Language Arts

This program is an introduction to language arts providing students Grades 4–6 with a foundation for effective writing.

The following skills are introduced in a logical sequence to build basic competency in writing sentences:

• The parts of speech
• The four types of sentences
• Sentence structure—identifying subjects and verbs
• Reviewing the 500 most commonly used spelling words

As students begin to grasp the basic parts of speech and sentence structure, we move on to the development of paragraphs. This is where the real learning begins! Students learn how to:

• Organize their notes before writing a rough draft
• Write sentences that support the topic sentence
• Vary sentence length—such as using a very short or compound sentence
• Start each sentence differently—such as with an adjective or a prepositional phrase

We proofread and edit their writing together to develop proficiency in single-paragraph writing before moving on to two- and three-paragraph topics. Additional editing assignments help them to fine-tune their proofreading skills.

As the students move at their own pace in developing their writing skills, we work on four additional grammatical topics:  contractions, possessive nouns, commas, and capitalization. Along the way, students are encouraged to develop their typing skills—we recommend the Mavis Beacon typing program.

By the time our sessions have been completed, students should have made significant improvement in writing well-constructed sentences in topic-sentence oriented paragraphs.

Academic Associates of Nevada County