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"Vital to the curriculum is students' study of and consistent practice with critical thinking, as the students sharpen their analytic and interpretive skills..."

English Language Arts Coordinator: Patricia Johnsmeyer, 914-241-6035

Message from Ms. Johnsmeyer

The study of English Language Arts in the Bedford Central School District integrates language, literature, writing, speaking, and listening in accordance with New York State’s implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards. Vital to the curriculum is students' study of and consistent practice with critical thinking, as the students sharpen their analytic and interpretive skills as they progress through each level of school.

In the elementary schools, Bedford has implemented the balanced literacy approach to reading and writing instruction. Students engage in such literary experiences such as read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading, while in writing, they participate in shared writing, interactive writing, writer’s workshop, and independent writing. Taught through the readers and writers workshop structure, our curriculum is based on understandings that recognize both reading and writing are best understood as processes that can be accessed through specific strategies, are governed by conventions and organized into genres.

In Secondary English, students begin to tackle more complex works of literature, develop their unique voices as writers, and engage in thinking that is both literal and interpretive. At Fox Lane Middle School, students explore literacy through the readers and writers workshop model, whole class study of common texts at each grade level, literature circles, guided reading, and interdisciplinary units. The high school English department offers courses at Regents, Honors and AP level, as well as several senior electives that span genres and time periods.

Points of Pride

  • AP Language and Composition average score: 4.4

  • AP Literature and Composition average score: 4.0

  • Fire and Ice, Fox Lane High School literary magazine

  • Writing Clubs at the middle and high school

  • Annual fall writing retreat, led by visiting professional author

  • Students are frequent winners for writing contests such as the Scholastic Writing Awards

  • Teacher staffed writing center serving high school students on all types of writing

  • Students participate in the regional Young Writers Conference & Master classes