Mindspark Literacy Block (Semester 1)

This is not your typical literacy class!  Students are immersed in a world of reading, writing, and language arts in a way that connects them to literacy through their own experiences, personal interests, and natural curiosity.  We have a lot of fun playing with language so that students become comfortable manipulating and understanding the written word. In addition to learning literacy skills found in a regular curriculum, students in this class also learn to:

-develop their own voice in writing
-be thoughtful about word choice to say exactly what they mean
-connect literature to their own lives

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READING
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Students choose their own books for reading.  Every 4-5 weeks we focus on a new story element, like setting or conflict.  Students choose a book from my book list that lends itself well to the particular topic we are studying.  Outside of class, students are responsible for reading the book in the allotted time and completing the annotation assignments.  In class, students discuss how their individual book intertwines with our topic.  At the end of the 4-5 week period, students complete a writing assignment that relates to the book they were reading and the annotations they were collecting.  

Students who join this class should already have a good understanding of HOW to read (decoding, etc.).  This class is for students independently reading short chapter books and above.  

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WRITING
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The writing portion of this class is based on small writing exercises that encourage students to play with written language and develop their own writing voice.  In the first half of the semester, each week students complete a writing exercise, which is focused on a particular writing skill.  These writing exercises are saved for revision exercises (in the second half of the semester) and a writing project (in Semester 2).  Students are always encouraged to turn exercises into full stories if they are inspired to do so, but this is not a requirement in this class.  You will, however, see improvement in your child's writing skills as they complete assignments from other classes.  

All the writing exercises can be adapted to your student's skill level.  Some students write only 2-3 sentences in the activities, while others write paragraphs.  The point of the exercises are to get words on paper and notice (and play with) the nuances of writing.  Students at all levels can benefit.  They do, however, need to be at least 9 years old, so they are developmentally ready to engage in the way we share and discuss in class.  They also have to be able to write independently 2-3 sentences.  Students who cannot do this will become very frustrated with the writing process in this class and will learn very little. 

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LANGUAGE ARTS
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Language mechanics, grammar, and usage are NOT taught in the writing portion of this class.  It is important to allow students the freedom to express their thoughts on paper without getting hung up on things like spelling and punctuation.  Therefore, language arts is taught separately.  Students learn the rules of writing so that when they are ready to complete a piece of writing, they know how to make sure others can read it with ease.  

We use the Spectrum Language Arts workbook as the core of the language arts curriculum.  However, this workbook homework assignments are completely optional.  In class, I teach a short lesson, and then students are once again invited to play with language in a writing exercise.  For example, when we study adjectives, I might ask students to improve a boring sentence like, "The man walked into the store."  They will need to use interesting adjectives and other language to spice it up, until it might sound something like this:

The suspicious-looking man walked into the store with his hands in the pocket of a tattered, old sweatshirt. 

There are no minimum requirements for the language arts portion of this class, other than the ability to write 2-3 sentences on their own.  Each student who does the homework portion of the class will purchase their own grade-appropriate Spectrum workbook to practice skills learned in class.  In addition, there is an optional grade-specific spelling program they can work on outside of class.