Throughout the ten week semester, students will be taught reading comprehension, writing, listening, and speaking skills based upon Common Core standards by a certified Language Arts instructor with more than 18 years of professional teaching experience.  *Semesters can be taken in any order, as each will provide thorough coverage of middle school level ELA skills. *  #academic

My classes are highly engaging, thought-provoking, and above all, educational!  Students will actively practice a full semester of English/Language Arts standards with direct instruction, assigned weekly homework, class activities, and detailed feedback for EACH assignment (both homework and classwork!).  I work with each learner at their individual level to build Language Arts skills and strategies, assisting students to be able to apply this knowledge independently.  This course will be a great fit for either students who homeschool or students in regular school who need extra practice and support.  *Assignment/Final Grades will provided upon parent request.*

I make learning exciting by providing a plethora of activity types to demonstrate mastery of the ELA standards, while providing extensive support, guidance, and individualized feedback.  I will use slideshows, graphic organizers, projects, class discussions, games, hands-on activities, HUMOR, and multiple means of writing throughout the semester.  

After each class session, I will post a detailed description of skills we've learned, recommended next steps, homework instructions, and multiple screenshots from our lesson for review.

Students will be required to complete homework each session and submit it to the classroom for prompt feedback.  I will provide detailed, personalized feedback for each assignment within 3-4 days.

General Class Session Format
3-5 minutes: Class community building/icebreakers/news
10-15 minutes: Skill-based lesson via direct instruction – students are strongly encouraged to take notes
20 minutes: Independent/group practice via breakout rooms (I will be checking in with each student/group throughout this time to provide specific, individualized feedback on learner progress!)
3-5 minutes: Review/go over homework assignment for next session

Novel: Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai; Non-Fiction articles

Week 1:  Inferencing and Building Background Knowledge (non-fiction articles and p1-9)
Week 2:  Characterization and Citing Textual Evidence (non-fiction articles, p10-21, and p22-41)
Week 3:  Genres of Literature and Drawing Conclusions (non-fiction articles, p42-47, and p48-60)
Week 4:  Summarizing and Close Reading Strategies (non-fiction articles, p61-69, and p71-90)
Week 5:  Making Predictions and Symbolism (p91-111 and p113-134)
Week 6:  Analyzing Text and Text Structures: Cause/Effect (p135-157 and p158-179)
Week 7:  Structured Paragraph Writing and Text Structures: Chronological Order (p180-195 and p196-212)
Week 8:  Informational/Explanatory Writing (p213-234 and p237-247)
Week 9:  Essay Planning and the Writing Process (p248-260)
Week 10:  Synthesizing and Presentations
*Note that some topics will require more than one class session to teach in-depth.  Reading/writing skills are also spiral in nature, so other reading/writing skills not specifically mentioned above will be woven through all lessons to continue providing practice, retention, clarity, and further layered instruction!

Novel Synopsis:
	For all the ten years of her life, Ha has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Ha and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope.
	This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.