Middle School ELA: Seventh and Eighth Grade English Language Arts

Class
Beth Foster | Humanities Educator
Star Educator
Average rating:4.9Number of reviews:(325)
This 32-week course includes literature, grammar, writing, speaking, listening, presenting, processes of a research paper, and more to cover Common Core Standards for seventh and eighth grade English Language Arts.

Class experience

US Grade 7 - 8
Middle School English Language Arts is taught to common core standards. The learning goals of this class are to reinforce and expand learners' knowledge of literature, literary devices, grammar, language usage, speaking and listening skills, making presentations, writing, analyzing arguments, conducting research, and completing a 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
Following each class, learners will have a reading assignment, journal prompt to which they respond, and a grammar, language usage, or literary device worksheet or short project. There will be short presentations and projects assigned four times each unit. At the end of Unit 1, a book report is due. At the end of Unit 2, a campaign project is due. At the end of the course, a five-page research paper is due.
2 - 4 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Learners are assessed on weekly homework, participation in live classes, journal entries, projects, and the research paper. The final grade is calculated as 70 percent from unit homework and 30 percent from the research paper. The Unit 1 grade is 90 percent weekly homework and 10 percent from the book report. The Unit 2 grade is 90 percent from weekly homework and 10 percent from the human rights campaign project. The Unit 3-4 grade is 90 percent from weekly homework and 10 percent from research paper scaffold assignments. The weekly homework grades are: 25 percent language worksheets 25 percent speaking, listening, and class participation 50 percent journal responses Students receiving a final grade of C (70 percent) or greater will be issued a letter of completion reflecting the final grade.
Grades Offered
All student workbooks are graded throughout the course.
 1 file available upon enrollment
Paper or electronic copy of Richard Adams' 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑫𝒐𝒘𝒏, paper or electronic copy of Elie Wiesel's 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. All other reading assignments will be provided in the learners' workbook.
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
As we study literature students will engage with stories from different cultures, religions, and times. Some of these stories will contain depictions of colonization, violence, slavery, genocide, war, disease, death, racism, sexism, heterosexism, and oppression. The historical realities we will study are disturbing to almost all students, but may be especially difficult for some learners. Please consider whether your learner is ready to grapple with this content before enrolling. In addition, this class will address a diversity of  experiences in the literature we read. Students will learn about the experiences of people of different religions, races, genders, sexes, and sexual orientations. Some of the literature may contain depictions of smoking, alcohol usage, and sexuality. All of the literature used in this course is recommended for middle school readers and will be discussed in as age-appropriate manner as possible while also allowing learners to make their own connections. These connections may lead to conversations about current political debates and modern controversies. My objective when this happens is to facilitate a civil, thoughtful, leaner-led conversation in which students arrive at connections through their own analysis. 
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Echoes & Reflections: Teaching the Holocaust Inspiring the Classroom, Facing History and Ourselves, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, "Watership Down" by Richard Adams, "Night" by Elie Wiesel, "Watership Down" the movie, "The Story of Night" from the "New York Times," Oprah Winfrey's interview with Elie Wiesel video, "The Perils of Indifference" by Elie Wiesel, Martin Niemöller, “First They Came…”, "Never Shall I Forget" by Elie Wiesel, “One Friday Morning” by Langston Hughes, “Lather and Nothing Else” by Hernando Tellez, “One of These Days” by Gabriel García Márquez, “The Friday Everything Changed” by Anne Hart, “The Aged Mother” By Matsuo Bashō, “The Last Class: The Story of a Little Alsatian” by Alphonse Daudet, “Excerpt from Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse” by Anna Sewell, “Identity” by Julio Noboa, “The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe, “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Sara Teasdale, “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Star Educator
Average rating:4.9Number of reviews:(325)
Profile
From ancient times, humans have used stories to better understand themselves and their place in the universe. Stories explain our past and how we can create a better time and world for ourselves and those who will come after us. This is the heart... 
Group Class

$700

for 64 classes
2x per week, 32 weeks
45 min

Completed by 5 learners
Live video meetings
Ages 11-15
2-15 learners per class

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