Course Details:
- 2 live classes per week
- 13 weeks
- Live Class Length: 55 minutes
- 15 seats per section
- Homework is assigned
- Formal grades
- Materials
Students will need a notebook, folder, and they will use Google Docs. Please borrow or purchase the following novels:
Holes by Louis Sachar
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Eyes and the Impossible by Steven Engelfried
Journey Through Literature B: Core English Knowledge, a Gateway for All Learning
$485.00
In this semester B of the Journey Together series, we’ll delve into 4 major literary themes by reading 4 novels, along with short stories, poetry, and informational texts. Get ready to join us on a thrilling journey of discovery and learning!
- Live Course
- Semester Course
- English Language Arts
- Middle School
Section Options / Enroll:
- Description
- Lesson Schedule
- Class Intro Video
- A Biblical Worldview
- The Lemons-Aid Way
- Teacher Bios
- Outschool
- Request a Section
Description
🌟 In this Language Arts class, we hit reading hard! And we do it from a Christian perspective, where learners get to practice applying biblical precepts, knowledge, and wisdom in the novels’ real-life situations. It is appropriate for those who love reading AND for reluctant readers, as the regular schedule helps them. Students journey through literature, reading one book every two weeks. Learners will discover a fresh set of 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝗺𝘀, 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘀 that explore the depths of human emotions and experiences. Our purpose remains steadfast: to ignite a love for reading while cultivating essential language skills, critical thinking, and powerful communication. As we explore favorite literary works, students encounter themes of 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆, 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹, 𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹, 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, sparking reflections and engaging them in discussions. In a comfortable classroom environment, students will confidently express their responses to literature with insight. With 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝗺𝘀, 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲, students will have ample opportunities to refine their writing skills and express their thoughts. 🌟📖
💰 Scroll to the bottom of this page to see our commitment to you. We promise to teach this class all semester! In other classes that offer weekly payments, teachers may cancel the class if enrollment falls below the minimum. We don’t do that. 🤜
📆 COURSE SYLLABUS:
As we enter this next phase of literary exploration, our carefully curated selection of GREAT BOOKS awaits, offering a blend of timeless classics and lesser-known gems. Our students will develop a love for reading while exploring the human experience captured within literature. We embrace the importance of beauty in its various forms—be it in the author’s craft, thematic depth, or immersive settings. We hope this class leaves a mark on the hearts and minds of your learners. 🥰
⛄️ 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 (𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀):
Friendship & Fate–Holes by Louis Sachar
Grit & Friendship–Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Perseverance & Love–The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Survival & Hope–Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Leadership & Nature–The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Community & Perspective–The Eyes and the Impossible by Steven Engelfried
**If you take semester A in the fall…
🍁 𝗙𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥:
Community & Outsiders–The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Coming of Age & Sacrifice–Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Legend & Differences–Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Courage & Tradition–Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska
Revenge & True Love–The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Innocence & Ignorance–The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
A SNAPSHOT OF EACH CLASS:
❶ We begin with grammar & writing so students learn to write correctly, succinctly, and artfully.
❷ Next, we read a piece of literature. Sometimes we will read a part of our novel together; other times, we will read a short story, poem, or informational text. The goal is to turn them into lifelong readers! They will read for 100 minutes a week for homework. Reading standards and objectives are integrated through various texts touching on multiple genres.
❸ Students discuss the literature with their classmates and teacher to determine how the author developed the theme. The teacher explicitly teaches how to analyze literature. For example, they learn to look for figurative language while taking apart a poem. Or they learn the significance of the setting when analyzing a short story. In this part of the class, students are closely reading, analyzing, thinking, and speaking. These skills are taught through various methods, including speeches, presentations, and Socratic seminars, which often become the favorite for students. Communication standards and objectives are integrated through one-on-one conversations, the chatbox, Socratic seminars, and large-group discussions.
❹ The teacher goes over the weekly piece of writing. The writing homework can be completed within 30 minutes on top of their weekly reading. The teacher offers graphic organizers and direct teaching on how to do the critical thinking required to formulate an organized and effective short piece of writing. Writing includes short pieces, essays, poems, narratives, and other genres.
❺ Finally, students can show their learning independently in their homework assignments.
The Way We Roll:
Student Motivation & Accountability–Learners participate in interactive lessons during their homework time, which includes quizzes on their reading. We use “workshop time” in class so students will write while the teacher “visits” them on their Google Document. Once we started using this method, we saw nearly a 100% completion rate in student writing! We implement other measures to hold them accountable for their learning, like asking them to verbally give answers if they stop using the chatbox, or telling them to send an “IDK yet” (I don’t know yet) in the chatbox if they can’t yet answer a question. We want to honor the investment parents make in this class and the time students spend. The goal is to build skills and learn! That means students are working, thinking, and writing. Active engagement is the key to success in this class.
Public Speaking & Cameras–The instructor intentionally teaches communication skills and norms. For example, the “dominator” will learn to give others a chance to speak and will even learn to involve others to help bring forth their ideas. The quieter students learn to take risks and put themselves out there because they have good ideas and important things to say. These skills are taught through various methods, including speeches, presentations, and Socratic seminars, which often become the favorite for students. We also talk about how an online community is established, and students are encouraged–but not forced–to keep their cameras open. This helps all students feel connected to each other as a community of learners. It also helps the teacher picture their faces when reading their writing. They naturally get more attention from their teacher when their camera is on because the teacher’s eyes are drawn to faces, not empty black boxes. In fact, students who don’t have their cameras on are sorted last in the list of students and sometimes, Zoom even hides them! Keeping the camera on is a learning strategy and improves engagement. Also, we feel closer to each other when we see each other. Trust us. ?
Homework–Students can expect to have homework after each live class. They will work 15-45 minutes, depending on the assignment and how quickly they work. Students will read for 100 minutes a week (not in addition to our class novels). We want them to fall in love with books! Teachers give authentic and constructive feedback on students’ work that helps them correct their mistakes and fine-tune their skills. Students study grammar through daily mini-lessons and practice sentence writing and using various sentence starters. Students will read for 100 minutes a week. We want them to fall in love with books!
Graphic Organizers–Students need graphic organizers to help them see the structure of a paragraph or essay and the writing process. We also use them to guide their reading of a class novel. This is how they learn to develop coherent ideas. They don’t figure out how to do this magically; the graphic organizers and the intentional, explicit teaching help them learn the skills!
Student Mastery–Each class includes explicit, direct instruction with teacher modeling. Students are guided toward mastery of multiple writing skills and understandings so that they grasp the concepts and become independent. Students are held to a high standard of academic writing, including the use of grammar and the construction of sophisticated sentences.
Teacher Feedback–The back-and-forth work between a student and teacher significantly benefits a student if it is done well. We follow best practices in this area with how we design class time, assignments, and routines. According to Pennington Publishing, effective writing feedback (or grading) is:
• Specific, not general
• Immediate, not postponed
• Routine with a revision / feedback cycle
• Explanatory
• The right amount
• Targeted to the most critical issues
• Varied (written, audio, and video comments)
• Holding students accountable
YOUR TEACHER:
Nervous about the commitment to an entire semester? We offer a little taste in a reading comprehension class. If you take that class, we will provide a coupon for a semester ELA class worth the enrollment fee of the reading class, essentially getting the one-time class for free.
Ages 11-12
Ages 13-14
Get to know Mrs. Lemons and The Lemons-Aid Team.
GRADES:
We give specific and authentic feedback on student writing through the teacher tab of the classroom and on Google Docs. We also give feedback orally and with the chatbox immediately in class. If you require formal grades, please ask at the beginning of the semester.
Lesson Schedule
coming soon…
Class Introduction Video
Coming soon…
Taught From a Christian Perspective
Our mission is to equip learners’ minds and shepherd their hearts. We want them to have saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and then develop a biblical worldview. This means they view their world, themselves, and God in a way that aligns with what the Bible teaches. This brings great peace and understanding to the believer because we serve a good, sovereign God. This course is taught with these goals in mind. In class, we may pray, read scripture, and discuss how to view the content from a Christian perspective.
We have adopted The Master’s Seminary Doctrinal Statement.
✨ 🍋 ✨ Why Lemons-Aid? ✨ 🍋 ✨
EXPLICIT TEACHING: We understand the skills and concepts students need to learn and know how to teach them. Lemons-Aid’s materials are top-notch, organized, and clear for students and parents to understand. We are especially skilled at breaking down a complicated process into understandable parts. Further, explicit instruction is “a structured, systematic, and effective methodology for teaching academic skills. It is called explicit because it is an unambiguous and direct approach to teaching that includes both instructional design and delivery procedures. Explicit instruction is characterized by a series of supports or scaffolds, whereby students are guided through the learning process with clear statements about the purpose and rationale for learning the new skill, clear explanations and demonstrations of the instructional target, and supported practice with feedback until independent mastery has been achieved.”
- Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching by Anita L. Archer and Charles A. Hughes.
Anita Archer trained Mrs. Lemons in workshops, and it changed her teaching. Read a little more about the research behind explicit teaching here and here.
To read more about your teaching and learning methods, read Mrs. Lemons’ blog.
STUDENT ACCOUNTABILITY = ACHIEVEMENT: Students master skills with us and make gains. We have a high degree of accountability. Since we make promises here and parents are paying good money, we understand you trust us to work! Students have to work too, and let’s be honest: they’re kids and don’t always want to. We push it. We teach them how to stay engaged, we cold-call on kids, we tell them to use the chatbox, and we want them to use emojis! If they are resistant, we contact the student through the teacher tab first. If that doesn’t work, we call in the big guns–Mom and Dad. We want kids to learn. We don’t want them to pass through our classes without gaining skills and doing great learning.
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS: To balance our high expectations for their learning and behavior, we build relationships with them. We want them to know we care about and know them. We’ll ask about their play last weekend or the new trick they’re trying to master on the skateboard. We also want students to get to know each other and encourage community engagement.
DEPENDABLE: Multiple teachers are teaching this class, and we have an entire year of lessons planned and scheduled. Since we are a mission-driven organization, we protect our brand and the relationships with our families. We are accountable to our learners. When things come up for teachers, we work to get substitutes and do everything we can before canceling a class. We do not like canceling or changing, and we often teach classes at a loss to give others a chance to join. We have limits, of course, but we are not flippant or irresponsible about canceling! When things come up for students, since we have multiple sections, they can transfer from section to section. All our teachers teach the same content the same week, giving families even more flexibility!
The Lemons-Aid Team
Lemons-Aid teachers have a few things in common.
❤️ They love their students and value each of their unique strengths and personalities that make our classes special. Our classes can be described as fun, personal, academic, challenging, and supportive.
🤩 We work to keep learners engaged, so there is always a degree of student accountability for their attention and focus, whether that be through asking them direct questions or by using the chatbox.
💭 We know all kids can learn, but sometimes things are hard! To support students, we teach them how to develop effective thinking and learning habits that will bring them success in class and in life.
🌟 Building relationships with students so they know we care about them helps us balance the high expectations we have for them regarding their effort, work quality, and behavior. Our students are encouraged, cared for, and they achieve!
𝙆𝘼𝙍𝙀𝙉 𝙇𝙀𝙈𝙊𝙉𝙎: English Language Arts
#High-Energy #Skilled #Experienced #Relational #Fun
Karen is the Founder of Lemons-Aid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English, a minor in Education, and a master’s degree in Education Administration from Liberty University. With a teaching certificate and a principal’s license in both Washington and Colorado, she has many years of experience teaching English Language Arts and History / Social Studies at the middle school and high school levels. Additionally, she is TESOL and TEFL certified and enjoys teaching English Language Learners from all over the world. She has worked in private and public schools at every level and is currently an affiliate faculty member at Colorado Christian University, supervising teacher candidates in their undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs. She is a teacher of teachers. A homeschool mom herself, she admits that teaching other people’s kids is easier than teaching her own teenage boys! She lives in the Denver, Colorado area where she cheers on the Broncos, Avs, and the Rockies, but her favorite athletes are her own kids who play hockey and baseball!
🎥 Karen’s Intro Video
𝑱𝑬𝑵𝑵 𝑹𝑰𝑨𝑳𝑬: English Language Arts
#Experienced #Knowledgeable #Empowering #Patient #Rises Above the Ordinary.
As a certified English teacher, Jenn has taught in some capacity over the course of the past twenty-five years. She has taught middle school and high school English classes in both private and public school settings, tutored international ESL students online, developed and taught literature and public speaking classes for a local homeschool co-op, and homeschooled her own two children. Jenn has a bachelor’s degree in English Education. A strong believer in lifelong learning, Jenn has also taken several graduate-level courses related to teaching. Jenn enjoys spending time with her husband, Mark, and their two teenagers. She enjoys taking day trips close to where they live in upstate New York. In her spare time, Jenn enjoys singing and performing in plays. Additionally, she enjoys curling up on the sofa to read a good book. More than likely, one of her four cats will be curled up at her feet.
🎥 Jenn’s Intro Video
𝙆𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙉 𝙁𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙈𝘼𝙉: Elementary
#Fun #Inspiring #LoveForLearning
Kristen has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with a minor in child psychology from Liberty University. For nearly a decade, she has worked in elementary school classrooms, as a private tutor, and as an online ELL teacher. While passionate about education in general, her favorite subjects to both study and teach are reading, grammar, and writing. She and her husband are actively involved in a church where she works as a Sunday School teacher and Children’s Ministry teacher to ages 4-6. No matter where she is teaching, Kristen tries to find ways to connect with her students and to create an exciting classroom that builds a passion for education. It is her desire to not only teach a subject but also to foster a love of learning which inspires students to want to learn more even once the class is completed. Kristen lives in Virginia with her husband, daughter, and their new baby boy! In her spare time, Kristen loves to create teaching content such as interactive lesson plans, worksheets, and more! She also enjoys doing family outings and crafting.
🎥 Kristen’s Intro Video
𝙈𝙍𝙎. 𝘼𝙇𝙄:
Elementary
#Engaging #Fun #Patient #Kind #Encouraging
Ali has a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and has worked with children over the last 11 years. She taught for 6 years in public school, 2 years in Kindergarten and 4 years in First Grade. She has worked as a reading tutor and ESL teacher online for the last 4 years; she has also tutored children in-person in reading, writing, and STEM. Ali believes that every child is a natural learner; she believes that an educator’s goal is to engage each child in the way that they learn best! She is passionate about creating a safe and FUN environment that teaches the whole child. Each time she enters a classroom, whether it is in-person or online, you can find her singing, playing games, and making learning fun. Ali lives in Missouri, near St. Louis with her husband and fur-child (an 80 lb. German Shepherd who doesn’t know how big he is). In her free time she loves reading, writing, crafts, hiking, working out, and spending time with my family.
🎥 Ali’s Intro Video
𝙆𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙀𝙍𝙇𝙔 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙎𝙄: English
#Energetic #Kind #Encouraging #Authentic #Enthusiastic #Guide
Kim loves life, loves people, and loves learning! She views each student as a team member with his or her own unique talents, skills and life experience to bring to the group. She loves helping students expand their knowledge and sharpen their skills to reach their greatest potential. Kim has a Bachelor’s degree from Cairn University in secondary Education with certification in English (NY and PA) and endorsement in music. Her classroom experience has focused on English, PE and Bible education, but she has tutored in a variety of areas including ESL, special ed, math, history, science and music (piano and voice). She lives in northeast PA with her wonderful family. She has homeschooled all of her seven children. The youngest five are still in school and ensure that every day is an adventure. Kim also coaches intramural and competitive sports throughout the year. She loves music, sports, reading and taking long walks up her dirt road admiring wildflowers, listening to birds and reflecting on what she is learning in life!
🎥 Kim’s Intro Video
Christian Teachers on Outschool
We want to serve you on Lemons-Aid! For first-time learners on Lemons-Aid, you can use the coupon code Newbie20 to get $20 off your first class.
However, if the schedule doesn’t work for you, we will happily teach you on Outschool, but we can’t talk about Jesus.
Use this referral code and get $20 off your first class on Outschool: LEMONSA2020
Request a New Section
Want to see this class offered at another time? Send a request, and we’ll see what we can do!