FLEX Middle School Writing with High-Interest Mentor Texts

This is a flexible schedule middle school essay writing course appropriate for students in grades 6-8. Advanced students in grade 5 are also welcome. This course will offer no live class meetings. Instead, learners will have access to a short weekly class recording, as well as additional documents to support the recording. Pdfs will be provided for all texts.

Students will use writing and the discussion platform to become better readers, writers, and critical thinkers. Please let me know if your student needs certain accommodations or modifications in order to be successful in my class. I am happy to assist. 

This is a 100% inclusive class, and any student who makes unkind or inappropriate posts on the platform toward another student or specific group/religion/ethnicity/sexuality/gender/etc. will be removed. My goal in this class is for us to learn from each other by sharing our own experiences.

Weekly schedule:
1. Each week, students are expected to read the assigned text or short story These texts should take no more than 30 minutes to read. 2. Then, students will answer the discussion question in a well-developed paragraph, as well as to respond to at least 1 other student's response. (Text and the discussion question will be posted no later than Sunday by 11:59 pm. Discussion responses are due by Wednesday)
3. On Wednesdays, I will post my video analyzing the text and responding to student discussions. In this video, I will also introduce the major writing assignment and go over the structure.

Students are given 2-3 weeks to write each major essay. Essays should be typed via google docs. Students will also have the option to engage in peer review processes during the class, creating a workshop feel. I will be available for office hours and meetings at various times throughout the course.

Students are welcome to send me rough drafts of their essays (though not required). Here I will give students specific feedback on how they can improve the organization, content, or structure of their writing, as well as tips to fix any reoccurring grammatical errors. For the final draft, students are given extensive feedback as well as a rubric to determine their "grade" for the assignment.

The following schedule will be followed:
Weeks 1-2: Parts of the paragraph and responding to complex prompts

Weeks 3-4: Narrative Writing and sensory detail

Weeks 5-7: Creative Writing: Character development

Weeks 8-10: Research Writing: Citing Evidence/MLA formatting

Weeks 11-13: Argumentative Writing: Fallacies, rhetorical appeals

Weeks 14-16: Literary Analysis and citing textual evidence in literature

Texts Read: 
“Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes
“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl
“Charles” by Shirley Jackson
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
“The Scholarship Jacket” by Marta Salinas
“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut
“Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst
“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell
“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin
"The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank Stockton
"Ain't No Good Girl" by Sharon Flake
"Test" by Theodore Thomas

Important: Students are responsible for completing assignments and turning assignments in to the instructor. If you would like to be notified if your student is not turning assignments in, please let me know.