Class Time: 3rd hour (10:40-11:35)

Minimum Class Size: 8

Maximum Class Size: 15

Required Materials or Books: none

(Important info: This class is based on a two year syllabus. During 2008-2009 we will be covering second year information. If your student took year one last year as a 7th grader, we will be covering totally new literary units. This is NOT a repeat of last year. You may also begin the class as an 8th grader)

"The focus of this program is to teach students to write descriptively through emulating the actual skills of masters of great writing. The goal of the program is to produce successful writers who know how to write effectively, who know how to proofread their work efficiently, and who know how to properly analyze great literature." Excerpts from great works of world literature in various genres will be covered as students learn to write essays, free verse, literary critiques, book reviews, take notes and write outlines and summaries as well as compose business letters and speeches. Authors studied include Helen Keller, Thomas Paine, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, and Emily Dickinson. Student will become familiar with a Proofreading Checklist in order to edit their own work .

As time allows toward the end of the year, we will be studying the basics of journalism and learning to write and edit news copy. Students will have the experience of publishing an edition of a co-op "newspaper.

Teacher Information:

Silvia Woodard is the mother of 6, with one homeschooled child now attending college. She has taught at co-op for the past 4 years.