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Middle School English: The Essentials of Reading, Writing, and Speech Semester A

PARENT CONFERENCES INCLUDED! In this popular English course, students write well, love books, speak and communicate effectively, improve critical thinking skills, and grow up a little, all while having fun!
Lemons-Aid Learning
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:
(667)
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What's included

24 live meetings
22 in-class hours
Homework
2-4 hours per week. Students will read 20 minutes, five nights a week. They will also have homework which should take them 30-60 minutes a week.
Assessment
We give specific and authentic feedback on student writing through the teacher tab of the classroom and on Google Docs. Writing is formally assessed.
Letter Grade
Letter grades can be controversial, so it is good to know how we approach grading ahead of time. As I (Karen Lemons) homeschooled my children without formal tests and grades, they had difficulty adjusting to college. I realized that as a teacher, I need to give tests! Further, students on Outschool are more likely to complete their work on time if there are grades. They need to learn to perform under a little pressure, and this will bring out the best in them! Therefore, all students are formally graded, and parents have access to those grades.
Grading
Parents get a 1-1 live meeting to discuss their learner's progress. This is at no additional cost!

Class Experience

US Grade 6 - 8
Beginner - Advanced Level
๐Ÿ”ฅ ๐…๐‘๐„๐„ ๐๐Ž๐๐”๐’: Live 1-1 Parent Conferences are included in this semester class at no additional cost. Your teacher will meet with you to talk about your learner's progress. We support your homeschooling efforts! 

๐Ÿงบ ๐๐”๐๐ƒ๐‹๐„ ๐ƒ๐ˆ๐’๐‚๐Ž๐”๐๐“: Purchase semesters A and B in September and get a $50 discount on semester B. 




๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ž: ๐Ÿ˜ This is one of our most popular, special classes on Outschool: The Essentials!


๐Ÿ’ฅ THEME: 
Check Language Arts off your list of subjects to teach and get individualized grading and feedback in this complete English course. This semester-long English class builds a foundation for learning as students master the essentials. This is the must-take class for middle school English students and emphasizes essay writing, Socratic Seminars, and developing a love of reading. This is ideal for 7th or 8th-grade learners; however, we often have advanced 6th-graders and young 9th-graders. As students become proficient with reading, writing, and communication skills, their confidence soars, and they are prepared for future success in all areas of study. We love this semester because skill development is rapid! We start fast, cruise through the middle, and finish strong. And it is a little hard to say goodbye at the end of the semester. 





๐Ÿ“ท SNAPSHOT OF OUR DAILY ACTIVITIES:
-Catching up with life
-Grammar and sentence work with feedback
-Students report on their daily reading
-Student gives a Book Talk
-Direct teaching with modeling
-Workshop time with immediate feedback to each student
-Students get homework




๐Ÿ”ฅ SNAPSHOT OF STUDENT OUTPUT: 
๐—š๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—ช๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ:
1 full-length, beautiful essay
3 opinion pieces
1 illustrated fable
Multiple summaries
24 pages of grammar
24 in-class writing exercises with immediate teacher feedback 
๐—œ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น, ๐—ฉ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜†, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ ๐—ฎ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€:
4-8 novels of their choice 
Multiple nonfiction pieces, fables, opinion pieces, and short stories. 
๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ & ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€:
Two class presentations 
Frequent in-class discussions 
Multiple Socratic Seminars 

๐–๐จ๐ฐ๐ณ๐š!




๐Ÿ’กWHY CHOOSE AN ORGANIZATION:
If your teacher becomes ill or has an emergency, we have other English teachers to step in as subs. Each English teacher is qualified and trained and is likely already. teaching another section of this class. This continuity for learners is a great benefit. We also have ongoing professional development because our teachers are lifelong learners themselves. You are in good hands with Lemons-Aid Learning.



๐Ÿ’ฐ Scroll to the bottom of this page to see our commitment to you. We promise to teach this class all semester! In other classes that offer weekly payments, teachers may cancel the class if enrollment falls below the minimum. We don't do that. ๐Ÿคœ 



๐Ÿ‹ ๐™๐™๐™š ๐™‡๐™š๐™ข๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ-๐˜ผ๐™ž๐™™ ๐™’๐™–๐™ฎ ๐Ÿ‹
๐‹๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ง ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐‹๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ-๐€๐ข๐, ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ! CLICK THROUGH TO GET A COUPON CODE!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JwlFnta1ZYAlNn8t2GMMA8Bb6dd0ums1IbdtpzZwuRc/edit?usp=sharing

๐˜Œ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ: (๐˜ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ, ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ, ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ)
๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ & ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ
๐˜—๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜š๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ & ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜–๐˜ฏ
๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ
๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜–๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด
๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ
๐˜›๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ--The back-and-forth work between a student and teacher significantly benefits a student if it is done well. We follow best practices in this area with how we design class time, assignments, and routines. According to Pennington Publishing, effective writing feedback (or grading) is:
โ€ข Specific, not general
โ€ข Immediate, not postponed
โ€ข Routine with a revision / feedback cycle
โ€ข Explanatory
โ€ข The right amount
โ€ข Targeted to the most critical issues
โ€ข Varied (written, audio, and video comments)
โ€ข Holding students accountable



๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿซ YOUR TEACHER & A FREE CLASS: 
Nervous about the commitment to an entire semester? We offer a little taste in a reading comprehension class. If you take that class and enroll in this one, we will credit you the tuition you paid for the reading class, essentially getting it for free. You just need to send an email asking for it, so we don't miss it!
Ages 11-12: 
https://outschool.com/classes/reading-for-understanding-kids-a-6-step-approach-to-reading-and-paraphrasing-a-text-e5lcv2lF?usid=0BAnv5zn&signup=true&utm_campaign=share_activity_link
Ages 13-14
https://outschool.com/classes/reading-for-understanding-a-6-step-approach-to-reading-and-paraphrasing-a-text-FtXMQBAT?usid=0BAnv5zn&signup=true&utm_campaign=share_activity_link

๐ŸŽฅ To see teacher introduction videos, go here: https://youtu.be/vHavD9LJ_gg




๐Ÿ’ฐ A Quick Note on Why Ask for Full Payment Up Front:
Outschool has a new class payment system, where parents can pay weekly for a semester class. This is helpful for the pocketbook! However, students can unenroll if their schedule changes. If a class falls below the minimum enrollment, teachers may cancel it, leaving remaining learners and their parents in the lurch for a class! We want to offer a consistent learning experience in our semester courses, so we commit to running the course all semester, and learners commit to remaining enrolled. We charge less per class in semester classes because of the upfront investment. A guaranteed semester allows us to build on content and do long-range projects and essays. It also allows us to build a special community of learnersโ€”and itโ€™s a little hard to say goodbye at the end! We also offer ongoing middle school English classes, which are wonderfulโ€”just different. Hopefully, this helps you understand how our semester classes differ from others that offer weekly payments.
Learning Goals
Thoroughly understand and master essay writing!
Read critically and think critically.
learning goal

Syllabus

Curriculum
Follows Teacher-Created Curriculum
Standards
Aligned with State-Specific Standards
4 Units
24 Lessons
over 12 Weeks
Unit 1: Procedures and Book Talks
Lesson 1:
Welcome & Procedures
 Develop a tight-knit community and learn how we roll (and intro to grammar, reading, homework, and how to engage in class). 
55 mins online live lesson
Lesson 2:
Book Talks
 Learn how to analyze the structure of a narrative and how to prepare for your oral presentations (students give a presentation in every class). This is a fancy, more analytical oral book report. 
55 mins online live lesson
Unit 2: Opinion Writing with Fables
Lesson 3:
Opinion Writing: Screen Time
 Learn to express an opinion and support it. 
55 mins online live lesson
Lesson 4:
Opinion Writing: Wasting Kindness on the Evil
 Learn to express an opinion and support it. 
55 mins online live lesson

Other Details

Parental Guidance
Students need to have a Google account. Parents can set Google accounts up for children under age 13 here: https://accounts.google.com/signup/v2/kidaccountinfo?flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin
Supply List
Find a book, any book, you want to read. Get the audiobook to go with it for a fun approach. Also, come to class with a notebook for taking notes and a folder to keep the printouts you will get. Your teacher will provide everything else.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Joined June, 2020
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Teacher expertise and credentials
Pennsylvania Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
Kimberly Parinisi
New York Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
Kimberly Parinisi
Pennsylvania Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
Jenn Riale
Tennessee Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
Elizabeth Leavitt
Washington Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
Karen Lemons
Washington Teaching Certificate in Social Studies/History
Karen Lemons
Washington Teaching Certificate in Foreign Language
Karen Lemons
Missouri Teaching Certificate
Ali Marie
Tennessee Teaching Certificate in Science
Danielle Mortimore
Master's Degree in Education from Carson Newman University
Elizabeth Leavitt
Master's Degree in Education from Liberty University
Karen Lemons
Master's Degree in Education from Western Governors University
Danielle Mortimore
Bachelor's Degree from Purdue University
Becky Padgett
Bachelor's Degree in Education from Philadelphia College of Bible
Kimberly Parinisi
Bachelor's Degree in Education from Millersville University
Jenn Riale
Bachelor's Degree in Education from Liberty University
Kristen Freeman
Bachelor's Degree in English from Florida State University
Karen Lemons
Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education from Missouri State University
Ali Marie
Bachelor's Degree in Music from Western Connecticut State University
Blake Dahlmeyer
Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Government from Patrick Henry College
Brian Smyth
Bachelor's Degree in Biology/Biological Sciences from Middle Tennessee State University
Danielle Mortimore
Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics from University of Northwestern - St. Paul
Kendra Mancuso
Mrs. Lemons, who developed this course, has a B.A. in English Literature, a minor in Education, and a Master's in Education Administration. She has her teaching certificate and principal's license, and she is certified to teach English / Language Arts and History / Social Studies. She has many years of experience at the middle and high school levels. Further, she is an adjunct faculty member at Colorado Christian University, supervising teacher candidates in their undergraduate and graduate programs. She is a teacher of teachers. All that being said, middle school is her jam! 

All teachers that teach this course also think middle school students are awesome! Further, they have English degrees and teaching certificates. They are qualified experts who love kids!

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Live Group Course
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$545

for 24 classes
2x per week, 12 weeks
55 min

Completed by 199 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 11-14
5-15 learners per class

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