學會熱愛文學第 2 部分 - 5-8 年級（英語、文學）

While there is no prerequisite requirement for this class, I do run these as a series.  You will see Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, etc...but they just reflect different books and can be taken in any order.

We will start with The Single Shard,  an orphan boy who learns the art of celadon pottery.  Our second book, The Tale of Despereaux was one of my favorites even before the movie came out.  It tells the tale of the daring mouse Despereaux.  Our third book is The Witch of Blackbird Pond, the story of a young girl who immigrates from Barbados to Puritan Connecticut and befriends "the witch" (late 17th century).  Our fourth book, The City of Ember is an exciting Dystopian Novel where our protagonists set about to escape their dying city, only to change everything.  Our last book is an old one.  The Incredible Journey is the story of two dogs and a cat that travel 250 miles through the Canadian wilderness to find their way home.  Our stories this semester are full of excitement and hardship and figuring out how to find the things that really matter.

The Details
English, Literature

I have been a lover of books since I was 9 years old and had to have surgery.  My mother, who understood a few things about her child, read the first book in a series to me with all the voices and enthusiasm any book could want.  Then she read the first 2 chapters of the next book.  And then she stopped.  The larger picture of why she stopped at that moment isn't important.  What is important is that she lit a flame in me.  I wanted to know how it finished.  From that point on, I've been a reader.  

This early experience truly informs the books I choose for my young readers.  I want the books to fire their minds, I want them to touch their hearts.  Reading a book is starting a conversation with a person you've never met and truly hearing them.  I want to build lovers of reading not just hit that magical 30-minute reading time.  

The Details
We will be reading through five wonderful books over the course of 16  weeks.  Each book will increase in word count helping your learner's reading fluency gradually improve.  This is the perfect, light-reading class to keep everyone reading through the whole semester.

Semester One and Semester Two are completely self-contained and can be taken in any order.

Classes will follow a general structure:

Welcome
Discussion (questions provided)
Introduction of next class assignment
Vocabulary to look out for

Every week the student will need to complete the reading and the Discussion Questions to be ready for the following week's class.  There is no homework to hand in.

Below is our general schedule.

Assignments by week
Week 1	No Assignment due first week

Week 2	
A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
Read approximately 60 pages

Week 3	
A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
Read approximately 60 pages

Week 4	
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
Read approximately 70 pages 

Week 5
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
Read approximately 70 pages 

Week 6	
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
Read approximately 70 pages 

Week 7	
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
Read approximately 70 pages 

Week 8	
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
Read approximately 85 pages 

Week 9	
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
Read approximately 85 pages 

Week 10	
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
Read approximately 85 pages 

Week 11
The City of Ember, Jeanne DuPrau
Read approximately 95 pages 

Week 12
The City of Ember, Jeanne DuPrau
Read approximately 95 pages 

Week 13	
The City of Ember, Jeanne DuPrau
Read approximately 95 pages 

Week 14	
The Incredible Journey, by Sheila Burnford
Read approximately 90 pages 

Week 15	
The Incredible Journey, by Sheila Burnford
Read approximately 90 pages 

Week 16	
Final Class Wrap up of Discussion Questions and Full Class Discussion