Spirit of English Curriculum

Grades

Grade 2

The Grade 2 curriculum introduces numerous foundational English concepts during our weekly 1.5-hour classes. Students are introduced to the foundations of grammar. By the end of Grade 2, students can identify all nine parts of speech, as well as emulate the writing style of classic authors such as Charles Dickens and Lewis Carroll. Creative expression is a crucial part of the curriculum. Students learn how to structure and write short stories, present an engaging speech, write thank you notes, memorise and present famous poems, and study excerpts from famous authors. Students are given multiple independent assignments that shape their independent reading and analytical skills, and creativity. Finally, students practice their editing and spelling skills through weekly Treasure Hunts and Drills.

Grade 3

The Grade 3 curriculum continues to develop students’ foundational understanding of English concepts during our weekly 1.5-hour classes. In Grade 3, students deepen their understanding of grammatical structure by learning more nuanced uses of the nine parts of speech and performing more extensive sentence analysis. They continue to express their creativity through a deep dive into short stories, speeches, and poetry. They are also introduced to writing structured paragraphs and descriptive writing. Students also read and reflect on classic literature and recite poems and quotes from famous speakers. Finally, students continue to refine their editing and spelling skills through weekly Treasure Hunt activities, guided editing on their written work, and drills.

Grade 4

The Grade 4 curriculum equips students with the essential skills for middle school during our weekly 1.5-hour classes. As this is the last year of the spiral curriculum, concepts are revisited with added difficulty and detail. Students identify increasingly complex parts of sentences, review and consolidate their editing, writing and presentation skills, and are introduced to new types of writing such as expository writing and epilogue writing. By analysing sentences, they are introduced to concepts such as subordinating conjunctions, indirect objects, linking verb predicate, subject complement, and more. In this grade, students hone their reading and inferring skills, and time management with independent assignments. Cursive writing, drills, poetry, short stories, Treasure Hunt, and speeches continue to be key components of the curriculum.

Grade 5

The Grade 5 curriculum marks a shift from the spiral curriculum to a building-block approach where topics are covered once and not revisited. Our weekly 1.5-hour classes help students become exceptional writers through usage of complex sentence structures. The topics include combining and revising sentences, speeches, Shakespeare’s works, novel study, writing, and article analysis. Drills, sentence analysis, and peer review continue to play a key role in the Grade 5 curriculum. Unlike previous grades, students are expected to independently write their own class notes and are held accountable for their own learning. This is demonstrated and enforced by the introduction of multiple assignments requiring independent research.

Grade 6

The Grade 6 curriculum dives into the formation of words. Our weekly 1.5-hour class focuses on enriching students’ vocabulary by working with words to lay a solid foundation for secondary school. In this grade, topics explored include affixes, word origins, speeches, novel reflections, article dissection, and essay writing. With the intensive focus on understanding word formation, our Grade 6 students gain a comprehensive understanding of the morphology of words. In addition, cursive writing, drills, sentence analysis, peer editing, and novel studies continue to be key components in the Grade 6 curriculum. Grade 6 students are expected to write their own class notes and research topics independently for their assignments.