7 年生から 10 年生までを対象とした、非常に素晴らしい 1 学期にわたる英語言語芸術コース (FLEX)!

In this 10 week FLEX English Language Arts class, students will learn a specific topic or concept each week that targets the 7th - 10th grade Common Core State Standards in writing, reading, and grammar for English/Language Arts. Students will engage in a series of creative activities, critical thinking questions, and immersive scenarios as they develop skills and strengths in reading comprehension, responses to literature, writing topics and perspectives, and grammar application. Assignments will be due by Sunday evening each week our class meets. As this is a FLEX class, there will be no synchronous meeting times on Zoom; however, a wide variety of communication opportunities will be embedded into this class for rich and meaningful, discussions, student collaboration, teacher contact, and more. Activities may include playing a Kahoot game or participating in an interactive lesson using Quizlet, Nearpod, or Playposit, sharing writing pieces or portfolios on Padlet, or other online activities as appropriate and as assigned.

The following topics will be studied during this FLEX class:

**Week one: Developing strong personal narratives. Activities include creating a heart map, developing "writing territories," and learning to zoom in on a moment of significance to expand upon it further and develop the story for readers in a way that keeps audience and purpose together. Emphasis will be placed on descriptive details and personal dialogue. 

Recommended reading for weeks one and two: "El Deafo" by CeCe Bell, "Lion" by Saroo Brierly, or "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson. 

**Week two: Grammar topics (and revising personal narratives from the previous week)-- studying run-on sentences, sentence fragments, subject-verb agreement, and appealing to the senses. Students will engage in a series of short writing practice pieces, and will apply what they learned to revise and edit their personal narrative before turning it in to me at the end of the week. 

**Week three: Novel study.  Students are encouraged to select a novel in the genre of personal narrative to read this week. Reading response questions will be provided that directly support state standards, and students will create a book review or write a short paragraph at the end thinking critically about the perspectives and events shared within the novel. Students can choose their own novel, but will be provided with a list of recommendations in the personal narrative genre, such as the two books listed above. This book list will be provided upon enrollment of this course so that learners have time to get their books. 

**Week four: Informative writing. Students will learn how to "write to inform, explain, or teach," and will be guided through a series of activities to select a topic that they know a lot about, are passionate about, or would like to research further in order to teach others. Students will be asked to write an informative draft (in the form of a brochure, menu, essay, instruction manual, etc.) and then apply the grammar skills learned the following week to revise and edit their draft. 

--Recommended reading: "Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)" by Sue Macy, "The Movie Book" by DK, or "The Playbook" by Kwame Alexander.

**Week five: Grammar topics (and revising informative writing pieces from the previous week)-- studying "matching tone, purpose, and audience," using transitions effectively, and describing logically. Students will engage in a series of short writing practice pieces, and will apply what they learned to revise and edit their informative writing piece before turning it in to me at the end of the week. 

**Week six: Novel study. Students are encouraged to select a novel in the genre of informative/nonfiction/biography to read this week. Reading response questions will be provided that directly support state standards, and students will create a book review or write a short paragraph at the end thinking critically about the perspectives and events shared within the novel. Students can choose their own novel, but will be provided with a list of recommendations in the informative/nonfiction/biography genre, such as the two books listed above. This book list will be provided upon enrollment of this course so that learners have time to get their books. 

Week seven: Argumentative/Persuasive/Opinion writing. Students will learn how to write to "persuade, to argue, or to share opinions" in a writing piece that expresses this concept appropriately in an effort to affect change. Students will be guided through a series of activities to select a topic that is of importance to them, and will learn how to write in a way that avoids ad hominems, contradictory arguments, fallacies, and bias. Students will be asked to write a piece in the form of a review, an editorial, an essay, a letter to an elected official, or an article that argues, persuades, or shares an opinion about a topic or issue that they care about. Students will apply grammar skills learned the following week to revise and edit their draft. 

--Recommended reading: "Class Action" by Steven B. Frank, "Nothing But the Truth" by Avi, or "You Are Mighty: A Guide to Changing the World" by Caroline Paul.

**Week eight: Grammar topics (and revising argumentative/persuasive/opinion pieces from the previous week)--picking a perspective, avoiding overblown language, and creating word pictures. Students will engage in a series of short writing practice pieces, and will apply what they learned to revise and edit their argumentative/persuasive/opinion writing piece before turning it in to me at the end of the week. 

**Week nine: Novel study. Students are encouraged to select a novel in the genre of argumentative/persuasive category to read this week. Reading response questions will be provided that directly support state standards, and students will create a book review or write a short paragraph at the end thinking critically about the perspectives and events shared within the novel. Students can choose their own novel, but will be provided with a list of recommendations in the argumentative/persuasive genre, such as the three books listed above. This book list will be provided upon enrollment of this course so that learners have time to get their books. 

**Week ten: Optional. Students will have this week to wrap up anything that is missing or that they did not get to complete during the previous nine weeks. All assignments will be due by the last day of class this week. 


--Communication and Collaboration--

Because this is a FLEX class and there will be no "live" meetings scheduled, each week at the beginning I will submit a video at the beginning of the week with an overview of the topic for the week, as well as providing links to practice activities and other collaborative opportunities for students to complete. For example, one week might feature an engaging video about the topic, followed by an interactive, short lesson on Kahoot, a collaborative writing assignment on Padlet, and an independent writing task submitted to me for feedback by the end of the week. Throughout the week various mini-topics, mini-lessons, and other writing opportunities will be provided and I will check in with each student individually during the week via direct messaging, in addition to classroom discussions.

Teacher-Student interaction during each week:
1) Direct messaging during the week
2) Response to posts on classroom discussion pages
3) Feedback on assignments submitted
4) Feedback on activities completed in online platforms such as Nearpod, Padlet, or Kahoot
5) Additional opportunities for interaction during extra activities provided for enrichment

Student-Student interaction opportunities during the week:
1) Responses to posts on classroom discussion pages
2) Responses to posts on Padlet, Nearpod, or Kahoot
3) Student comments and feedback on writing submitted to Padlet
4) Additional opportunities for interaction during extra activities provided for enrichment

**Please note that care has been taken to choose books for the novel portion of this class that are engaging, meaningful, and appropriate for ages 11-16; I would encourage families to conduct their own research of each book title with regards to content, as there may be mild language or other mature situations within each book.