English Language Arts 3

English Language Arts 3 focuses on expanding students’ reading, writing, spelling, speaking, and listening skills. In this course, students read more complex texts and write to express themselves with greater sophistication. They practice reading at a natural pace while using intonation and expression appropriately. While reading, they interpret texts in more-complex ways, by identifying cause and effect, determining tone and mood, and distinguishing shades of meaning in figurative language. This course introduces students to new genres, including opinion pieces, biographies, and blogs, while they continue to work with narratives, fiction, and informational texts. An emphasis is placed on grammar, punctuation, and spelling as students explore the functions of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; categorize nouns; explain the differences between various verb tenses; write simple, complex, and compound sentences; and use capitalization, commas, and quotation marks correctly. They learn the spelling of words with various prefixes and suffixes; regular and irregular nouns, verbs, and adjectives; and contractions, compound words, homophones, and words with various vowel sounds. Students develop their speaking and listening skills by planning, writing, and delivering an oral presentation and by creating visual aids to accompany the presentation. This course also introduces students to new forms of writing, such as scripts, autobiographies, and outlines. They practice drafting and revising their writing through the development of journal entries, short stories, opinion pieces, and narratives. Students expand their research skills by learning to take notes while researching and to organize their notes into categories. They also gather information using both print and electronic sources. This course includes a printed Parent and Teacher Guide that will help you support your student’s learning.