Expectations of English Language Arts in the Elementary School Classroom

Hi! My name is Rosemary and I am very excited to be blogging on the topic of English Language Arts in the Elementary classroom. I have always wanted to be an Elementary School teacher. For this reason, I see this blog and everything that has led up to this moment as stepping-stones on the path of attaining my goal. I have named my blog, “One good book is all it takes” because I recall from personal experience that I was instantly hooked on reading by the book “Slinky Malinki” by the author Lynley Dodd. Looking back, I think that I became a willing and excited reader because I was able to make a connection between myself and the story/characters in the book. I think this experience also sticks out in my memory because I had trouble reading in English as a child. This was because I was in French immersion from Kindergarten to grade 12 and had very little English instruction in my elementary and middle years’ schooling.

I have not been an Elementary School student for well over 15 years and I also come from a background where I was instructed in French more than in English through the French Immersion program. For these reasons, I would have to say that I am not sure what English Language Arts would look like, sound like and be like in the Elementary classroom today. However, I have had the opportunity to volunteer in a few French immersion classrooms ranging from grade 1 to grade 5, and have been able to observe the classroom layout, the teachers’ communications with students, methods of instruction and tools used. These experiences have led me to think that methods of instruction have changed but not the basics of reading, writing, speaking and listening since they are all essential forms of communication.

In an Elementary classroom, I would expect English Language Arts to be present visually as decorations and tools in which there is writing present, such as posters, calendars, books, whiteboards and chalkboards. I would also expect ELA to be taught orally in the Elementary classroom through talking, music/singing and videos. Finally, I would expect ELA to be fun for students to learn because it is varied and it links to all other courses, which will help students decode the mysteries of our world.