The Island School, a private school on Bainbridge Island, offers an engaging fourth grade program for students from the Kitsap Peninsula, including Poulsbo, Suquamish, Indianola, Kingston, Hansville and Silverdale.
Our school provides an excellent academic education as well as the social/emotional learning (SEL) that is just as critical to a child’s lifelong success in building relationships with others. Social/emotional learning has been part of our educational program since The Island School was founded more than 40 years ago because, in our community, teaching children to be kind, respectful and inclusive is as important as teaching reading, writing and math. It is part of our mission to inspire in our children a lifelong enthusiasm for learning AND an appreciation and respect for themselves and others because this is education of the heart as well as the brain. We focus on the whole child, academically, socially and emotionally, while celebrating what makes each child unique.
Literature Workshop
Writing
During Writer’s Workshop students have the opportunity to continue to grow creatively and practice necessary skills to become effective writers. Students have free choice writing, as well as assigned writing projects where we work together to explore different types of writing. Students will select pieces to go through the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) and practice the 6+1 Traits of Writing.
As a class we write:
- Expository pieces
- Narrative stories
- Letters
- Research projects
We deepen our knowledge of the craft of writing guided by the Six Traits: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions. Students are encouraged to share their writing during all phases of the writing process.
Reading
Students are guided through strategy-based lessons in comprehension, accuracy, fluency and expanding vocabulary. They learn how to find a “just right” book and read independently. We meet for individual reading conferences to identify independent goals for each child. During the year students will also participate in partner reading and shared reading.
During Reader’s Workshop students:
- Are exposed to a variety of genres
- Read independently
- Read with partners and in group
- Respond to books orally and in journals
Spelling (Word Work)
We use the the Words Their Way program, which gives students practice spelling and writing using words with specific letter combinations and prefixes and suffixes
- Students will have word work that is at their current level and is meaningful for their own writing.
- Students will work on brain-based, hands-on activities to help internalize spelling rules and structures.
- Students will learn common patterns and rules that help with both encoding and decoding.
Technology
Using student laptop computers, students are introduced to:
- Keyboarding – in-class and online typing programs
- Online reference resources for research