Lower School Language Arts instruction in Grades 1 through Grade 4 takes place in two hour blocks of time and includes reading, writing, speaking and listening, and word study-vocabulary and spelling. Reading is taught in a workshop setting that emphasizes comprehension and includes phonics, decoding and literary analysis. All children read a wide variety of works including fiction, nonfiction, classic and contemporary literature and poetry. Writing is also taught in a workshop setting which emphasizes the writing process including bringing polished pieces of writing to a published stage regularly. Students learn to integrate the skills of grammar, spelling and punctuation into a wide variety of writing genre including memoir, poetry and expository writing. Our students regularly write for real world purposes and are given ample opportunities to share their writing with peers and parents and during weekly Lower School Community Meetings. Exemplary writing is compiled yearly for publication in the Lower School Literary Magazine. Specific instruction in spelling, writing conventions and vocabulary takes place within the Language Arts time block and these skills are practiced and reinforced during daily Writer’s Workshop. Students are coached and given guided practice in the skills of speaking and listening. These important life skills are reinforced daily in all grades through such regular activities as Morning Meeting, reading discussions and shared writing.