English

 

FOCUS AND PHILOSOPHY

In order to prepare a student for a lifetime of communication experiences as reader, writer, speaker, listener, researcher, and thinker, English classes are part of every year of his or her enrollment at Wichita Collegiate. While methods and strategies vary widely from Early Childhood to Upper School and even among Upper School teachers, the department is committed to (1) actively teaching the writing process so that students achieve clarity and power of expression and (2) developing the students’ ability to draw meaning from poetry or prose. Vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and syntax are studied as essential components because of their role in assisting the student as he or she learns to write and speak fluently and to read and listen insightfully.

 

We strive to

•  expose students to a variety of types and styles of literature

   to develop the student's ability to comprehend, analyze, and interpret    

   challenging reading matter

•  teach students to apply the standard conventions of correct grammar,

   punctuation, syntax, and usage in their writing

•  teach students to write with clarity, continuity, cohesiveness, and

   personal style

•  teach students to craft a persuasive argument through the use of

   support such as research-based facts, logic, relevant examples,

   suitable emotional appeal, and appropriate analogies and inferences

•  make students comfortable in communicating orally in both formal and

   informal circumstances

•  uses a variety of technological resources to gather information and

   create or communicate knowledge.

We believe that

•  the ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing, is of

   increasing importance in the twenty-first century

•  students should have the opportunity to communicate experiences,  

   feeling, and ideas through a variety of types of writing, from formal

   argument to poetry

•  students may extend their understanding of their world by vicariously

   experiencing a range of situations, cultures, and time periods in the

   literature they read

•  students should learn to use literature as a source of information

   about human nature applicable to real life situations.

We hope that our students

•  develop a personal style in writing--one which conveys humanity,

    maturity of thought, and imaginative use of language

•  read for the sheer pleasure of reading beyond the classroom

•  develop sound ethical positions of their own, in part through the

   exploration of the enduring ethical dilemmas and social, political, and

   religious issues with which great literature is repeatedly concerned

•  learn to examine, modify, express, and defend their own perceptions

   and read critically rather than passively

•  achieve sufficient mastery of expression to view formal and informal

   communication with pleasure, confidence and anticipation rather than

   discomfort.