Homeschool ELA Contemporary Classics 1A: Poetry and Literary Analysis
Martha Jackson, English Language Arts and Writing
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Middle school and high school students analyze contemporary poetry from diverse authors and write a literary analysis essay following step by step instructions with teacher feedback. Option to be used for high school credit (English 1).
Class experience
US Grade 7 - 9
Follows Teacher-Created Curriculum
Aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
This class can be taken alone, or as part of a full year of ELA curriculum for homeschool learners in grades 7-9 (US grading system). When combined with Contemporary Classics 1B, this class forms a full semester of English Language Arts. Contemporary Classics 2A and 2B will form the second semester. Links to those sections can be found at the bottom of this description. During class, students will engage in deep discussions about what they read, learn poetic devices and analyze their use,...
5 lessons//5 Weeks
Week 1Lesson 1Poetry discussion; prewritingPoetry Analysis and Discussion ("I Lost my Talk"), focus on theme, poetic devices, and annotatingWeek 2Lesson 2Poetry discussion; prewritingPoetry Analysis and Discussion ("Rat Ode"); Thesis Statements and Outlines; submit outline for feedbackWeek 3Lesson 3Poetry discussion; rough draftPoetry Analysis and Discussion ("A Rose that Grew from Concrete"); Analyzing Text Evidence, "this shows that" strategyWeek 4Lesson 4Poetry discussion; rough draftPoetry Analysis and Discussion ("A New Day's Lyric"); Writing Introductions and Conclusions; submit rough draft for feedbackWeek 5Lesson 5Poetry discussion; final draftPoetry Analysis and Discussion ("Love, Me" and discussion of these poems as potential classics); Revising and Editing, submit final draft for feedback
Students will grow in their ability to read, think critically about, and discuss contemporary poetry of diverse authors, and to analyze how writers use literary elements and poetic devices in their writing. Students will be able to express their learning verbally and through writing. Students will learn how to plan, write, and revise a literary analysis essay.
I have a Bachelor of Arts in English, and held a Professional Teaching Certificate in Florida to teach English in grades 6-12. I taught middle school and high school Language Arts in public schools in Florida, and for the past several years I have taught comprehensive Middle School Language Arts classes to homeschoolers. I have several years of experience teaching contemporary novels and poetry, and dealing with the inherent complex issues that arise with these topics. As we discuss challenging topics in this class, we will affirm the value of all humanity, regardless of country of origin, religion, economic status, gender, etc.
Homework Offered
Detailed weekly assignments will be given. Students will complete work on their essays individually at home. If families are using this as part of a complete ELA homeschool curriculum, students should expect to spend 2-3 hours of work outside of class, however it will be possible to complete the minimum required work in as little as one hour per week for most students. Because student's abilities vary greatly, the amount of time it takes students to complete assigned work will vary greatly.2 - 4 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Students will be informally assessed through class discussion to ensure student understanding and so I, as the teacher, can adapt the class to student's needs. The essay has a grading rubric provided and parents have the option of using the rubric to provide a grade for their learner, or having me grade the paper (or opting out of grading all together.) Because this class can be combined with other sections in this series for a full year of homeschool ELA, and can be used as high school credit for English 9 in most places, if parents need more from me to be able to use this class I am happy to provide that. Parents should communicate those needs before the beginning of class to ensure that they will have everything they need to use this course for HS credit.Grades Offered
Parents / students have the option of receiving a formal (letter / number) grade for their essay in this class. The grading rubric will be provided during class.
This class is designed to support a variety of learning needs with scaffolded and adaptable assignments. Dyslexic, ADHD, and Autistic learners have had great success in this class. Please reach out if you have specific questions.
At a minimum, students should have at least some familiarity with essay writing, although instruction is scaffolded and broken down step by step. Please message me with any specific questions.
No outside books are needed for this class. All material will be supplied by the instructor as PDF's. Students will need access to a printer as well as other supplies commonly needed for a literature and writing course.
The selections for this class are all commonly found on reading lists for learners ages 12-15. However, each family is different. There are no graphic or explicit images or words in the poems selected for this class. Poetry selections will be sent as PDF's to the learner each week, and on the rare occasion that there is profanity in the original poem it will be altered (and noted) in the PDF. If families would like learners to read the original version, they are welcome to do that outside of class. Poems are selected where this will not alter the meaning or message of the poetry.
Poems for this class can be found on poetryfoundation.org, poets.org, as well as on other free public forums.
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Popular
Average rating:5.0Number of reviews:(500)
Hi! My name is Martha Jackson. I mainly teach writing and literature, and I absolutely love it. My classes focus on breaking down complex ideas into bite-size pieces, giving students concrete tools to grow in specific areas (conducting research,...
Group Class
$85
for 5 classes1x per week, 5 weeks
50 min
Completed by 52 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 12-15
4-9 learners per class
