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CLASS OVERVIEW
The Lord of the Rings is the perfect book-series to engage 8th grade or freshman learners, introduce them to scholarly research and discussion, and to sharpen each of the standard skills recommended (and required) by NDE State Standards
In this complete curriculum, 8th or 9th grade students will engage in State Standard-based ELA lessons including writing, poetry, vocabulary, debate, analysis, and comprehension through the novel The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

OVERVIEW
Students will engage in NDE State Standard-Based ELA lessons including:
      Poetry:
          • Poetry comprehension and analysis
          • Poetry elements and form
          • Classic-poets study including Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Carl Boberg, JRR Tolkien, 
      Vocabulary:
          • 60 in-text vocabulary terms (10 new words every two weeks, with the final few weeks reserved for review over the final vocabulary quiz (see next few bullet-points for details)
          • Vocabulary quizzes bi-weekly
          • Final vocabulary quiz over all 60 terms
      Reading
          • Either one chapter from the central text (The Fellowship of the Ring) or one article will be read between each class
          • By the conclusion of the course, students will have completed: The Fellowship of the ring, excerpts from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (in-class), 5+ scholarly nonfiction articles, and poetry by Shakespear, Geoffrey Chaucer, and JRR Tolkien, 
          •  Reading skills practiced will include: literary text comprehension and analysis, literary elements study, literary text compare and contrast, nonfiction text comprehension and analysis, and nonfiction text as a means to understand a fictional text
       Writing:
          • (Nonfiction) Informative Research Essay (biography)
          • (Nonfiction) Critical Analysis Essay
          • (Fiction) Creative writing Short-Story 
          • Scholarly Research
          • MLA Formatting
       Speaking and Listening
          • Text Analysis Class Discussions
          • In-class debate

 DETAILS
    • This course includes 15 weeks of class meetings
    • We will meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays 
    • Class-time will include student-to-student analysis discussions and unit-based lessons (see below for more details)
    • Tied to this course is an exclusive private tutoring session on Fridays for only $10. When students sign up, they will be given a link to that session that they can attend for extra homework help and instructor-guidance on papers and reading

CLASS-MEETINGS
    • Analysis Question Discussion: Questions will be provided at the end of each class that correlate with the assigned reading.  Questions assigned will be discussed in-class during the following session.  While perspectives of the instructor might be added, this section of class is mainly about facilitating conversation, protecting think-time, and posing questions that provoke deeper thought based on the central text and questions provided.  That said, this is about student-to-student interaction.  
    • Interactive Unit-Based Lecture (for example, comprehending poetry, writing a five-paragraph biographical essay, etc)
    • Since The Lord of the Rings revolves around an expansive (and beautifully complicated) fictional universe, a presentation of original resources that enrich the reading of the novel (maps / diagrams / explanations of the lore) may be presented

TEACHING STYLE
    • I want my students to LOVE to read and learn.  If this is accomplished, I feel like I have prepared them for their future more than any singular book or ELA lesson could! 
    • I want my students to participate.  This means that there is time built into every class where they can ask questions and converse with each other and I am merely there to pose the conversation-starter (if needed) and facilitate.
    • I have "lectures" but even those include time within for students to share their thoughts!
    • While students will be challenged to think deeply, their perspective will always be encouraged and celebrated.  I hope that students feel as welcomed to think as they are challenged in their thinking. 
    • While the course-work listed below may look overwhelming and challenging at times, I never want a student to feel overwhelmed! I am here to help and have even evolved unit-plans according to feedback!
    • I welcome and encourage questions during class but also throughout the week!  Message me in the "Conversation" tab of Outschool and I will do my very best to reply within 24-hours... but keep in mind, I am living a traveling-life so (because of travel-days and/or bad connection) sometimes that can stretch to 48
    • The idea of providing a grade and then moving on is not my style.  If a student is willing to persevere, I want to keep working with them until the learning goals have been achieved
    • I view "bad grades" as learning opportunities.  That said, I allow students to rework and resubmit any assignment as many times as they want by the end of the course!

PROVIDED RESOURCES
    • Class Calendar
    • Homework assignments (including digital worksheets)
    • Grading Rubrics

HOMEWORK
     • 1 to 2 Chapters (or articles) of reading per week (depending on week)
     • 1 to 3 Analysis Questions based on the text (these questions are important to answer during the assigned reading as they will add to the class-time discussion!)
     • Unit-specific assignment (for example, paper-writing, poetry writing, characterization charts, etc)
     • It is advised that students review vocabulary terms in their own time

GRADING PHILOSOPHY
     • Students will receive a percentage (0-100) for the activities, and then an overall percentage (0-100) at the completion of the course.  Percentage will show their accuracy in achieving the learning goals (will be provided per assignment) for each given assignment.
     • Guardians and learners will be updated on their grade per assignment (shortly after turn-in).  They will be updated on their course-grade upon completion of each unit, and upon completion of the entire course.
     • A letter-grade does not get applied to the percentage (feel free to look up your local school district's grading scale if you wish to know a letter-grade) 
     • NOTE: The idea of providing a grade and then moving on is not my style.  If a student is willing to persevere, I want to keep working with them until the learning-goals have been achieved.
     • I view "bad grades" as learning opportunities.  That said, I allow students to rework and resubmit any assignment as many times as they want by the end of the course!

GRADING SCALE
     • Bi-weekly vocabulary quizzes = collectively 10% of final grade
     • Final vocabulary quiz = 5% of final grade
     • Lesson participation (Analysis Questions & Lecture-Integrated Discussion) = 15% of final grade
     • Papers = 45% of final grade (each paper = 15%)
     • Other Unit Assignments (poetry, debate, charts, etc) = collectively 25% of final grade