Language Arts

Trees sway side to side

Rabbits jump around the grass

Frogs leap on green leaves

Abby Vohland, 3^rd grade

The beauty of haiku is precise - 17 moras in 3 brief lines of 5, 7, 5 moras respectively create an image of nature at once simple and highly crafted.  In third grade, Emerson students practice this Japanese form of poetry, learning rules of syllabification while tapping into their boundless interest in nature.

From journals, poetry, essays, and fiction to science observations, term papers, video scripts, web page content, community grants, speeches, and debates, working with words  is an essential skill at Emerson. 

Language arts and social studies are integrated formally and informally from K-Grade 8 throughout the curriculum. Communication skills are developed through writing, reading, speaking, listening, spelling, and vocabulary. Social studies are approached from historical, geographic, civic, and economic perspectives. Working from the concrete to  the abstract, students explore, describe, compare, and explain humans and their environments. Themes include interdependence, rights and responsibilities, and connections with the past. Class room activities include research, discussion, and projects. Creative expression is encouraged through storytelling, role-playing, drawing, singing, and performing. Numerous resources include our extensive library, field trips, textbooks, course packs, magazines, primary sources, the Internet, guest speakers, plays, and films.

Lights, Camera, Communication!  |  Literary Jazz Session  |  Visiting Author - Kenneth Oppel  |  K-2 Teachers - Write On!  |  A World of Words  |   Flying Penguins Count Down the Days  |  Author Shares the Art of Writing  |  Coffeehouse Poetry Day  |  Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!  |  All-School Read-In...Shhhh!  |  Literature Gets Lively - Book Quest Finale  |  Hurry Spring Haikus  |