Middle School English Language Arts: The Essentials A

Description

This is one of our most special classes!

Students develop skills, make friends, and enjoy coming to class. They have a teacher that will invest in them and care about them. Our class becomes a community that is the best of the best possible online learning environments.Check Language Arts off your list of subjects to teach. The Essentials Semester A of the middle school English language arts series of courses builds a foundation for learning as students master the essentials. This is the 7th grade course in the series; however, we often have 8th graders in this semester since it’s foundational. While students become proficient with reading, writing, and communication skills, their confidence soars, and they are prepared for future success in all areas of study. We love this semester because skill development is rapid! We start fast, cruise through the middle, and finish strong. And it is a little hard to say goodbye at the end of the semester.

SNAPSHOT OF OUR DAILY ACTIVITIES:

• To create and maintain a friendly environment, we start class by briefly getting to know each other or by catching up with life. We also pray and/or read a passage from the Bible.
• We move on to grade their grammar and sentence work, and students get feedback on their writing in real time. The instructor gives mini-lessons based on trends in student performance. Students report on their reading.
• One student gives a Book Talk. Other student presentations may take place.
• The instructor explicitly teaches a concept or skill, which includes modeling. Students are guided to mastery through practice and teacher feedback. We often have workshop time where students are working.
• Students get homework, so they can independently practice new skills.

SNAPSHOT OF STUDENT OUTPUT:

Students will write a full-length essay, four opinion pieces, an illustrated fable, and multiple summaries. They will complete 26 pages of grammar and will work for 26 sessions, writing sophisticated sentences that are grammatically correct but also have some style and variety. They will revise and edit their writing after getting feedback on everything, both in-class writing and what they complete for homework. Reading novels of their choice for 100 minutes each week, students read for pleasure and learn who they are as readers. They will also read and write multiple nonfiction pieces, fables, opinion pieces, and short stories. Last, they will give two class presentations and participate in class discussions and multiple Socratic Seminars that are scary at first but quickly become a student favorite. Wowza!

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. I also give feedback orally and with the chatbox immediately in class. Formal grades are provided and students earn a full semester of ELA credit.

OVERVIEW OF MODULES:

• MODULE 1–Introductions and creating a positive learning environment. Students will:
  prepare to use technology (Google Docs, KamiApp–this one is optional)
  learn class procedures
  Learn how to give a Book Hook
  Learn how to summarize a book (a narrative of any kind, really)
• MODULE 2–Students will:
  write an organized five-paragraph paper, an expository essay with fully elaborated main ideas that follow a thesis, an effective introduction, a creative conclusion, and Works Cited page
  read informational essays
  read a choice novel regularly and consistently
  participate in class discussions about books and literature
  individually give a classroom presentation, a “Book Talk”
• MODULE 3–Students will:
  read short stories and participate in Socratic Seminars
  write another 5-paragraph essay
  read a choice novel regularly and consistently
  participate in class discussions about books and literature
  individually give a classroom presentation, a “Book Talk”
• MODULE 4–Students will:
  read short stories and watch short narratives with an analysis of literary elements
  read a choice novel regularly and consistently
  write concise summaries of narratives, identifying important literary elements
  write a short story, creating a unique world, characters, conflict, suspense, tension, climax, resolution, theme, and even a motif
  participate in class discussions about books and literature
  individually give a classroom presentation, a “Book Talk”