Language Arts in Elementary School

Language arts are one of the most crucial parts of education for an elementary aged child. In learning language skills, a child will be able to communicate with the world around them. Language arts is a very broad term. Many people will hear that and think it only refers to reading, but there are many other parts that encompass language arts.
Listening- Listening is most usually the first component of language arts development. From birth, children will benefit and learn from just listening to spoken words or even music. This will help to form the basis of their language development. The more they hear, the better the chance that they will develop good language skills. Listening helps the child learn what the words they are mean and represent. By listening in school, students will absorb information that their teachers are presenting. Good listening skills will not only help them learn language, but also anything else that they are taught, math, science, art, etc. Listening is the basis of good learning.
Speaking- Speaking is usually follows listening. Speaking helps a child learn how to take the words they hear and express their own feelings and thoughts. They must learn to speak with varying emotion, tone, volume and diction. The child needs to learn the words to help them speak to express themselves. Also, speaking will help them in school by being able to answer questions, read aloud and participate in class. Speaking is very important for children to master. With good speech skills, they can communicate well and ensure success.
Reading – Reading isn’t just reading a book or magazine, reading is a way to absorb valuable information in many different ways. Children may first learn to read by viewing an object and seeing the written word that describes it. They can then progress onto to more advanced skills like reading a simple sentence. Eventually, they will be able to read many words, sentences and paragraphs to decipher their meaning and gather information or enjoy a story. Reading is always going to be an essential skill in language arts. Not being able to read the written word will make it very difficult to succeed in many ways. A child needs to learn the importance of reading. They need to learn that reading will help them learn many things, from science lessons to moral lessons, reading is crucial for elementary students to master.
Writing- In connection with reading, children need to learn how to write to express themselves. They may have achieved success at speaking, but the true test is to be able to write down words in the correct way to express themselves through writing. Misguided writing will be detrimental to a child. They need to learn the basic make up of a sentence and build on that knowledge to form paragraphs and even short stories or essays. They need to understand grammar and spelling. They need to learn how to have their own writing style. They need to also be able to have legible handwriting, what good is being adept in writing if no one can read your handwriting! This will be crucial for them to master. They will use this skill their whole lives and need to get a handle on the building blocks of writing success in the early years.
Viewing – Viewing is a great aspect of language arts. Symbols and drawings can help enhance things children read, hear or write. They may watch a TV show or movie and understand more of it because of the graphics that go along with the story. A teacher can help probe for understanding by asking what the child inferred from what they saw while reading or watching. They also can use illustrations and models to help them learn. Flashcards for instance can reinforce spelling or vocabulary words that are hard to master. Viewing goes hand in hand with many of the aspects of language arts.
Visual representations – Similar to viewing, visual representations are a mix of many different things. For instance, graphs, charts, drawings, models, sculptures, even photographs can be used to demonstrate language arts. It is sometimes easier for students to express themselves through those mediums. Instead of writing a complicated sentence with difficult vocabulary words, a student can express a statement by a drawing or picture. This is just another tool in the arsenal of language arts.
All in all, language arts are a very diverse subject matter. There are so many aspects that will lead to student success. A teacher is tasked with making sure they incorporate and teach all of these aspects to their best ability. It is crucial that teachers use a variety of pedagogical strategies to help them teach language arts to the fullest. They need to embrace the importance that language arts play in not only the classroom, but the world in which we all live.