The English Department at Seattle Academy prepares students for college and life through the practice of essential communication skills. Our curriculum is based first and foremost in writing. Whether in personal or expository essays, poetry or a speech, a writer must defend a position or communicate an idea using details and evidence, and affect the reader through the structure and language. The department also emphasizes close reading as an analytical skill and as a means of appreciating the world’s literature. Performing knowledge in demonstrations and presentations is also vital to students developing confidence and character and, therefore, also a major component of curriculum and assessment at all grade levels. Finally, we understand that not all students learn alike, so we strive to recognize areas of progress in individual students and to identify areas for improvement which will help each student excel in college and in life.
Students learn to speak confidently and to create presentations that are original, content-rich, and organized. While giving a presentation to the class or during a seminar discussion about a literary text, we ask students to practice combining disparate skills in moments of action.
Students take on leadership roles and help one another understand the ideas, issues, and values reflected in a text or topic through group discussion. They practice how to listen to one another, to make meaning, and to find common ground while participating in conversation.
Students learn how to apply their abilities and knowledge to the world beyond the classroom. They learn how to think from other perspectives, how to grapple with dilemmas in real-time, and how to solve challenges that real institutions face. By developing traditional literacies within projects that promote problem-based learning, we ask students to consider the past, present, and the future.
The English department at Seattle Academy aims to prepare students for college and life through practice of core communication skills: reading, writing, researching, presenting, listening, and critical thinking. We want students to operate with confidence in the academic world but also to be able to use the skills and competencies developed through their English education in their everyday lives.
