English
The English program at Hyla's middle school offers students a stimulating and immersive experience, challenging them with a multifaceted curriculum encompassing reading, writing, and communication.
5-8th grade
Overview
The English program at Hyla School offers students an engaging and challenging curriculum rooted in reading, writing, and conversation. Middle school is a pivotal time for building stamina and growing literacy, and we view our work as vital to helping create open-minded and open-hearted students capable of thinking critically and creatively. Our approach combines classic titles with contemporary high-interest texts, experiential learning, deep discussion, and student choice. Instruction is scaffolded and offers opportunities for students to work at a pace that feels natural for them while also allowing challenge by choice opportunities. Students extend learning beyond daily assignments which encourage them to see themselves as lifelong readers, writers, and thinkers.
Through a broad range of reading, students build empathy and deepen their understanding of the human experience. Books serve as both mirrors of personal identity and windows into diverse perspectives, reflecting Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s reminder that stories help us celebrate both our differences and our common humanity - skills that are important personally and as responsible global citizens in a rapidly changing world.
Students also grow into confident, adaptable writers. They work across genres—from analytical essays to creative pieces and learn the importance of revision through workshops, group discussions, individual conferences, and collaborative projects. Writing for real audiences helps them develop clarity, voice, and purpose.
DEIB Integration
In Hyla’s English classrooms, students are part of a community where every voice is valued and where inclusivity and collaboration are cornerstones. We view reading and writing as more than just academic skills; they are also powerful ways for students to explore who they are, think critically about the world, and use their voices for advocacy.
The curriculum invites students to examine themes of power and privilege, to ask whose voices are heard and whose are missing—from literature, history, and even our own school community. Students engage deeply with authors from a wide range of backgrounds—across ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and ability— in the hope that they will broaden their understanding of the human experience while shaping their own perspectives as readers, writers, and citizens.
Assessment
Students are assessed formally and informally through daily work, extended projects, essays, homework, quizzes, and discussions. Some assessments track formative progress, while others mark the end of brief or extended learning periods.
Student Skills
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Address challenges with persistence and resilience.
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Reflect on and articulate personal growth and learning
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Listen to feedback, offer constructive feedback, incorporate feedback into work
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Develop cultural awareness and empathy
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Communicate with clarity and courage while speaking up for self and others
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Question assumptions and challenge paradigms
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Employ skills to make connections across disciplines
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Contribute meaningfully and take shared responsibility in group work
Academic Skills
- Confidently analyze texts, considering formal aspects, author intent, and context
- Write clearly and compellingly across genres
- Recognize craft in fiction, focusing on characters, settings, symbolism, and themes
- Synthesize and evaluate information from a variety of sources representing a range of facts and perspectives
- Effectively communicate orally and in writing with peers of differing viewpoint
- Build writing and reading stamina
