Curriculum Overview:

P.S. duPont’s English Language Arts curriculum creates a strong foundation for students in the areas of reading, writing, and critical thinking.  Our curriculum at all three grade levels provides a balanced and integrated approach including grammar, vocabulary, Greek and Latin roots, reading, and writing.   Our literature units align with the Common Core standards and incorporate a variety of literature including novels, fiction and non-fiction, short stories, poetry, and drama.  The McDougall Littell Language of Literature series  and Wordly Wise, a vocabulary series, are also used for 6th, 7th, and 8^th grade students.

Below is the link for the Common Core Standards for ELA:

ELA Common Core Standards

Extra-Curricular English Related Activities:

Shakespeare:

P.S. duPont offers a half year of Shakespeare study after school once per week to provide students an opportunity to become familiar with the language of Shakespeare as well as to take part in the Delaware Shakespeare Festival.

Debate Club:

P.S. duPont offers a half year of learning the skills needed to argue effectively. This program takes place after school once per week.  Students learn the basics of argumentation as well as the middle school national standards for debating.  Students take part in different kinds of debates each week addressing a variety of current event topics.

Spelling-Bee:

The P.S. duPont Spelling Bee is an after school activity that meets periodically through the fall until the school and state bee which take place in the winter and spring respectively. Students will be given opportunity to practice and prepare for the bee at scheduled meetings, and they are expected to study the words frequently at home.

After-School Tutoring:

After school tutoring for English occurs on Wednesdays after school and is used to support our students who struggle with reading comprehension as well as other areas of their English Language Arts classes such as vocabulary and writing. This program is run by teachers and students and is designed to support and aid struggling students beyond the regular school day.