PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT
The Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School System values Language Arts Literacy as
the essential component of all education. By empowering students with the skills to read,
write, speak, listen, and view critically, strategically, and creatively, we equip them with
the tools to become lifelong, independent learners. This is accomplished by engaging
students in meaningful literacy activities through a variety of media.
The Language Arts develops the abilities that enable one to think logically and creatively,
express ideas, understand and participate meaningfully in spoken, written, and non-verbal
communications. Researching, formulating questions, and responding to inquiry are
integrative, interactive ways of thinking that develop through reading, writing, speaking,
listening, and viewing through the practice of our New Jersey Core Curriculum Content
Standards.
Language Arts Literacy goes beyond fundamental acquisition of a specific,
predetermined set of skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing. Literacy
is the ability to think, as well as knowing how to acquire knowledge for thinking and
communicating. It is also recognizing one's own purposes for thinking and
communicating (through print or non-print, verbal or nonverbal, and technological
means) and being able to discover a variety of resources to achieve those purposes, as all
stages of learning in an active process. To that end, instruction is targeted to meet the
needs of each learner. Cooperative learning, small group work and interactive dialogue
are the hallmarks of our subject area.
LANGUAGE ARTS LITERACY GOALS
The goals of the language arts curriculum for the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional
School District are tri-fold:
1. To ensure that students are exposed to a wide variety of literacy rich materials and
activities. Skill and strategy based pedagogy is to serve as the backbone of
coursework.
2. To provide instruction that is both whole class and individualized in nature,
addressing grade level directives, as well as students' instructional aptitudes.
3. To inform classroom practices with current research and best practices.
