“Reading and writing for purpose and passion” is what defines the Perkins way in creating multi-faceted, success-oriented programs that instill lifelong enthusiasm and high standards for our students.
Reading
Reading is multi-faceted at Perkins. We draw upon a variety of methods and materials so students develop a deep and lasting connection to reading. Targeted small group and individualized instruction helps ensure students embrace a life-long love of literature.
Phonetic Learning
Students work one-on-one with teachers, in small groups, and as a class to engage with meaningful texts in diverse ways. Early reading instruction is grounded in a strong phonetic foundation so young readers build a repertoire of decoding strategies to crack the phonological and orthographical makeup of our language. The study of word relationships, vocabulary bases, Latin suffixes and prefixes, and the independent decoding of vocabulary through word analysis continues in the upper grades.
Literature-Based Reading Experiences
Phonetic analysis of words is balanced at all grade levels with engaging literature-based reading. Rather than using commercial “readers,” students read from sets of carefully selected children’s books. Discussions in book circles allow students to explore diverse, high-quality literature and expand their reading horizons through a range of genres. Through explicit and experiential instruction, students hone their ability to analyze and understand texts. Carefully curated literature and activities expand students’ comprehension strategies while celebrating a school-wide love of literature.
Integration with All Studies
Reading is a part of every topic of study! Teachers select literature to enrich and connect units in history, culture studies, and science. Students develop a keen appreciation that words, stories, informative text, and poetry all expand one’s own world, understanding, and perceptions.
Writing
Our teachers assemble audiences and create authentic purposes and contexts to engage emerging authors. Students learn to value and understand why they are writing so that they appreciate the need for lucidity, organization, voice, and presentation. Students leave Perkins with a robust foundation and strong desire to express themselves as authors.
AUTHOR CELEBRATIONS
Students of all ages share their writings with each other through inter-class authors’ celebrations, at our all-school Friday Meeting, and with “reading buddies.” We are proud of how encouraging our students are of each other regardless of age or ability. These celebrations bring an authentic audience, offering them more purpose for their prose than any teacher request.
THE PERKINS PUBLISHING CENTER
Student stories are often published in our “Publishing Center,” where we turn children’s stories into bound books to put in their class library or take home and keep forever. Older students recopy their text in their best handwriting to practice accurate spelling, and fourth and fifth graders use their keyboarding skills to type their final drafts, which are proudly displayed and often bound into class books.
SPELLING, GRAMMAR, AND CONVENTIONS
While creative writing “runs rampant” at Perkins, we also stress a strong foundation in spelling, grammar rules, punctuation and capitalization, parts of speech, and word conventions (rules for adding plurals, verb tense, syllabication). Phonetic learning begins in kindergarten and culminates with upper grade students delving into a treasure trove of words, word parts, and spelling patterns adopted from Latin and Greek based languages. Students dive deeply into punctuation and grammar conventions and are expected to be fluent self-editors by the time they complete fifth grade.
CROSS-CURRICULAR WRITING
Writing is a part of every subject: students keep science journals to describe their findings, write explanations of math conclusions and create story problems, write historical diaries, create play scripts in French, and summarize research for presentation to peers and parents.