Dr. Cassandra Chapman

Subject: Language Arts

What will my child walk away with? I help students understand that language is not just a vehicle for ideas — it is a system with rules, structures, and meanings that can be studied rigorously. Students leave with stronger reading comprehension, a more precise relationship with words, and a genuine curiosity about how communication actually works.

What can families expect? A classroom that honors the diversity of how students learn. My doctoral training in the Cognitive Science of Language shapes how I think about teaching: every student processes information differently, and I design for that range rather than ignoring it.

What does class actually feel like? Structured but exploratory. I use a variety of teaching methods because I know from research that no single approach reaches every learner. Students are actively engaged, not passive recipients, and the questions they ask often shape where the class goes.

How do you challenge a curious mind? I invite students into the underlying science of language. Why do sentences mean what they mean? How does word order shape comprehension? These are not rhetorical questions in my classroom — they are starting points for real investigation.

Credentials and Experience Ph.D. in Cognitive Science of Language, McMaster University (funded by a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship). Completed a visiting term at MIT, funded by the Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement. Teaching experience at University of Toronto, McMaster, Brock, and Sheridan College. Holds teaching certificates from the MacPherson Institute at McMaster and Woodsworth College at U of T.