Join our weekly Scholastic News reading and writing class where we'll dive into an article from a recent Scholastic News magazine. Articles will be shared digitally on the screen. This class is designed specifically for first grade and second grade readers and writers. 

🎉Small Class Size🎉

Here is what Outschool parents have to say about this class:
💬"My son enjoys attending this class every week. It is very engaging. It is a small class and I love seeing him volunteer to read aloud. He is learning about so many different topics!"

💬"I love this class, my daughter has been in her class since 2023, and we could not be happier!!"


English and Language Arts curriculum standards have shifted to create a strong emphasis on exposing students to informational texts and non-fiction texts. Informational texts include literary non-fiction, historical documents, scientific journals, technical manuals, biographies, autobiographies, essays, speeches, and information displayed in charts graphs, or maps digitally or in print.  We will explore many of these types of informational texts in Scholastic News magazine.


Take a look at the wide range of English Language Arts skills that we'll focus on while reading Scholastic News :
🎯Main Idea and Key Details
🎯Compare and Contrast
🎯Author’s Purpose
🎯Cite Text Evidence
🎯Determine Word Meaning
🎯Context Clues
🎯Parts of Speech
🎯Cause and Effect
🎯Make Inferences
🎯Problem and Solution
🎯Summarize Texts
🎯Text Features
🎯Vocabulary Acquisition
🎯Integrate Multimedia


Our time together will be as follows:
-5 minutes:  Welcome
-5 minutes: Introduction to the Article for the Day (slides, picture, short video clip); Activate Prior Knowledge; Set a Purpose for Reading; Vocabulary Building
-25 minutes: Read the Article Aloud Together. Complete a "skill-builder" written activity together. 
-10 minutes: Summarize the Article; What Did We Learn? Game/Comprehension Quiz; Wrap Up


Example Lessons:
📖  "Do Pigs Use Sunscreen?" Learners will identify ways that animals and people stay safe. 
Vocabulary: protect, slather, skulls, bobbing
Featured Skill: main idea and details
Featured Strategy: using headings to set a purpose for reading


📖 "Which One is Trickier?" Learners will compare octopuses and jellyfish to decide which animal they think is trickier.
Vocabulary: defenses, camouflage, tentacles
Featured Skill: compare/contrast
Featured Strategy: setting a purpose for reading


📖 "The Grand Canyon" Learners will compare the true story of how the Grand Canyon was formed with a fictional story about how it was formed.
Vocabulary: layers, canyon, tall tale, lumberjack
Featured Skill: using visuals to aid comprehension
Featured Strategy: read/stop/think/write


📖 "Catch!" Learners will track the history of the Frisbee.
 Vocabulary: disc, compete
Featured Skill: finding text evidence to support a claim
Featured Strategy: Using the R.A.C.E. strategy to respond to text (Restate, Answer, Cite text evidence, Explain)




Here are some of the topics we'll be reading about this school year (2024-2025):
September
•School Feelings
•You Can Do It!
(Growth Mindset)
•Find a Friend
•Johnny Appleseed

October 
•Firefighters to the Rescue
•Creepy Animal
•Pumpkin Boats
•Let’s Vote!

November
•Veterans Day
•Native American Heritage Month
•Thankful at Thanksgiving
•Hibernation

December and January 
•Celebrate Winter Holidays
•Ice and Snow Science
•Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
•Amazing Arctic Animal

February 
•Take Care of Your Teeth
•Presidents’ Day
•Black History Month
•February Science

March 
•Read Across America
•Habitats
•Spring Weather
•Women’s History Month

April 
•Earth Day
•Seeds and Plants
•Growing Up Alligator
•Meet a Cool Kid

May/June 
•Ocean Animal Rescue
•American Symbols
•Insects
•So Summer Safe



*I have obtained permission from Scholastic to use Scholastic News in this Outschool class.

🌟Leaves of Learning Academy is rated "Popular" by Outschool because we are in the top 10% of all teachers on Outschool. This means we offer classes that are in high demand that fill up quickly! 🌟


*Leaves of Learning Academy is an organization on Outschool with about 18 teachers. Occasionally, the teacher for this class may not be able to teach and a substitute teacher from the organization will take her place. Only teachers trained to teach this class will serve as a possible substitute for the class. A message will be posted in the Outschool classroom before the class takes place in the event a substitute will be teaching. I am happy to offer a refund to any learner who prefers not to attend the class with a substitute. Please send a message through Outschool in that event and I will issue a refund. Thank you!


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Outschool policies regarding refunds for classes:

✅If your learner misses a class meeting, you are not entitled to a refund. Your teacher may, however, transfer your learner to another available section, or provide a class recording, at their discretion.
✅If your learner has not joined the meeting 10 minutes after the class’s start time, the meeting may be cancelled, at the teacher’s discretion. This is considered a missed meeting and you are not entitled to a refund.
✅Refunds are not guaranteed in the event that your learner misses a past or future class meeting due to a schedule conflict, and will depend on the class-specific refund policy.
✅If your learner’s meeting time changes because of daylight saving time starting or ending for several world regions, you are not entitled to a refund if they’re unable to attend. Please review your learner’s schedule ahead of time to ensure you know when classes are meeting.