Elementary Education

The Mission of the North Plainfield School District's English Language Arts Department, is to develop a love of learning in all of our students. Our goal is to deliver instruction that helps and teaches our students to become astute close readers, proficient writers, effective communicators and lifelong learners. Using various multicultural and rigorous works of literature, as well as non-fiction texts and media, we teach our students the value of being thoughtful readers and consumers of information as well as how to make connections between a text, themselves and the world around them. We are a department committed to student success through high expectations, academic engagement and authentic learning.

English as a Second Language (ESL) is designed to assist the English Language Learner (ELL) acquire English as a second language while gaining content knowledge. Students with this designation are working to meet the minimum cutoff established by the state of New Jersey on ACCESS 2.0, the state-approved English language proficiency assessment.  This annual standardized assessment monitors student achievement and measures English Language Proficiency progress. All ESL courses are taught by certified ESL teachers.

ESL is an intensive English program for those students whose first language is other than English and whose proficiency is still developing. Students in this program are part of a mainstream classroom throughout the day, and receive additional instruction from an ESL teacher, either in a small group setting or within their mainstream classroom. Instruction in this program is in English only and focuses on Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills and Cognitive Academic Language.

Our K-5 math classrooms use Go Math from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as a resource for students, families, and teachers.  All students have access to the online platform!

Go Math highlights the following:

• The textbook and resources emphasize mathematical understanding, computational fluency, and real-life applications.
• The materials are flexible enough to allow our teachers to make adjustments as needed and to use strategies and lessons we already know are effective in meeting student needs.
• There is a heavy emphasis on “math talk” which encourages students to explain their thinking.  Having students verbalize their thinking is important in developing a deep understanding of concepts.  You really understand a concept or procedure when you can explain it to others!
• There is a write-in book provided at every grade level so students can keep these resources.
• There is an interactive student edition available online at the Think Central link below which provides additional review and practice for your child when needed.

The units progress from basic movement education to developing and applying manipulative skills in various isolated and applied situations such as movement education and rhythm, wellness, manipulative skills, movement (locomotor/nonlocomotor skills), lifetime and cooperative activities.