended Style and Structure’ format. Students will be provided with a ‘Writing Toolkit’ which is developed based on this format. Key writing goals include incorporating the following into student writing:
  • Dressups – Specific strategies to strengthen writing in the middle of sentences.
  • who/ which clause, because clause, quality adjectives, strong verbs, adverbs (ly words), and (when, where, while, as, since, if, although)
  • Sentence Openers – Specific strategies to strengthen the beginning of sentences.
  • Subject, preposition, ly, ing/ ed, clausal – (when, where, while, as, since, if, although) , vss (very short sentence)
  • Decorations – Further strategies to enhance writing.
  • Quality questions, conversation/ dialogue, 3 SSS (short staccato sentences), dramatic opening/ closing, simile, metaphor, alliteration

Reading:

  • Strategies to improve word recognition, comprehension strategies and fluency will be ongoing throughout the year. Some of the activities to encourage growth in these areas include:
  • Current Events, Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Grammar, Spelling, Novel Studies, Readers’ Theatre

Learning Centers:

  • Over the course of the year, the students will be engaged in Learning Centres. The centres are designed to be engaging and hands-on, with a focus on cooperative learning. These activities promote deeper level and critical thinking skills through purposeful, relevant information geared towards this age group.

Thematic Units:

  • In addition to weekly activities, students will be engaged in some thematic units to meet the learning outcomes. Some of the themes studied include:
  • Under the Sea
  • Remembrance Day
  • Christmas
  • Novel Studies
  • Narrative Writing
  • Functional Writing
  • Poetry

Blended Classroom:

  • Since students are in a combined grade 4/5 classroom, the students will receive the same assignments. However, they will be assessed based on grade 4 or grade 5 expectations. I have taught my entire career in combined classrooms and have found them to be extremely effective. Students naturally are exposed to higher order thinking, or on the contrary, assignments are easily differentiated.

Contact Information:

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions:

  • By Phone: Delburne School (403) 749-3838
  • Email:
  • Writing a note in the agenda