This ongoing class will review reading and language skills based on 5th grade common core standards. This class is open for advanced 4th graders as well as upcoming 6th graders. The students will be able to think independently, then share their answers with their peers as the teacher facilitates discussion and deepens learning through guided questions. Each week is independent from the other and will focus on its own standards. 

Each week, we will focus on reading a passage and answer comprehension questions based on a specific reading skill. The reading passages will include fiction and nonfiction texts and the skills include, but are not limited to: fluency, explicit details, making inferences, context clues, main idea & supporting details, summarizing, theme, elements of fiction, point of view, text structure (chronological order, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution), elements of poetry, elements of drama/play, text features, and paired passages. 

We will also focus on specific language skills. The language skills include, but are not limited to: spelling, vocabulary, pronouns, adverbs, progressive verb tense, auxiliary verbs, prepositional phrases, punctuation (commas, quotation marks, etc.), compound sentences, root words, affixes, figurative language (similes, metaphors, idioms), and synonyms/antonyms.

Weekly lessons for this ongoing class do not build upon previous weeks or present a sequential curriculum. Learners in ongoing classes are able to join and leave at any time. This class is learner-led and topics will be spiraled, meaning repeating the same standards. Each week I will send out a new reading passage with comprehension questions and a language arts section with vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and occasionally writing homework. We will read the same text on day 1 and 2 for close reading and will have separate comprehension questions for each day and they will include many standards, not specific ones for each week. Scaffolding will also be learner-led from day 1 to day 2 of class. This means I will gradually dig deeper into student's understanding on day 2 of class based on the discussion on day 1 of class. 

Week of January 5-11: Non-fiction informational text
Week of January 12-18: Fictional story
Week of January 19-25: Non-fiction informational text
Week of January 26-February 1: Fictional story