Welcome to English by the Books!  The scope of this intensive language arts course covers literary analysis, grammar, beginner sentence diagramming, and formal writing practice over a 12 week semester.  Students will experience a familiar and supportive group setting as we learn how to read deeply, think critically, and write confidently with the use of living books!  Additionally, teacher editing support is provided for one rough draft per week with additional written feedback. 

Each week, we'll make the story come alive as we discuss the character development and plot of our current novel while further delving into all of the subject matter that enriches the story in a socratic style novel discussion.  Next, we'll dive deeper into the reading by studying the author's use of English grammar.  Students will further interact with the grammar by practicing basic sentence diagramming.  Finally, students will gain formal writing skills including key word outlines and stylistic techniques.  By the end of the course, students will have completed their own original narrative story using the weekly steps we work through in class.  Please see the itinerary below for further details.

The book selection for this course includes:
1.  Classic Literature:  "Prince Caspian" by C.S. Lewis
2.  Historical Fiction:  "The War That Saved My Life" by Kimberly Bradley
3.  Fantasy Fiction:  "The Wingfeather Saga:  On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness" by Andrew Peterson
4.  Realistic Fiction:  "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Glaser
5.  Mystery:  "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin

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Class Itinerary

Week 1 -  "Prince Caspian" 
Class 1:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 1-5
b.  Grammar:  Subject/predicate review, diagramming action verbs

Class 2:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 6-9
b.  Writing:  Introduction to the Key Word Outline (KWO)

Week 2 - "Prince Caspian" 
Class 3:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 10-13
b.  Grammar:  Sentence structure, articles, quality adjectives, and diagramming

Class 4:  
a.   Reading discussion, Chapters 13-15
b.  Writing: Practice oral report from KWO

Week 3 - "The War That Saved My Life"
Class 5:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 1-7
b.  Grammar:  Sentence purposes, adverbs and diagramming

Class 6:  
a.   Reading discussion, Chapters 8-15
b.  Writing: Write a paragraph from KWO, strong verbs, banned words

Week 4 - "The War That Saved My Life"
Class 7:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 16-24
b.  Grammar:  Helping verbs, direct objects, and diagramming

Class 8:  
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 25-32
b.  Writing: Write a descriptive paragraph from KWO, quality adjectives, -ly sentence openers

Week 5 - "The War That Saved My Life"
Class 9:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 33-41
b.  Grammar:  Proper Nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and diagramming

Class 10:  
a.   Reading discussion, Chapters 42-46
b.  Writing: Writing from a KWO, -ly adverbs, clincher sentences

Week 6 - "The Wingfeather Saga"
Class 11:
a.  Reading discussion, Introductions - Chapter 10
b.  Grammar:  Helping verbs and diagramming

Class 12:  
a.   Reading discussion, Chapters 11-20
b.  Writing: Creating a captivating title, figurative language

Week 7 - "The Wingfeather Saga"
Class 13:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 21-31
b.  Grammar:  Direct objects and diagramming

Class 14:  
a.   Reading discussion, Chapters 32-40
b.  Writing: -ly sentence openers and more figurative language

Week 8 - "The Wingfeather Saga" / "The Vanderbeekers on 141st Street"
Class 15:
a.  Reading discussion, "The Wingfeather Saga" Chapters 41-51
b.  Grammar:  Review weeks 1-7

Class 16:  
a.   Reading discussion, "The Vanderbeekers on 141st Street" Chapters 1-4
b.  Writing: KWO narrative stories, part 1

Week 9 - "The Vanderbeekers on 141st Street"
Class 17:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 5-9
b.  Grammar:  Complete subjects and predicates with diagramming

Class 18:  
a.   Reading discussion, Chapters 10-14
b.  Writing: KWO narrative stories, part 2

Week 10 - "The Vanderbeekers on 141st Street"
Class 19:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 15-19
b.  Grammar:  State of being verbs with diagramming

Class 20:  
a.   Reading discussion, Chapters 20-Epilogue
b.  Writing: KWO narrative stories, part 3

Week 11 - "The Westing Game"
Class 21:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 1-7
b.  Grammar:  Linking verbs and predicate nominatives with diagramming

Class 22:  
a.   Reading discussion, Chapters 8-14
b.  Writing: Narrative stories review, rough drafts

Week 12 - "The Westing Game"
Class 23:
a.  Reading discussion, Chapters 15-21
b.  Grammar:  Final review games

Class 24:  
a.   Reading discussion, Chapters 22-30
b.  Writing: Read final drafts