Textual Treasures: Navigating Informational Texts in Middle School
In this self-paced course, students will review fiction and nonfiction, practice note-taking skills, define vocabulary words, find text evidence, and complete reading comprehension questions.
Christine- Little Reading Coach
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(14)
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What's included
40 pre-recorded lessons
8 weeks
of teacher support1 year access
to the contentHomework
1-2 hours per week. Each week will follow the same schedule: Day 1- New informational text posted. Students should read and highlight the text. Day 2- A video review of highlighting the text will be posted. Students should watch the video and make corrections to their highlighting. Students will respond to a discussion question in the classroom. Day 3- Students will complete the vocabulary and reading comprehension questions. Day 4- A video review of the vocabulary and reading comprehension answers will be posted. Students should watch the video and make corrections. Day 5- Students will complete a Blooket based on the text. Students will respond to a discussion question in the classroom. **Please contact the instructor if more time is needed :) The instructor will check all submitted assignments each Friday and will contact parents/guardians if necessary.Assessment
Each week students will complete a Blooket based on the text read. This will allow the teacher to gauge student learning with reading comprehension and vocabulary. The teacher will reach out to parents/guardians/learners if a Blooket earns less than a 70% with suggestions on how to improve. **The instructor will check all submitted assignments each Friday and will contact parents/guardians if necessary.Grading
Grades offered by request. Please reach out to the instructor for more information.Class Experience
US Grade 5 - 8
In middle school, students increase their amount of nonfiction reading. Classes like social studies, science, and math, rely on informational texts to teach students new information. Students must use different reading strategies when tackling nonfiction works. In this course, students will practice reading and comprehending nonfiction passages written by the course instructor. Each week students will: *Review the difference between fiction and nonfiction passages *Practice reading comprehension strategies *Review and practice note-taking skills *Find text evidence to support reading comprehension answers All materials will be posted to the classroom before class, so students have time to print the resources if they choose to. Students will complete a Blooket quiz on each topic for homework for instructor to monitor progress and ensure understanding of class lessons. Below are the titles of the informational text students will read in this course. Week 1- Going Viral Week 2- Taylor Swift Week 3- The Titanic Week 4-William Shakespeare Week 5- The Evolution of Gaming Week 6- Daylight Saving Time Week 7- The Fountain of Youth Week 8- Life in the Middle Ages **Please contact the instructor if more time is needed The teacher will review submitted work and Blooket scores and provide weekly progress report messages on Fridays (if work was completed).
Learning Goals
*Students will view note-taking strategies by watching instructor model different methods (highlighting, labeling)
*Students will improve their reading comprehension skills by answering questions
*Students will gain knowledge of new vocabulary words by completing a graphic organizer
*Students will locate text evidence to support ideas.
Syllabus
Curriculum
Follows Teacher-Created Curriculum40 Lessons
over 8 WeeksLesson 1:
The Titanic
Read and highlight the text Lesson 2:
The Titanic
Watch video review of highlighting the text and answer a discussion question Lesson 3:
The Titanic
Define vocabulary and answer reading comprehension questions Lesson 4:
The Titanic
Watch video review of vocabulary and reading comprehension questions Other Details
Learning Needs
This course is geared towards students with learning differences. The font and format of the materials is dyslexia and dysgraphia friendly. Each text comes includes review videos with teacher modeling.
Parental Guidance
The Titanic informational text does include drowning and death.
Blooket is also used for each text. Students don't need an account to access the activities.
Supply List
Teacher provided materials include: *The Titanic: The "Unsinkable" Ship *Going Viral *Life in the Middle Ages *Evolution of Gaming *William Shakespeare *Daylight Saving Time *Types of Dogs *Taylor Swift Students should also have a highlighter and pencil/pen. **Students can also digitally highlight/write on the documents
Sources
Online dictionary (kid friendly)- https://kids.wordsmyth.net/we/
Informational texts are written by the course instructor. Texts that will be used in this class include:
*The Titanic: The "Unsinkable" Ship
*Going Viral
*Life in the Middle Ages
*Evolution of Gaming
*William Shakespeare
*Daylight Saving Time
*Types of Dogs
*Taylor Swift
The information for these texts were found from a variety of sources including:
1.https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/21/daylight-saving-time-purpose-explained/11275474002/
2.https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/history-of-video-games
3.https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/william-shakespeare-biography/
4.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Taylor-Swift
5.https://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/
6.https://nutrisourcepetfoods.com/blog/pet-parents/what-are-the-7-major-dog-groups-your-dogs-core-traits revealed/#:~:text=Based%20on%20the%20physical%20and,sporting%2C%20terrier%2C%20and%20toy.
7.https://studiopigeon.com/blog/how-many-views-is-viral-what-makes-a-video-viral/
8. What Was the Titanic? by Stephanie Sabol
Joined June, 2023
5.0
14reviews
Star Educator
Teacher expertise and credentials
2 Teaching Certificates
Pennsylvania Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
New Jersey Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
2 Degrees
Master's Degree in Education from University of Phoenix
Bachelor's Degree in English from Centenary College
A certified English teacher and Reading Specialist with over 15 years of teaching experience with grades 6-12. Reviews
Self-Paced Course
$18
weekly or $140 for all content40 pre-recorded lessons
8 weeks of teacher support
Choose your start date
1 year of access to the content
Completed by 2 learners
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Ages: 9-13
