Students will learn over 100 popcorn words (sight and high frequency words). These are the words that are the hardest to remember and hardest to spell. Towards the end, we also start working on homophones, such as their, there, and they're. Your learner will learn ways to remember how to use each one and definitions that cater towards literal learning or concrete learning.

Cassondra Shields (Ms. Cassie):

Cassondra has been an ESL (English as a second language) teacher for four years to the age groups 3-15. She graduated from the Honor's Program at The University of Nevada, Reno with a research thesis on adolescent conduct disorder attributes and how those attributes were statistically represented in adult incarceration and recidivism rates based on longitudinal study results. In order to conduct this type of research, Cassondra studied behavior, neurology, and psychology of children for several years as well as additional English and writing courses to write about this type of research. She has brought her expertise on child development and learning behaviors to Outschool as the curriculum developer for Shields Scholars. Cassondra is also a homeschool mom to her own children.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Rheagan Bloomquist (Ms. Rheagan):

Rheagan earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Texas A&M University-San Antonio. She has a passion for helping people, and she believes every child can succeed when given the chance. She has experience working with elementary school children in her local independent school district. She also has prior experience teaching special needs kids. What Rheagan wants most is to make education exciting rather than scary; her goal is to help all children feel welcome, safe, and smart. She is excited to create a nurturing and fun learning environment for all children with Shield’s Scholars. 

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Homework Offered
There will be no formal homework, however there will be printable booklets containing the lesson sentences. There will be two booklets available per lesson - one that contains all of the mnemonic device photos above the sentences and one without the photos for advanced practice.
1 - 2 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
We can schedule extra 1:1 reading assessments should you wish to learn your child's reading level. I want these classes to be fun and encouraging, not stressful, so scheduling an assessment is not mandatory.
Grades Offered

We will use NearPod for every single lesson.

Having the NearPod lesson up and ready to go for your learner is required for participation.