Middle School Language Arts

The Middle School’s Language Arts curriculum is designed to cultivate the reading and writing skills that students need for success in the Upper School, and our Language Arts courses support students in their growth as curious and careful readers and as flexible, reflective writers across a variety of genres.

Middle School students develop in the areas of reading, writing, grammar, and vocabulary as they work with the comprehensive CommonLit 360 curriculum, which provides opportunities for engagement with rich texts across a variety of subjects. Teachers and students approach their reading through essential questions about the world and our experiences in it. Students gather and record evidence during guided reading, analyze increasingly complex texts, and develop their critical thinking skills and facility with language as they move from literal interpretations of text toward more complex interpretive skills. Vocabulary study is embedded in textual studies throughout the year, and grammar studies at the Middle School level emphasize sentence mechanics and syntax. Research-based classroom routines focus on emphasizing student voice, discussion, collaboration, and problem solving.