This class is taught in English.

Sixth Grade English Language Arts is taught to common core standards, covering literature, writing, speaking and listening. Students practice reading for fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. They will learn to cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says, determine a theme or central idea of a text, and to explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text. There is a strong focus on grammar, which includes gerunds, participles and infinitives, appositives, and denotations and connotations. There are also daily journal writing assignment and weekly writing assignments that culminate with the completion of a scaffold research paper.

I have a master of arts degree in American history, and bachelor of arts degrees in political science, English, and communications with a journalism emphasis. I am lead teacher at The Foster Woods Folk School, which focuses on humanities education within an ecosocial justice framework aimed at celebrating and improving our connections as a global community of humans and non-humans living on Planet Earth. In this role, I work with learners of all ages with a primary focus of working with learners in grades three through 12. I was the director of a social justice center for three years during which time I routinely taught about and facilitated conversations about historical and current political events for both teen and adults participants. Before that, I was a newspaper editor and reporter for 15 years. I have been teaching history, social studies, and English Language Arts classes for several years. 

Homework Offered
There is daily homework to be completed outside of class time. Homework includes reading and writing assignments, as well as worksheets and other learning projects. 
2 - 4 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Weekly homework is assessed as follows for learners seeking a letter grade and letter of completion: 
Journal Entries: 30 Points
Reading Quiz: 10 Points
Spelling Word Project: 10 Points
Grammar Quiz: 10 Points
Grammar Project/Worksheet: 10 Points
Participation: 10 Points
Writing Assignment: 20 Points

The final grade will be based 75 percent on the weekly homework grade and 25 percent on the research paper grade.

Learners earning a C (70 percent) or greater will receive a letter of completion that reflects their final grade. 
Grades Offered
All student workbooks are graded throughout the course. 

I will provide PDF readers for Units 3-4. 

Students will need a paper or electronic copy of:
-- Ji-Li Jiang's 𝑹𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒇 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍
-- Nancy Furstinger's 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒚 𝑩𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒉, 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑺𝑷𝑪𝑨 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒔
-- Natalie Babbitt's 𝑻𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈