English Language Arts
Taught by Ms. Leah Rothkopf
Welcome to Bnos Yaakov’s English Language Arts Program. Our goal is to develop excellence in all facets of written language. Our vision is to nurture a community of confident readers and writers.
Classes meets for two literature sessions and two writing workshops each week. At Bnos Yaakov, we read to write and we write to read. Exposure to great literature influences the quality of our writing, while our writer’s mindset informs the way we comprehend our reading. Grammar and vocabulary are incorporated into our studies as basic elements of language, oral and written.
Unit Themes
Both literature and writing classes are streamlined around a shared theme, one for each term. The unit theme for fall term is Personal Narrative.
Literature
Each term, we read one book and a selection of short stories and essays that reflect the unit theme. Some literary pieces on our reading list for the year are:
- The Rule of Names, Ursula K. Le Guin
- A Separate Peace, John Knowles
- The Countess and the Impossible, Richard Thurman
- Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
- The Giver, Louis Lowry
- A Man Who Had No Eyes, Mackinlay Kantor
Writing workshop
Bnos Yaakov’s writing curriculum adheres to standards set by the National Writing Program (NWP). Students experiment with both free-style and structured writing in each lesson. They learn to write through a series of mini lessons on writing, vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation. In conjunction with computer lab, students publish illustrated magazines twice a year with the girls’ best writings. Genres that we plan to explore this year are:
- Journal Writing
- Personal Narrative/Memoir
- Persuasive Essay
- Poetry
- Historical Fiction
I look forward to the privilege of teaching your daughter this year, and invite you to contact me with any comments or concerns you may have.