Writing
Writing instruction begins with forming letters, followed by words and short sentences. Beyond this, elementary-level writing focuses on developing larger structures for students’ written expression, paragraphs, and eventually, full essays. Not only does writing instruction help demystify the structure of these increasingly elaborate writing forms, but it also helps expand students’ creativity and critical thinking—key traits for future success.
Grammar
Grammar refers to the nuts and bolts of language—the written (and unwritten) rules that put words into an order that we understand as a sentence. For students, grammar instruction focuses on becoming comfortable with recognizing parts of speech, followed by sentence structure and punctuation. Ultimately, the goal of grammar is to give students a strong understanding of the mechanics of language so that their written expression is clear and their reading comprehension of more difficult texts improves.