Why We Teach
To Consider What Could Be: Enter Exciting Worlds, Meet Heroic Characters, and Learn Moral Lessons Students Can Use to Guide Their Lives
Reading great literature gives children the opportunity to enter exciting worlds, to meet heroic characters, and to consider what could be. While studying the classics of yesterday and today, students not only improve their thinking and communication skills, but also learn important moral lessons, lessons they can use to guide their lives. Our students learn about independence from To Kill a Mockingbird, integrity from Antigone, and heroic perseverance from The Miracle Worker.
My daughter became a reader at LePort. Before she got to LePort, she almost never read. The summer before she entered LePort, I taught her grammar, so she could catch up with her class. She became very interested in spoken language, and then she started reading eagerly for class, and then on her own. She even delighted in correcting my grammar at times! To this day, I am surprised how often she'll just take a book to read – and by the level of what she chooses to read."
In overcoming her fear of attending overnight camp, one sixth grader said, "I'm just going to take the plunge and do it, as Mafatu [the lead character in Call it Courage] did!"
How We Teach
Activities That Require Deep, Applied Understanding—While Challenging Students To Develop Higher-Level Thinking Skills and Flex Their Moral Muscles
Our approach to teaching literature is an expression of the program's overarching purpose. Our students need to experience literature as an exciting journey, an opportunity to meet great characters and to explore moral choices in a fictional context. They need to engage with the material, consider its implications, debate with classmates and crystallize their thinking by writing about what they read.
Thus, we go far beyond basic comprehension and retelling a story: through guided in-class literary discussions and written interpretive responses, children develop the ability to think, to express themselves, and to make moral choices. We guide our students to engage with the material in multiple ways, all of which stimulate their thinking and encourage them to apply what they learn:
- LePort students use concrete evidence in a novel to draw broader conclusions. For example, we might ask: "Based on the Prince's treatment of his servants, his guards and his family, what kind of leader do you think he will be?"
- Our students shape their own values by drawing implications from literary characters and events: "What does Mafatu's triumph teach you about our ability to develop courage?"
- They connect literary events with history and today's world: "How might the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird have ended differently if it were held today, and what does that indicate about our nation's journey towards the goal of racial equality?"
- They evaluate works for literary merit: "Which techniques does Baroness Orczy use to build suspense, and are they effective? Why or why not?"
Throughout, our activities, from in-class quizzes and tests to chapter questions, oral questioning to written responses, demand close reading, clear comprehension and independent thinking. Our students can tell you not only what happened in the story, but why it happened, and what the implications are. At LePort, they learn not to passively absorb and retell, but to analyze, synthesize, apply and evaluate what they read. Literature class thus develops the higher level thinking skills that enable children to effectively understand complex situations they may encounter outside of school, to judge others, and to make sound decisions in their own lives, as children today and adults tomorrow.
Far from being a dry academic exercise, literature at LePort is part of developing Knowledge for Life. We stretch our students as readers by offering them rich, challenging works which help them learn to lead more enjoyable and meaningful lives. As such, we don't over-emphasize stylistic analysis (e.g. "How is the color green used as a symbol throughout The Great Gatsby?"); instead, we focus on content and deeper issues of meaning. (We do teach the students about style when and where it is relevant, but it is always secondary to content.)
We are aware of and avoid approaches that are inimical to our purpose—methods which distract from the enjoyment of literature, waste precious class time or focus students on lower-level skills:
- No multiple-choice quizzes. We don't skim the surface of understanding by using multiple choice quizzes as our primary means of evaluation.
- No frivolous hands-on projects. We believe that anything we do in class should fully engage our students' minds. Thus, we don't waste time on frivolous activities (e.g. building the setting of a play out of popsicle sticks, or drawing and coloring portraits of literary heroes); instead, we integrate creative and stimulating activities that engage students' minds, such as debates or oral presentations.
- No plodding laboriously through just 2-3 works. You cannot enjoy literary works if you dissect them to death, pausing on every nonessential detail of every chapter. We avoid that trap! We study novels comprehensively, but don't lose ourselves in minutia. This allows us to explore at least 6-8 full-length novels or plays in literature class each year (along with those included in "read aloud" selections, independent reading projects, and occasionally other classes).
Literature is based on the classics, on great works—and students learn real lessons from what they read. The teachers always ask students to think about what they can learn from their readings, for their own lives: Would you be a friend with that person? What would you have done differently if you had been in this character's situation, and why? At LePort, they really connect what they teach to the kids' lives.
What We Teach
Full-Length Great Works With Exciting Plots, Fascinating Settings, Heroic Characters, Elevated Language and Meaningful Themes
Whether or not a child will become a joyful, eager reader often depends on what books he encounters early in his education. We take seriously the responsibility of selecting the right literary works. We have previewed hundreds of texts to find the finest novels, poems, myths, legends and short stories to enjoy with our students. Our criteria are demanding: to make the cut, a novel or play must have an exciting plot, a fascinating setting, heroic and/or interesting characters, elevated language and broad, meaningful themes. Our students read, for example:
- Novels: Linda Sue Park's The Indian in the Cupboard, Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo
- Plays (starting in 5th grade): William Gibson's The Miracle Worker, Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
- Poetry: "If" by Rudyard Kipling, "Columbus" by Joaquin Miller, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth, "Hope" by Emily Dickinson
- Other genres—myths, legends, short stories: D'Auliers' Greek Myths, Virgil's Aeneid, O. Henry's Collected Stories
We include poetry to expose our students to the beauty of language and the richness of meaning conveyed through ingenious stylistic devices. Memorizing high-quality poems keeps uplifting messages and beautiful language in the children's "armory" for years to come; it provides them with ready emotional fuel they can call upon at a moment's notice.
Many of the works we select connect with the students' study of history. Such works enhance and make vivid their understanding of each historic period and culture they study, emphasizing to them how knowledge is integrated—how historical events influence writers and inspire them, and how literature can in turn shape the thinking of a period.
We have developed an extensive list of great works for each grade level, which we are happy to share when you visit our school. Each year, we select from this list to tailor what the students read based on the context of a given class—their ability levels, maturity, background knowledge and interests.
In contrast to many other programs, we also have a strong perspective about what not to include in our reading:
- No "readers" which compile excerpts from various sources. Such compilations rob students of the thrilling experience of reading the whole work. It is like watching just 15 minutes of your favorite movie. What could be more boring and demotivating?
- No adolescent fiction. We don't limit ourselves to works that are "relevant" to the students' immediate contexts—e.g. novels with adolescent themes or simplistic plots. We choose timeless works with universally relevant conflicts and meaningful themes, works that will deepen our students' understanding of history, our world, and other people, while inspiring a joy of reading and elevating their skill levels.
LePort makes the content of their demanding curriculum interesting, even for children who struggle initially. With his dyslexia, my son never enjoyed reading – but at LePort, they got him excited about literature and poetry. In 5th grade, they were doing the Greek myths – and these struck a cord with my son. He wanted to learn more – and the teachers were always so available, to help him with any reading issues, to talk with him, to look up more materials, to take it one step further. Before LePort, my son felt like a loser. At LePort, they took him for who he naturally was – and showed him how he was a winner. They did not dumb down the materials for him anywhere; they just made them accessible for him in a way that not one of his previous schools did."
A LePort literature teacher reports: After each period during one of our poetry units, a 7th grade student would come to me and ask for an additional copy of the poem. After the second day or so, I asked him what the matter was—how he kept misplacing the poems. He replied, "Oh, I haven't lost them. I wanted a clean copy (without all of my notes all over them) to share with my mom. She's going to love them!"
Who We Are
Expert and Enthusiastic Literary Guides Who Thrive to Share the Experience of Great Art with Our Students
We hire passionate people who love the literary arts, and have a strong background in working with children. We look for subject-matter knowledge, a love of education, and people who live their own lives joyfully and pursue their goals and values with relish. Typical profiles of our literature and language arts teachers are a theater actor who cannot wait to share her love of the stage; a children's author who truly understands and can communicate the elements of an unforgettable story; a masters in literature graduate who can guide advanced students through sophisticated literary works.
We follow LePort Schools' general training approach, and adapt it for literature and language arts:
- Initial training period: observation in class of experienced teachers; assignment to read each literary work, review lesson plans, and discuss teaching approach with the Department Head; and supervised initial teaching period with twice-weekly feedback sessions.
- Ongoing support: classroom management workshops, weekly observations by other teachers; weekly meetings with Head of School for professional development; ongoing review of graded student work by Head of School to ensure consistency of quality and standards.
Staff Profiles
Lindsay Journo
Department Head: Literature and Language Arts
Mrs. Journo received her Honors B.A. and B.Ed. from York University, and her Honors Specialist Certification in the Teaching of English from the University of Toronto. Before joining LePort Schools in 2003, Mrs. Journo worked as an administrator and teacher of English and history at private schools in Toronto, Canada, where she specialized in writing curriculum, leading teacher training workshops, and creating classroom resources.
Zev Barnett
Literature and Language Arts Teacher
Mr. Barnett received an Honors B.A. from the University of Toronto double majoring in history and literature. It was during his undergraduate career that Mr. Barnett first came to appreciate, among others, the likes of Emily Dickenson, William Shakespeare, and Victor Hugo. A first introduction to these literary giants only served to whet his appetite, and he subsequently went on to complete an M.A. at George Mason University. Given his passion for literature, Mr. Barnett found the prospect of beginning a teaching career at LePort to be an irresistible opportunity. When asked why, he said: "At LePort Schools English class not only focuses on teaching the content of a book or poem, but also focuses on communicating an enthusiasm for writing and reading. What benefit is it if a student is taught the plot of Romeo and Juliet, but learns to dislike Shakespeare? What I want to impart, more than anything else, is a love of literature."
Naomi Benjamin
Literature & Language Arts Teacher
Ms Benjamin graduated cum laude from the Honours College at College of Charleston with an A.B. in Classics and a B.A. in English. Writing and language have always been important to her, both in her own creative projects and in her professional experiences, such as her semester as a certified ‘Writing Lab’ tutor. She especially enjoys examining the way language is expressed through art and film. During her time at college, she spent six months studying abroad just outside of London, UK, an experience which saw her as a member of the university’s cross-country team and Chamber Choir (with which she sang on tour in Europe). Ms Benjamin has also always enjoyed interacting with children, especially during the four years she spent as a day-camp counsellor for 5-8 year olds. She hopes to instil in her pupils the same love for literature and language that have been a central part of her own life.
In her spare time, Ms Benjamin enjoys playing the piano, singing, running and working on her own creative writing projects.
Sarah Biddle
Literature and Language Arts Teacher
Mrs. Biddle received her Honors B.A. in History from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia. Before moving to California, she was a registered nurse and worked part-time as an assistant teacher in a Montessori school. Mrs. Biddle spent two and a half years teaching at a private school in Aliso Viejo, where she taught literature, language arts and math, before joining LePort.
Mrs. Biddle is proud to be a teacher at LePort Schools because of its commitment to excellence, high standards and continual improvement. When asked why she changed to a career in teaching, Mrs. Biddle replied: "I love to watch children's minds blossom and grow. I love to see them discovering truths, making connections, and applying new knowledge to their daily lives. I especially love to see their faces shine with pride after succeeding in grasping a new idea or mastering a difficult skill." In addition to teaching, Mrs. Biddle enjoys ballroom, country and Latin dancing, reading great literature, and spending time with her family.
Tiffany Bithell
Literature, Language Arts and History Teacher
Mrs. Bithell has lived in Orange County her whole life. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from California State University, Long Beach, with a B.A. in Liberal Studies and a concentration in History/Social Science. As part of her degree program she also earned her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential.
Prior to joining LePort in 2008, Mrs. Bithell has had the opportunity as a substitute teacher to teach a wide range of subjects to students in grades K-8. As well, her long-term placements have given her the opportunity to develop curriculum that is engaging and challenging for students. Mrs. Bithell particularly enjoys LePort Schools' private school setting because of its close-knit environment and stimulating curriculum. In addition to teaching, she enjoys reading, traveling, doing crafts, and hiking with her husband and dogs.
Lauren Donahoo
Literature and Language Arts Teacher
Orange County native, Ms. Donahoo, has been teaching almost as far back as she can remember, starting with teaching her younger brother shapes and colors when she was only a preschooler. She received her B.A. from Cal Poly Pomona University, where she graduated magna cum laude and was actively involved in the University Honors Program. It was in college that Ms. Donahoo's teaching adventure formally began, as she worked to design and teach a variety of theater classes for children in the local community.
Ms. Donahoo has extensive experience in private tutoring, having tutored in subjects ranging from primary reading to high school geometry. She has also developed and taught classes for several different summer drama camp programs. Prior to teaching at LePort, Ms. Donahoo worked as a teacher's aide at a private school in Laguna Niguel. In addition to the joy she receives from teaching and learning, Ms. Donahoo takes pleasure in reading, baking, playing games of all varieties, surfing, dancing, and spending time with friends and family.
Jane Erickson, Ph.D.
Language Arts Teacher
Ms. Erickson received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Yale University. During her intense study of cognitive development, Ms. Erickson had the opportunity to work with hundreds of children at a number of different elementary schools. She has lectured and published on issues in Developmental Psychology and has been sought after as an education consultant by well-recognized companies, including Hit Entertainment (creators of Dora the Explorer). In addition, she has received awards for her college-level teaching, including the prestigious Prize Teaching Award from Yale University.
Ms. Erickson is thrilled to be a member of the LePort team, where she can contribute to an outstanding curriculum delivered by dedicated teachers. She finds nothing more rewarding than watching children's curiosity nurtured into a lasting understanding and deep appreciation for the world, giving them the confidence to pursue and succeed at any endeavor they choose for their future.
Jillian Gabbriellini
Literature and Language Arts Teacher
Ms. Gabbriellini graduated from Sonoma State University with a B.A in English and a minor in Psychology. She is a trained reading and language specialist, who has taught students with language-based learning disabilities for over five years using both the Lindamood Bell and Kumon methods.
Before joining LePort, Ms. Gabbriellini worked at the Logan School for Gifted and Talented Learning in Denver, Colorado, where she taught third and fourth grade. Ms. Gabbriellini is honored to have the opportunity to contribute to the incredible education that LePort imparts. In addition to teaching, Ms. Gabbriellini also has a passion for writing young adult fiction. She is a published author and is currently seeking representation for her second novel.
What We Deliver
Passionate Readers Who Make Great Literature a Daily Part of Their Lives—Applying Their Moral Lessons and Developing a Lasting Taste for High Art
Our pride is graduating children who just love reading! It is the standard by which we measure our success; if our students do not love reading, we have not done our job. We thrive on experiences such as this: when reading Julius Cesar aloud in fifth grade, our class let out a chorus of groans when the period ended for lunch before the section was finished, and they voiced repeated pleas to keep on reading during recess. This is success: fifth graders who prefer Shakespeare to recess!
Our children's love of reading, and the experiences and lessons they gain from great literature are visible in their behavior and choices, shaping their lives for the better:
- A lasting appetite for great literature. As they become readers, our students begin trading favorite books and recommendations before and after class. They often seek out other works or later installments by the same authors studied in class. They have learned to appreciate and value great literature: pulp fiction and pop culture, the common fare of adolescents, is fine as far as it goes, but it no longer fully satisfies students who have been exposed to the beauty and depth that great literature has to offer. Our students come to crave profundity in their art.
- A deeply felt and retained world education within the pages of a book. Our students develop their understanding of the world and of other people through the books they study. They experience the desperation of Medieval England; the optimism of Colonial America; and the richness of Renaissance Spain. They witness the integrity of Atticus Finch; the curiosity of Nathaniel Bowditch; and the passion of Cyrano de Bergerac. As their experienced and enthusiastic literary guides, we enable them to access deep literary truths. They thus absorb the fundamental themes from each work, concisely formulated themes that take hold in their long-term memories, from year to year, and become part of their souls. Works are not read and forgotten: they become part of who our students are, and contribute to making upstanding young people out of the children whom parents entrust to our care.
- Stronger moral muscles and an improved ability to judge people and situations. Our students compare and contrast characters between works—and soon apply lessons from literature to real life. A LePort student will often draw analogies such as "This guy is just like Sir Toby (from Twelfth Night): He uses others for his own amusement." Our students strive to understand and emulate the moral choices of their literary heroes and avoid the pitfalls of the villains, and as a result make better decisions in their own lives: "I am going to try as hard as Annie Sullivan when I take my black belt examination!"
- An unparalleled readiness to thrive in high school and college. Our students can read sophisticated, advanced works and understand them for themselves. They have developed a strong vocabulary, an ability to think deeply and to write about what they read. They are ready to tackle the best that the world of adult literature has to offer them, and are more than prepared for the challenges of high school and college.