Write Through Medieval History (Byzantine-Crusades): The IEW Way

Let's write through history together! We will focus on the Middle Ages. I will use the methods taught in Institute for Excellence in Writing to teach students how to write outlines and organized, engaging paragraphs and essays. They will write fiction and non-fiction papers that are between 1 and 3 paragraphs. This class will prepare them to write longer essays in the future. I will read all essays and give feedback on a checklist every week. (This checklist could become a grade as the parent chooses.) We will cover IEW units 1-5 and all the dress-ups and sentence openers as we march through time.

 Classes will include teaching and student collaboration. Each class will begin with a text about a person or event from the Middle Ages. We will read the text together, and I will teach or review how to outline and write a report for the type of text we are using. Students will collaborate to write the outline together. Additionally, students will brainstorm the dress-ups and sentence openers we will add to the paper. Collaborating together, students will be able to build upon the wide and varied experiences and knowledge of other students. Each class will also have homework assignments which I will discuss in class and on the classroom page. By the end of this class, students will have written six short essays after learning valuable outlining and writing skills and much student collaboration.

Students that have a 3rd grade reading level or higher and the ability to write or type will have the most opportunity for success in this class. They do not need any prior experience with the IEW program or prior knowledge of the ancient civilizations. You do not need to purchase any materials. I will provide all the necessary handouts.

Schedule
Week 1: Middle Ages key word outline (KWO) (homework-Charlemagne KWO)
Week 2: Middle Ages paragraph, introduce quality adjective and who/which clause (homework-Charlemagne essay)
Week 3: Byzantine Empire (KWO and paragraph), introduce strong verb and -ly word (homework-complete the paragraph)
Week 4: Beowulf KWO (homework-Robin Hood KWO)
Week 5: Beowulf summary, introduce www.asia.because clause (homework-Robin Hood 3 paragraph story)
Week 6: Vikings, introduce sentence openers 1-3 (homework-write the paragraph)
Week 7: Crusades, introduce sentence opener 4 (homework-write the paragraph)
Week 8: Writing From a Picture KWO (homework-brainstorm)
Week 9: Writing From a Picture paragraph, introduce sentence openers 5-6 (homework-write the paragraph, choose essay to bring to next class)
Week 10: Present your favorite essay that you have written.