Taipei Adventist American School

Language Arts
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For Language Arts, we use the Pathways to Success program to help students develop the skills necessary to read, write and communicate.

Reading

Students will also read with me, and other teachers such a Miss Purkiss and Miss Hadassah during station time. In station time, students are divided into groups. Each group will have time to do guided reading with a teacher, read with a partner or to a teacher, read individually and listen to reading.

Writing

"Writing is a strategic process for the written communication of thoughts, feelings, and ideas. The writing process has been divided into five stages: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Writing in the fullest sense means more than developing, composing, and spelling. In classrooms, the subskills associated with writing should first be taught in the context of a students’ own writing. Children learn these skills best when they are purposely taught through an explicit systematic mode of instruction." Pathways Wesite

In First Grade, students will learn the five stages of writing, as well as skills and subskills associated with writing. 

Phonics & Spelling

As part of out Language Arts program this year, we are using the Chall-Pop Phonics program. Your child will be learning phonics - letters and the sounds they stand for. Phonics teaches children how to "decode" printed words (sometimes this is called "sounding out"). Children know many words before they read - words they hear and use every day. As they learn to decode print, they will read many of these familiar words and recognize them. We will start out by learning rhymes and reviewing the letters of the alphabet. We will also learn some common sight words, words like "the" and "what". These are the first steps in phonics instruction. You can help your child get ready to learn phonics and to read.

• Read to your child often - stories and poems especially.

• As you read a poem, pause at the end of a line and let your child say the rhyming words.

• Encourage your child to notice letters on things around the house - boxes and magazines, for example. Name the letters and have your child point to each letter you name. 

Reading together and playing with sounds and letters will be fun for you and your child. We hope you will enjoy helping your child to learn to read. 

I will send out a spelling list for students. The words on the list will be based on our specific phonics focus for the week, as well as vocabulary from our other subjects such as Math, Science and Social Studies. There will be a test most every Friday, so please help your child to study for this test. 

Handwriting

Students will learn how to hold their pencils correctly, draw lines and write letters (upper and lowercase). We will give students plenty of guided opportunities to practice these skills. To develop a neat handwriting, students need to develop the muscled in their fingers and hands. These are called fine-motor muscles. We will also learn the correct posture for sitting, writing and reading. 

Language & Grammar

In order for students to develop their abilities in English, it is essential for them to learn English Grammar. We will learn basic Language and grammar through focus lessons and by doing Daily Language Review.