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English Language Arts
English Language Arts is at the heart of curriculum and instruction. The English Language Arts Department works diligently to identify career and college skills, content, and strategies to best prepare our students for their educational experience in Grades K-12. Our Language Arts Program is comprehensive and follows a balanced literacy approach. Our students have the opportunity to develop reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills, so they become independent lifelong learners. Language Arts combines curriculum, instruction, and assessment to produce desired results and outcomes. Knowledge, skills, and strategies are embedded in our curriculum guides and units of study to encourage our students to be creative as well as critical thinkers.
Congratulations to members of the National English Honor Society!
The National English Honor Society (NEH) is open to all high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have “demonstrated exceptional ability in such areas as literary analysis, media studies, composition, linguistic study, and creative writing and meets the membership requirements.”
Membership Requirements:
- Must be a Sophomore, Junior or Senior
- Must have an overall cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Must have an English GPA of 3.5 or higher
Any student who meets the above requirements must complete an application, which is then reviewed by the advisor. Any student interested in being a part of the NEH should reach out to Ms. Tzanos at annatzanos@paps.net Students are inducted into the NEH in the spring.
For more information about the National English Honor Society, click HERE
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Reading and Writing Instructional Materials
The information below provides a brief overview of the instructional materials used in English Language Arts and the grade levels at which they are offered. For additional information on the various resources, please click on the links provided.
Grades K - 4
Benchmark Phonics is a structured literacy program focused on building phonological awareness, decoding, encoding and fluency skills. This resource is used daily in grades K-2. For more information, please click on the link above.
Benchmark Assessment System (K-4)
Benchmark Assessment System (BAS), provides resources for teachers "to determine student’s independent and instructional reading levels" and "to observe student reading behaviors one-on-one, engage in comprehension conversations that go beyond retelling, and make informed decisions that connect assessment to instruction." This resource is used in grades K-4 three times per year. For more information, please click on the link above.
Writers Workshop is our district writing program offered by Teachers College, Columbia University. In this program, students learn to write in various genres and incorporate associated skills throughout their writing. Teachers implement this instruction daily in a workshop model in grades K-8. For more information, please click on the link above.
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Reading Wonders is a rigorous program to build literacy competencies for students in reading, writing, speaking, and listening in alignment with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS). This program is used in grades K-4. For more information, please click on the link above.
Sonday/Let's Play Learn System (K-4)
The Sonday System is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy that is available to students with disabilities daily educated in an In-Class Resource program in grades K-4. The Sonday System is also implemented for general education students receiving Leveled Literacy Instruction in grades K-2. For more information, please click on the link above.
Lightning Learners
Lightning Learners is a fantastic program for students in need of additional targeted instruction in reading comprehension, fluency, phonics and vocabulary. The program's lessons include phonics, phonemic awareness, decoding, reading and writing. Students gain additional instruction via i-Ready, where students will engage in online lessons tailored to meet their needs.
Grades 5 - 8
Middle School Readers & Writers Workshop
Readers and Writers Workshop (5-8)
Readers and Writers Workshops, offered by Teachers College, Columbia University, promote a love of reading and writing. The programs' instructional format is a workshop model, where students interact with text at high levels and produce writing in various genres throughout the year. The programs are used in grades 5 through 8. For more information, please click on the links above.
Grades 9 - 12
SpringBoard (CollegeBoard, grades 9-12)
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This program offers targeted instruction in close reading and writing strategies that provides students with skills needed to read and analyze complex text and produce writing in a variety of modes that will assist them in their post-secondary endeavors. This program is used in grades 9-12. For more information, please click on the link above.
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PERTH AMBOY LIBRARY RESOURCES
Please check the Perth Amboy Public Library! The application for a library card is below.
Perth Amboy Public Library Children's Application
Students and teachers also have access to a digital library of books on Sora by OneDrive!
https://soraapp.com/library/papsnj
