Interested in this class for your school, co-op, or small group of friends?  Message me about possible times!  (6 learner minimum for a private class.)

In this literature and composition semester class, teens will read, annotate, and begin to analyze classic literature and write compositions based on what is read.  Following the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) structural units and style recommendations, learners will write based on IEW units 1-6 while receiving instruction on key word outlines, the story sequence chart, creating fused outlines, and creative writing from pictures.  Literature analysis topics will include annotation, plot diagrams, literary devices, and imagery.  Literature selections will focus on fables, fairy tales, poetry, biography, and short stories. Grammar topics will include sentence and paragraph structure, descriptive words, sentence openers, and clauses. 

Each class time will include an opening discussion, poem, or grammar exercise.  The majority of each class time will be split between literature discussion and composition instruction. A grammar break will provide instruction and practice.  Class time will be interactive with class discussion, guided practice, and group exercises. 

Unit summaries:
Weeks 1-5 will introduce the IEW Key Word Outline (KWO) through units 1-3, which include paraphrasing and summarizing stories.  Learners will practice creating, speaking from, and writing from KWOs based on fables and fairy tales.  Learners will be instructed in creating plot diagrams for the stories that are read and will begin to analyze the parts of a plot including exposition, inciting moment, rising action, conflict, climax, falling action, and resolution. Composition topics will focus on mastering basic sentence and paragraph structure, following dialogue punctuation rules, and writing stories with description.  Literature selections will be Aesop fables, Kipling's Sing Song of Old Man Kangaroo, Anderson's The Nightingale, King Arthur, and various classic poems.

Weeks 6-10 will focus on IEW units 4 and 6 using author biographies.  Essay and paragraph structure, various sentence openers, and fused outlines will be practiced.  Choosing, limiting, and ordering facts into informative essays will be the composition focus. 
Literary devices will be taught through poetry. Annotation exercises and literary discussions will continue weekly.  Literature selections and biographies will be from authors: Longfellow, Tennyson, and Stevenson.

Weeks 11-15 will introduce the short story to our reading and imagery to our discussions.  Through grammar breaks, clauses and comma rules will be practiced and applied to the compositions and editing.  IEW unit 5 will allow for creative writing through pictures while the response to literature essay model will provide learners an avenue to pull together what has been learned into a well-crafted essay.  Literature selections will include a Sherlock Holmes story, "Open Window", and "Snowflakes".

A second semester class will be offered to provide a year-long literature and composition course.  Semester 2 will briefly review semester 1 before covering IEW units 7-9, an analysis essay, characterization, setting, thesis statements, additional literary devices, and additional grammar.