Description
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? inspire learners to think, create, and study hard.
? expose learners to different sectors in the real world.
?️ get students to reduce gaming time.
? encourage learners to do something great!
? help learners develop a curiosity that will drive lifelong learning and skill development.
? equip learners for state testing and their future learning journey.
? maximize student learning despite the hurdles posed by ADHD.
? teach kids how to conquer laziness and to create new habits that lead to success.
? teach young scholars to dress, look, and act professionally when presenting.
? set and work to achieve high standards.
This unique English language arts course enables students to take the tech skills they have acquired to the next level. Here, we are building future business owners, STEM leaders, and entrepreneurs who are high achievers. Students build essential skills for lifelong success while studying literature, poetry, storytelling, essay writing, and speech. We cover the essentials of English language arts while sparking creativity, critical thinking, and broader skills. We want our learners to be active participants, flexing their creative muscles and getting things done!
Students complete a comprehensive English program in the context of diverse sectors, exploring engineering, business, culinary arts, investigative journalism, and the arts.
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All students receive specific feedback on their work through rubrics, peer evaluations, and traditional grades. We intentionally put a little pressure on them and teach them how to handle it. They will rise to the occasion with mental toughness and confidence because they will know what to do and how to do it and can pull it off. We are building leaders who will take on the world as high achievers.
✅ Ｈｏｍｅｗｏｒｋ:
Students can expect to have 1-3 hours of homework per week. In addition, they read 5 class novels.
? SNAPSHOT OF OUR DAILY ACTIVITIES:
-To create and maintain a friendly environment, we start class by briefly getting to know each other or catching up with life.
-Students practice a short and sweet grammar/writing mini-lesson
-We have a brief discussion of our class novel.
-The instructor explicitly teaches the day’s concept or skill, which includes modeling. We often have workshop time where students can get things done and ask questions.
-Students complete their projects in class and for homework.
-Some days include student presentations.
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Students will:
–present 5 major class presentations
–read 5 novels, listen to 1 podcast, and read “The Grand Challenges for Engineering” and other texts
–complete grammar and sentence writing exercises each day
–write a business plan
–develop marketing through storytelling
–pitch a product with a demo video
–develop a restaurant concept, recipes, and a menu
–develop, record, and produce a mini-TV show
–investigate a true crime
–write and record a podcast
–curate a museum artifact and create an exhibit
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Class Novel: ??? ??? ??? ????????? ??? ???? by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Students focus on engineering design and communication. Students learn the fundamentals of the engineering design process, compare it to the writing process and a creative process. They read The Grand Challenges of Engineering by the National Academy of Engineering and learn about the Army Corps of Engineering. The culmination involves designing, building, and presenting a model, applying the engineering design process. Students participate in a Socratic Seminar.
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Class Novel: ?????? ??????: ?? ???? & ?????? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?????? & ????? ??? ???? by James Clear
Students generate entrepreneurial ideas and develop a business offer. They create a product prototype or service and present it. They are encouraged to do this for real!
⦿ Meeting a market need, developing a business offer
⦿ Understanding an audience/buyer with problems
⦿ Product/Service Development
⦿ Aristotle’s Rhetoric
⦿ Business pitch
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Class Novel: ??? ??? ?? ?????? ??????? ??? ?????? ??????????: ? ???????? ??? ???????? ???????? ????? by Lauren Wilson
We shift now to culinary arts and hosting a TV show. Students explore language arts in the culinary world, writing and presenting menus. They develop a food truck or food cart concept and story, curate recipes, and craft a menu. Then they become a Guy-Fieri-type television host on ??????, ?????-???, ??? ?????, recording their own mini-show on a real place with real food.
⦿ Students develop a restaurant concept, recipes, and a menu.
⦿ Students record and produce their own mini-show
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Class Podcast: “Kids on the Case” by the website ???? ?? ????????.
Students learn journalistic language arts, investigate crime stories, and practice voice recording and editing. The final project entails creating a podcast episode featuring an investigative story.
⦿ research & reading for information
⦿ writing the podcast
⦿ recording and presenting the podcast
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??????? ?????????? & ??????????????–We use “workshop time” in class so students will write while the teacher “visits” them on their Google Document or Sheets or Slides, etc. Once we started using this method, we saw nearly a 100% completion rate in student writing! We implement other measures to hold them accountable for their learning, like asking them to verbally give answers if they stop using the chatbox, or telling them to send an “IDK yet” (I don’t know yet) in the chatbox if they can’t yet answer a question. We want to honor the investment parents make in this class and the time students spend. The goal is to build skills and learn! That means students are working, thinking, and writing. Active engagement is the key to success in this class.
?????? ???????? & ???????–The instructor intentionally teaches communication skills and norms. These skills are taught through various methods, including speeches, presentations, and discussions. We also talk about how an online community is established, and students are encouraged–but not forced–to keep their cameras open. This helps all students feel connected to each other as a community of learners. It also helps the teacher picture their faces when reading their writing. They naturally get more attention from their teacher when their camera is on because the teacher’s eyes are drawn to faces, not empty black boxes. In fact, students who don’t have their cameras on are sorted last in the list of students and sometimes, Zoom even hides them! Keeping the camera on is a learning strategy and improves engagement. Also, we feel closer to each other when we see each other. Trust us. ?
??????? ???????–Each class includes explicit, direct instruction with teacher modeling. Students are guided toward mastery of multiple writing skills and understandings so that they grasp the concepts and become independent. Students are held to a high standard of academic writing, including the use of grammar and the construction of sophisticated sentences.
??????? ????????–The back-and-forth work between a student and teacher significantly benefits a student if it is done well. We follow best practices in this area with how we design class time, assignments, and routines. According to Pennington Publishing, effective writing feedback (or grading) is:
• Specific, not general
• Immediate, not postponed
• Routine with a revision / feedback cycle
• Explanatory
• The right amount
• Targeted to the most critical issues
• Varied (written, audio, and video comments)
• Holding students accountable
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We have a number of offerings that are good for learners with different needs! To see a comparison chart of our middle school English language arts offerings, click the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C4kPDI-gpxZD1Lap7vwqW9QwWsqQSwZ0/view?usp=sharing
