In this 17-week self-paced class (asynchronous), students will do the first half of English Language Arts Through Literature where we will analyze fiction, biography, and write papers/essays on related topics. If students are taking the class for an academic grade, they should plan on spending several hours a week on the class for the lessons, homework, projects, and reading. 

This class can be used as a core English/Literature/Language Arts/ELA course for 8th or 9th grade (US standards). For non US-students, please contact me and I can send you the standards to see if it will suit your high school/secondary school year 8, 9, or 10 student's needs.  

There are NO live meetings for this course. Multiple posts will be made to the classroom each week which will include: video lessons on the text and language arts/grammar lessons, discussion on the reading prompts which can be video or written responded to, homework post which will include the reading and worksheet/writing/creative project assignment, and question/answer posts regarding language arts, vocabulary, and grammar. 

This class uses the [Moving] Beyond the Page Language Arts curriculum. As such learners will use literature to learn language arts, develop their critical thinking and creativity skills, and use the 6+1 traits of writing approach (Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions, Presentations). A Summary of Skills will be provided when you enroll that tells you which state and national (US) standards that each unit covers for your own planning and any documentation requirements that you need to submit to your local authorities.  

Abigail Adams Unit - 4 weeks
This unit focuses on the life of Abigail Adams (1744-1818), wife to President John Adams and the mother of President John Quincy Adams. In this unit, you will learn about the many letters she wrote to her husband that provide great insight into this time in American history. You will also read about the roles she played as an adviser to her husband, a defender of women's rights, and a voice against slavery. Aside from the historical knowledge you will gain, you will also study new vocabulary, learn about the parts of a research essay, practice using active vs. passive voice, and discover the differences among literary genres. For the final project, you will take on the role of Abigail Adams or President John Adams by creating a one-person play to teach others about this period in history.

Animal Farm Unit - 4 weeks
"Animal Farm" is a well-known, award-winning novel by the British author George Orwell and is a satire about the Russian Revolution and Joseph Stalin's leadership of the Soviet Union at the time of World War II. Instead of using the names of actual politicians in this story, Orwell replaces them with farm animals and uses them to explore the theme of power: how it gets distributed in society and its corrupting influence. In this unit, you learn about the elements of a story, such as plot and theme, as well as the genre of satire and the literary device of personification. In addition, you will cover the use of pronouns and learn about different letter-writing genres.

Einstein Adds a New Dimension Unit - 5 weeks
In this unit, you will learn about Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity as well as other important scientific discoveries. At the same time, you will read about expository writing — writing that explains or informs — and the unit begins by introducing the features of expository writing and how they differ from narrative writing. You will also learn about several sub-genres of expository writing, such as process writing, comparison and contrast writing, and cause and effect writing. This unit will also teach you how to strengthen your writing by explaining how to conduct research and find credible sources, how to avoid plagiarism, and how to properly credit your sources on a Works Cited page. This unit's final project asks you to construct an expository research paper based on a concept or figure from "The Story of Science: Einstein Adds a Dimension."

Unit 4 - Elijah of Buxton (MBTP Unit) - 4 weeks
Follow the adventures of Elijah Freeman — a young African-American boy born free in Canada — as he travels to the United States in pursuit of a thief. Witness Elijah's first encounters with the horror of slavery and his growing understanding of and appreciation for his own freedom. During the process of reading this book, you will also learn the names and definitions of important literary terms, such as tone, metaphor, conflict, and climax. These will help you identify the basic elements of narratives necessary to interpret, critique, and respond to literature. For the final project in this unit, you will have the opportunity to create your own personal, first-person narrative using the literary techniques you have just learned.