****Chapters 1-4 from President of the  Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston need to be read before the first day of class.   ****
  
Books open a child's world to new ideas, vocabulary, cultures, and activities, and they allow kids to experience all sorts of adventures.  In this 12 week class, your child will learn and use reading comprehension skills, build  vocabulary through reading , and learn how to write a persuasive essay.  We will read  President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston; your child will need a copy of the book whether it's digital or a hard copy.  In order for us to have a group discussion, the kids need to read the assigned chapters  before each meeting. If a learner doesn't finish the reading before our  meeting, that's okay except the chapters will be discussed so there will be spoilers. If  learners read ahead, please remind them not to discuss the chapters that we haven't read yet.

   The first class meeting of each week will be our book discussion which will begin with a focus activity such as a  quote from the book, a scene from the book, or a description of the setting or a character.  Our group discussion will include discussing literary elements, the kids' opinions about the book, and the vocabulary words from the assigned chapters. Reading comprehension skills, such as identifying the main idea, will be taught during the book discussion.  Discussing the book will help the learners with their reading comprehension by helping them to think critically about the story.  Also, our book discussion will allow the kids to hear different perspectives about the characters, plot, etc. in the book which can help them to understand the characters' emotions and motivations better. They will also use textual evidence to support their opinions. 


   The second class meeting of each week will be our essay writing class meeting. I will teach lessons on how to write introduction paragraphs, thesis statements, body paragraphs, paragraph transitions, and conclusion paragraphs for a persuasive essay.  During these class meetings, short grammar lessons may be incorporated into the lesson.  The kids will be doing most of their writing in class, but there may be times when they need to finish their writing outside of class.   During class for weeks 1-6, we will be writing a persuasive essay together as a class.  The kids will be writing their own persuasive essays during class for weeks 7-11.  In our last class meeting, the kids will have a creative writing activity to do during class.

If you would like for me to grade your child's essays, please let me know.  

A pdf of class supplies will be uploaded to the classroom.
  
Please read reviews and summaries about President of the Whole 5th Grade  so that you can decide if your child may read the book. Common Sense Media is a good website as well as Kirkus Reviews.   
****All learners must be enrolled in the class in order to be fair to the other enrolled learners.****


We will be reading and studying :
President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston