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Throughout the ten week semester, students will be taught reading comprehension, writing, listening, and speaking skills based upon Common Core standards by a certified Language Arts instructor with more than 18 years of professional teaching experience.  *Semesters can be taken in any order, as each will provide thorough coverage of 5th, 6th grade level ELA skills. *

My classes are highly engaging, thought-provoking, and above all, educational!  Students will actively practice a full semester of English/Language Arts standards with direct instruction, assigned weekly homework, class activities, and detailed feedback for EACH assignment (both homework and classwork!).  I work with each learner at their individual level to build Language Arts skills and strategies, assisting students to be able to apply this knowledge independently.  This course will be a great fit for either students who homeschool or students in regular school who need extra practice and support.  *Assignment/Final Grades will provided upon parent request.*

I make learning exciting by providing a plethora of activity types to demonstrate mastery of the ELA standards, while providing extensive support, guidance, and individualized feedback.  I will use slideshows, graphic organizers, projects, class discussions, games, hands-on activities, HUMOR, and multiple means of writing throughout the semester.  

After each class session, I will post a detailed description of skills we've learned, recommended next steps, homework instructions, and multiple screenshots from our lesson for review.

Students will be required to complete homework each session and submit it to the classroom for prompt feedback.  I will provide detailed, personalized feedback for each assignment within 3-4 days.

General Class Session Format
3-5 minutes: Class community building/icebreakers/news
10-15 minutes: Skill-based lesson via direct instruction – students are strongly encouraged to take notes
20 minutes:  Independent/group practice via whole class instruction or via breakout rooms depending on class size and learner dynamics (I will be checking in with each student/group throughout this time to provide specific, individualized feedback on learner progress!)
3-5 minutes: Review/go over homework assignment for next session

Novel: The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John; Non-Fiction articles

Week 1:  Close Reading Strategies and Building Background Knowledge
Week 2:  Characterization and Setting
Week 3:  Main Idea/Details and Summarizing
Week 4:  Drawing Conclusions and Citing Textual Evidence
Week 5:  Making Predictions and Visualizing
Week 6:  Analyzing Text and Text Structures: Cause/Effect
Week 7:  Structured Paragraph Writing and Text Structures: Compare/Contrast
Week 8:  Inferencing and Theme
Week 9:  Point of View and Text Connections
Week 10:  Synthesizing and Presentations

Book Synopsis:
The night Martine Allen turns eleven years old is the night her life changes completely. Martine's parents are killed in a fire, so she must leave her home to live on an African wildlife reserve with a grandmother she never even knew she had. When Martine arrives, she hears tales of a mythical animal living there-a white giraffe. They say no one has ever seen the animal, but it does leave behind footprints. Her grandmother insists that the white giraffe is just a legend, but then, one stormy night, Martine looks out her bedroom window straight into the eyes of the tall silvery animal. Could it be just Martine's imagination, or is the white giraffe real? And if so, why is everyone keeping its existence a secret?