English Language Arts at NorthSouth

Covers NorthSouth's Enrichment English Language Arts ladder, Grades 1-12. This is NorthSouth's skill-building track — for the separate contest tracks that share some subject matter, see the standalone Essay Writing and Public Speaking pages linked below.

Not every class on this page is offered every semester — check current availability when you register.

What is NorthSouth's English Language Arts program?

One continuous ladder from early reading through college-level writing, plus the speech and standardized-test-prep skills that build on it along the way. Unlike NorthSouth's Bee and contest tracks, ELA classes have no competition at the end (with one small exception, noted below) — the goal is a genuinely stronger reader, writer, and speaker, at whatever grade your child is in.

NorthSouth's ELA classes

Reading & Language Arts ladder

Beginner (Grades 1-3, ELA101F)
Intermediate (Grades 3-5, ELA201F)
Advanced (Grades 6-8, ELA301F)
High School English (Grades 9-12, ELA401F)

Writing

Creative Writing (Grades 3-5, ELA204F)
Essay Writing (Grades 6-8, ELA304F)

Speech

Public Speaking (Grades 3-5, ELA203F)
High School Speech and Debate (Grades 9-12, ELA803A)

SAT/ACT English Prep

Beginner (Grades 6-8, ELA801F)
Advanced (Grades 9-12, ELA802F)

What students work on

Reading & Language Arts — Beginner (Grades 1-3): Early reading and language work that builds both skill and appetite — decoding and fluency, vocabulary in context, sentence and paragraph mechanics, comprehension strategies, and enough writing to make a young student feel like an author. Small cohorts mean every child reads aloud and gets responded to.

Reading & Language Arts — Intermediate (Grades 3-5): The step where reading becomes a tool rather than a task. Students work with longer, harder texts, learn to summarize and infer rather than retell, build vocabulary from roots and context, and write paragraphs that hold a point. Grammar is taught in service of clearer sentences, not as a worksheet.

Creative Writing (Grades 3-5): A creative studio aimed at unlocking student voice across multiple genres, run as ten weekly sessions:

The Art (and Arc) of Storytelling — story arc, finding a "seed" idea, the writing process
Opinion Writing: The Case for Persuasion — thesis, research, analysis, persuasion in real-world contexts
Pourquoi: The Art of Asking "Why?" — mythology, origin stories, notable cultural myths
Expository Writing: Getting Real — nonfiction, feature articles, versatility in expository writing
Flash Fiction: The Art of Short & Sweet — elements of fiction, literary technique, a literature case study
Poetry: Puzzles in Verse — anatomy of a poem, poetic devices, poem analysis
& 8. The Creative Writer's Toolbox: Tips & Tricks (Parts 1 & 2) — show-not-tell, hooks, freewriting, outlining, research skills, idea generation
Writer's Workshop: The Skill of Dispossession — constructive criticism, feedback integration, a growth mindset toward writing
Impromptu Creative Writing Competition — in-class, with prizes for the top three submissions

Holiday weeks run as self-directed office hours rather than a skipped week — students get feedback, a self-paced journaling exercise, and a chance to make up missed work.

Public Speaking (Grades 3-5): Standing up in front of people, taught as a skill rather than a talent, organized around the "3 Vs" — Visual (body language, gestures, facial expressions), Vocal (pitch, volume, pace, tone), and Verbal (your actual content, minus the filler words) — over ten weekly sessions plus independent practice on SpeechPundit, an online speech-practice platform:

Foundations of Communication — the 3 Vs framework, class introductions
Listening Skills — active listening, the pause technique, reflective listening
Structure & Content — why structure matters, strong openings and hooks, analyzing real speeches
Express Visually — body language, gestures, facial expressions
Diction & Vocal Skills — pitch, volume, pace, and tone
Brainstorming & Impromptu Skills
Delivery Techniques
Writing & Editing
Bring It All Together — Confident Speaker
Impromptu Speaking Contest — in-class, capping off the term

Every session ends with students speaking and being responded to by the group — repetition, in a room that's on their side, is what actually builds confidence at this age. Enrichment level throughout: no contest rules, no judges, no experience assumed.

Reading & Language Arts — Advanced (Grades 6-8): Middle school reading and writing at the level high school will assume — analytical reading of fiction and nonfiction, argument and evidence, advanced vocabulary, syntax and style, and writing that makes a claim and defends it. Built for strong elementary readers who need the next rung, not a plateau.

Essay Writing (Grades 6-8): An analytical writing workshop focused on the structural anatomy of academic essays, run as ten weekly sessions:

Outlining: The Origins of Success — the five-paragraph essay framework, thesis statements, effective outline formats
Introduction & Conclusion: The Full Circle — types of hooks, setting the stage, the "full circle" conclusion
Rebuttal: The Scholarly Comeback — counterclaim, counter-evidence, counter-analysis
Evidence & Analysis: The (Proverbial) Meat — intro to research, introducing evidence, going beyond the quote into real analysis
Introduction to MLA Format — headers and paper format, in-text citations, Works Cited
Revision & Editing: The Power of Second Impressions
The Essay Writing Toolbox: Tips & Tricks — the writing process, idea generation, impromptu essay writing
Argumentative Writing in the Real World — intro to rhetoric, rhetorical case studies, a newspaper editorial
Writer's Workshop: The Art of Dispossession — constructive criticism, feedback integration, a growth mindset toward writing
Impromptu Essay Writing Competition — in-class, with prizes for the top three submissions

Because writing under time is a skill of its own, the term builds toward that impromptu competition rather than treating it as a bonus — this in-class exercise is separate from NorthSouth's EW2 contest track (see below).

SAT/ACT English — Beginner (Grades 6-8): Digital SAT and PSAT English preparation at a middle-school pace — sentence structure and clauses, context clues and vocabulary in use, modifiers and main ideas — the foundation for the passage work that comes later, taught early enough that the real test never feels unfamiliar.

SAT/ACT English — Advanced (Grades 9-12): The full-intensity version — verb tenses and passage work across prose and poetry, science passages, history and founding documents, and older literary texts, closing with full recap and timed tests. Twelve weeks, combining self-paced practice tests with an hour of rigorous live training. Includes the PSAT/NMSQT context that matters — National Merit Scholarship eligibility, the $2,500 award, and the corporate and college scholarships that follow.

High School English (Grades 9-12): High school reading and writing at the level college expects — close analysis of literature and nonfiction, sustained argumentative and analytical essays, research and citation, and the vocabulary and syntax of academic writing. Directly transferable to SAT reading and college application essays.

High School Speech and Debate (Grades 9-12): Competitive-style speech and debate skills, taught as an Enrichment course — case construction and research, argumentation and refutation, cross-examination, flowing a round, and delivery under real pressure, practiced in rounds against other students rather than just discussed. Rescoped off its earlier wider span; there's no separate Enrichment speech course at Grades 6-8 — NorthSouth's Competitive-track PS1 is the only speech class at that band.

Which class fits my child?

Creative Writing (Gr 3-5) vs. Essay Writing (Gr 6-8) — these are different courses, not two levels of one thing.

Creative Writing is about voice and invention: story, narrative arc, Pourquoi tales, flash fiction, poetry, workshop feedback. Pick it for a child who wants to write things.
Essay Writing is about argument and structure: outlining, thesis, rebuttal, evidence, MLA, revision. Pick it for a student who needs to write well for school and, later, for college applications.

The grade bands don't overlap, so most families take them in sequence — choose by what your child needs, not by age alone.

Where does Public Speaking fit?

Grades 3-5 — the Public Speaking class on this page. Open to anyone, and also the recommended on-ramp for families considering NorthSouth's Public Speaking contest track later.
Grades 6-8 — no Enrichment speech course exists at this band. NorthSouth's Competitive-track PS1 (Junior Public Speaking) is the only speech class here — see the Public Speaking subject page.
Grades 9-12 — High School Speech and Debate, above, is NorthSouth's Enrichment speech offering at this grade band. There's no Competitive speech contest at this grade anymore — PS3 (Senior Public Speaking) is retired.

SAT/ACT English — Beginner vs. Advanced: straightforward by design. Beginner is Grades 6-8, building the foundation early and calmly. Advanced is Grades 9-12, the full-intensity version for students actively working toward the PSAT/NMSQT or SAT. Take the level that matches your child's grade.

Enrichment or contest — which track is right for my child?

Two ELA courses share subject matter with NorthSouth's separate contest tracks, but lead somewhere different:

Essay Writing (this page, Grade 6-8) builds the same core skills as NorthSouth's EW1/EW2/EW3 Essay Writing contest track, but ends with no contest — pick this if the goal is simply writing well for school. See the Essay Writing subject page if your child wants the competitive track instead.
Public Speaking (this page, Grade 3-5) is also the confirmed entry point toward PS1 (Junior Public Speaking, Grade 6-8) — the same class either way you find it, one registration. See the Public Speaking subject page for the Grade 6-12 contest structure.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the same as NorthSouth's Essay Writing or Public Speaking contests?
Related but separate. This page covers Enrichment, skill-building classes with no contest at the end (aside from an in-class impromptu exercise in Essay Writing). NorthSouth's contest tracks — EW1/EW2/EW3 and PS1/PS3 — have their own subject pages.

Does the Reading & Language Arts ladder need to be taken in order?
It's designed as a ladder — Beginner → Intermediate → Advanced → High School English — but a student can join at the level matching their current grade and skill without having taken the earlier rungs at NorthSouth specifically.

My child is in Grade 6-8 and wants both speech and debate skills, and the school-writing track — is that too much?
Essay Writing and High School Speech and Debate are separate courses covering different skills (writing structure vs. live argumentation) and can both be taken the same term.

Register or ask a question

Register: northsouth.org/parent
Questions: learningjourney@northsouth.org