12 Books in 12 Weeks: 4th and 5th Grade English Part B

This is Part B of a year-long English class for fourth and fifth-grade students. Part A and Part B are independent of each other, however, so Part B can be taken before Part A (and vice versa). This course will be entirely devoted to reading and writing. Reading twelve novels in twelve weeks may seem fast, but these are excellent books and well worth the effort. Rather than studying these novels in depth in terms of their literary worth, we will focus on the writing techniques these amazing authors use to grip their readers and get across their story. Focusing on the authors' writing will allow us to both improve our own writing and get the most out of our reading. We will learn to recognize carefully crafted sentences, beautifully organized paragraphs and chapters, carefully constructed characters, and plots that are meant to teach growth and, often, redemption and/or resolution.
My teaching style is discussion-oriented. I want to hear everyone's ideas and opinions. While studying English, it is difficult to be wrong, because most of the study of English is opinion. It is, however, sometimes difficult to allow ourselves to think, often because we are afraid to express our opinions, especially to our peers. I will work hard to make our class environment open and safe so that opinions of all kinds can be shared. 
15 minutes of class discussion on "our favorites" meaning a scene or a character we loved and why. Everyone will share something during this part of the discussion, and I will direct the conversation with a focus on critical thinking.
15 minutes of group writing practice including games and activities to generate ideas and stretch students ideas about language. This part of class will be focused on writing skills applicable to all types of writing. We will use examples from the book we read as we play our games and complete activities.
10 minutes of "plot talk" where we will discuss the novel from beginning to end, including the character's problem, their attempts to fix their problem, the climax, and resolution.
10 minutes of sharing our favorite sentences with each other. This portion of class will focus on the things we learned about writing during writing practice.
10 minutes of working in small groups to brainstorm that week's writing assignment together. This period will be a time to bounce ideas off each other for character/plot if we are working on a fiction assignment. If we are working on a nonfiction assignment that week, we will help each other develop possibilities for our arguments. I will rotate between groups if the class is large enough to separate. 
Assignments will be submitted to me on a weekly basis, and students will receive feedback from me on every assignment the day after submittal. My feedback will be focused on guiding them on topics we have talked about in class. Small portions of the students' work will occasionally be shared with the class (everyone will share, not a select few), but we will not be focused on critiquing each other's work as a class. I intentionally keep class sizes small so that everyone has a chance to participate. 
The class schedule will be as follows:
Week One—One Crazy Summer by Rita Garcia Williams and blog assignment
Week Two—Matilda by Roald Dahl and blog assignment
Week Three—Misadventures of Maude Marche by Audrey Couloumbis and nursery rhyme assignment
Week Four—The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky and story poem assignment
Week Five—Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier and tall tale assignment
Week Six—El Deafo by Cece Bell and tall tale assignment
Week Seven—A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park and critical essay assignment
Week Eight—The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum by Candace Fleming and critical essay assignment
Week Nine—The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Keatley Snyder and graphic novel assignment
Week Ten—Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin and graphic novel assignment
Week Eleven—Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay and nonfiction assignment
Week Twelve—The Great Brain by John Fitzgerald and nonfiction assignment