what are my options for 9th grade English?

[ProudGrandma]

I think I have most of my rising 9th graders classes figured out, except English?  What are you doing? What options are there? I already have a writing class (although it's not what would probably be considered 9th grade level, but due to my issues she hasn't written much and we needed to start somewhere.)....do I need something more?

 

Does she need a literature class? Or is just reading good books enough?

 

I am sort of lost...help me find my way.

 

 

[regentrude]

I have always put together my own stuff: some literature, in some years correlated with history, added some composition. One year, 11th grade, DD unschooled English and just read lots of books she selected, discussed those in online forums and with friends, wrote what she wanted. Worked out fine.

You don't need a class for anything. That's the beauty of homeschooling.

 

[Junie]

Yes, I would add in literature w/ essays and/or discussion.

 

What kinds of books does she like?  I would start there.

[Lori D.]

Here are my thoughts on "what is an English credit", which may help you then decide what resources best work for you to accomplish 9th grade English:

1. Literature (3-4 hours/week)
Read, discuss, analyze, and write about classic Literature (3-4 hours/week). The writing about Literature  can be counted under the Composition/Writing portion of the English credit. The Literature portion is more than just reading classic books; the student engages with the work and produces output through discussion and analysis, and writing about the work (written response to a specific question; reader response paper; literary analysis essay; research paper about an author, genre, or other Literature topic; etc.). Students also cover various types of Literature (novel, novella, short story, poetry, play, essay, biography), and works in different genres (realistic, fantasy, science fiction, mythology, epic, mystery, humor, horror, etc.)

In order to engage with the work, the student learns about literary devices (character, setting, conflict, irony, metaphor, simile, mood, imagery, symbolism, etc.) and how these elements support and reveal theme (the implicit "big ideas" in a work) and style (how an author uniquely uses language to express their voice and their ideas). The student also learns about various Literature topics: genres of fiction (realistic; coming of age; fantasy; sci-fi; mystery; horror; gothic; romantic; etc.); types of poems (ballad, haiku, free verse, etc.); background info of author, the work, the times in which the work was written; authors writing in the same time period or same genre; and info specific to helping understand a specific author and work.

Here's a "list format" of the types of digging deeper into reading a book in a variety of ways:

- literary devices and how they are working in the book
- research and apply background info on the author / book / times to the work (provides "lightbulb" moments to understanding what the author's point was or what the author was reacting to, etc.)
- compare/contrast this work with several other works by the same author, or with the author's body of work
- compare/contrast this author with other authors / genres / subject matter / times
- guided discussion (discussion that brings out what you see in the work, why, what supports that, what connected with you or what you disagree with and why, important thoughts triggered by the work, and connections with things happening in our world today so we learn from the work -- etc.)
- writing assignments (rhetoric stage: short answer thinking questions, "reader response" papers, longer analysis paper on character, theme, or other literary devices, etc.)

If DD has not done any formal Literature study before, then you may wish to outsource the Literature as a class. Or, use a good Literature program to give you solid guidance. Ideas:

- Lightning Literature & Composition 8
- Windows to the World
- Excellence in Literature: Intro to Literature

If you wish to direct the Literature at home, then use some resources that give you, the parent-teacher some solid direction and guidance, or use resources that you can alongside with your student so you can have meaningful discussion and analysis of the Literature. Ideas for resources for learning about literary devices and Socratic questions for discussion:

- Figuratively Speaking
- Walch Toolbox: Prose & Poetry
- Teaching the Classics
- How to Read Like a Professor

2. Composition/Writing (2-3 hours/week -- avg. 30 min./day)
If the student has not had much formal Writing instruction previously, then the focus would be on solid sentences, parts of a paragraph; 3- and 5-paragraph essays. For a student who has that very basic foundation down, the writing will be regular weekly assignments of various types (persuasive and expository essays, timed essays from a prompt, research papers, reader responses, plus ideas from the list below).

3. Grammar -- optional
Formal instruction in Grammar is usually completed by 8th grade and a full, regular program in Grammar is no longer needed in high school. Rather, Grammar is put into practice with Writing, Foreign Language, Speech/Debate. If, by the end of 8th grade the student has not quite completed Grammar instruction, or is a bit weak in Grammar, the subject can be included on top of the English credit as a light review, with 9th grade a bit more time/focus, and tapering off in 10th/11th grades. Examples of how Grammar might still be included in high school (but it is not counted as a separate full or partial credit):

- light review as needed (2x/week, 10-15 min/per review)
- discuss in context of Latin or Foreign Language studies, or in Writing
- finish formal instruction in 9th grade to complete Grammar understanding, if still needed by the student (typically, still not counted as a separate credit)

4. Vocabulary -- optional
If included, it is not counted as a separate credit. Most frequently, Vocab. is done:

- in context of the Literature
- or as a roots-based program (2-3x/week, 10-15 min/per session) to prepare for SAT/ACT testing
- or is learned as part of Latin (if done as the Foreign Language in high school).

5. Public Speaking / Speech & Debate / Rhetoric -- optional
Some public high schools either allow or require that up to 0.5 credit the 4 credits of English include one of these oral communication options. Because speeches require the same organization, thinking and writing that Composition/Writing classes do, typically this counts towards the Writing portion of an English credit.
___________________________

Types of Writing for High School
(not required to do all of these; these are just ideas for types of Writing you may wish to expose your student to at some point in high school)

- note-taking from lectures (prep for college classes)
- timed essay from prompt (prep for SAT/ACT tests and timed college essay exams) -- past SAT essay prompts
- reader response papers (prep for college WRT 101 and 102 classes; some great ideas in this past thread: More about response papers and their content; also helpful: SWB questions in gr. 5-8 section of her handout, What is literary analysis and when to teach)
- research paper
- persuasive and expository essays
- personal essay (for college admissions or scholarships)
- science lab write-ups
- process paper (the process or steps needed to do something)
- business writing (the memo; letter of inquiry; letter of application; letter of information; letter of complaint; letter of thanks or recognition; letter of commendation or recommendation; political letter)
- resume and cover letter writing
- the problem-solution report (commonly used in the workplace)
- summary report (specific type of narrative / description of events / process, common in workplace)
- an evaluation (also commonly used in the workplace)
- newsletter article (never know when you will be asked to contribute)
- public speaking, debate, presentations, power point -- types of speaking in committees and other workplace situations (similar to above details on public speaking)

Typical Writing Classes
(used for the Writing portion of the English credit, or may be a full credit on its own)
- Composition
- Essay Writing
- Creative Writing (fiction, poetry, novel-writing, etc.)
- Journalism

Typical Literature Classes
(usually includes writing about the Literature)

- typical high school progression: Intro to Lit; American Lit; British Lit; World Lit
- chronological History / Great Books Literature progression: Ancient; Medieval; Early Modern; Modern
- Literature focused on a specific genre (i.e., Fantasy; Dystopian; Gothic; Satire; etc.)
- Literature focused on a specific author, time period, or topic (i.e., Shakespeare; Victorian Literature; Christian Authors; etc.)

Classes NOT Counted Towards the English Credit
- Logic (Elective)
- Web Design (Fine Arts)
- Drama (Fine Arts)
- Yearbook (Extracurricular)

Edited January 21, 2019 by Lori D.

[SilverMoon]

Highschool English is basically half composition and half literature (w/ analysis work). Some add grammar and vocab if needed.

 

You don't need a class though. You can read high quality literature from the history period she's studying and double dip in English and history credits. You can make your own quirky plan based on her interests. We're doing a British lit course based on the inspiration of JK Rowling for next year.

[ProudGrandma]

thank you Lori D for all of that.  I am assuming that only ONE of those listed would qualify...I wouldn't have to have all of it, right?  Can I use one for 9th, one for 10th, one for 11th and one for 12th? Assuming she needs that much....which I guess, i am not sure of. 

[Lori D.]

On 6/11/2015 at 10:58 AM, NEprairiemom said:

thank you Lori D for all of that.  I am assuming that only ONE of those listed would qualify...I wouldn't have to have all of it, right?  Can I use one for 9th, one for 10th, one for 11th and one for 12th? Assuming she needs that much....which I guess, i am not sure of. 

 

Hi NEprairiemom,

I'm sorry, I'm not quite understanding what you are asking. Are you asking, do you just need one Literature program per year? If so, it depends on if the program is designed to cover 1 semester or 1 year. (If it is a 1-semester program, then you will need 2 programs, one for each semester.) It also depends on how much Writing is included in the Literature program; a student may still require instruction in Writing as part of a separate program in order to get all the teaching and assignments/practice needed to cover the Writing portion of the English credit.

And you would be accomplishing 1 credit of English each year of high school, so you would need to either sign up for Writing and/or Literature classes, or purchase/use Writing and/or Literature curricula, or set up a "Do It Yourself" program each year of high school to cover both the Writing and Literature portions of the English credit.

I listed the big variety to show that many things will count as Writing and many things will count as Literature, which allows you and your student to pick what is most important and most of interest for your homeschool, or what will best prep the student for college or the work-world. 🙂

Hope that answers your question! 🙂 If not, let me know and I'll try again. 😉 Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Lori D.

[ProudGrandma]

I was looking at "Windows to the World" and "Excellence in Literature"...and it appears that the student needs to have some good writing skills in place...and since my daughter doesn't...she has a writing phobia...I feel that I need to help her get over that hurdle first before doing one of these programs.  Am I right in thinking that?  So maybe doing one of those for 10th grade, yes? 

[Sunshine State Sue]

We used Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings for 9th grade English.  You may read my review here.

[Mom22ns]

I was looking at "Windows to the World" and "Excellence in Literature"...and it appears that the student needs to have some good writing skills in place...and since my daughter doesn't...she has a writing phobia...I feel that I need to help her get over that hurdle first before doing one of these programs.  Am I right in thinking that?  So maybe doing one of those for 10th grade, yes? 

 

I used EIL with both my kids. Their writing abilities were different when they started EIL, but they both improved. The class doesn't offer writing instruction, but it does offer samples/models of each style of paper and a rubric for grading. The intro to lit level, has a lower writing expectation (fewer words/paper) and I think any average high school freshman could do it.

 

If she is writing phobic (ds who will be a writing major in college next year used to be), you might consider something like Sharon Watson's high school writing course. Jump In, her middle school course moved my kids beyond their writing phobia which was caught in public school.

[Lori D.]

On 6/11/2015 at 11:43 AM, NEprairiemom said:

I was looking at "Windows to the World" and "Excellence in Literature"...and it appears that the student needs to have some good writing skills in place...and since my daughter doesn't...she has a writing phobia...I feel that I need to help her get over that hurdle first before doing one of these programs.  Am I right in thinking that?  So maybe doing one of those for 10th grade, yes? 

May I ask what you'll be using for Writing? You may be able to go ahead and use Windows to the World or Excellence in Literature this year, but just pick and choose your way through a few of the writing assignments in those programs while doing the other Writing, depending on how intensive that other Writing is and how DD is handling it.

Or, hold off of on WttW or EiL and use three things to get you rolling with Literature this year:

1. Teaching the Classics
You and DD watch the DVDs together to both learn Socratic questioning method for discussing Literature. Do no writing, do oral answering of questions and discussion. Jill Pike has a 6-week Teaching the Classics schedule for doing the program in a co-op classroom setting, but you could use that to do it at home, and hold off on starting Figuratively Speaking and LL8 until you complete TtC.

2. Figuratively Speaking
Cover 1 or 2 literary elements per week in a 15-minute out loud together session; do it orally, and do no writing; once you've covered a literary element, start looking for that element (and past elements learned) in your Literature reading. There are 40 elements, so at 2x/week, you'll finish in 20 weeks. Or, alternate and do 2 elements in one week, and 1element in the following week, and finish in 30 weeks (which fits in perfectly for a 36-week school year if you use the first 6 weeks for TtC).

3. Lightning Lit 8 -- for gentle step into beginning analysis and doing formal Literature using classics; skip the longer writing assignment at the end of each unit so DD can focus her energies on the Writing you have planned. Use at the same time as Figuratively Speaking to get up to speed on literary analysis and thinking about / discussing / analyzing Literature. I would still highly recommend having DD do some of the worksheets -- answering orally, or dictating to you if the Writing is a huge stumbling block for her (if she is struggling with dyslexia or dysgraphia, for example). Skip the "busy work" worksheets, but don't skip all of them, as there are some good ones in there for practicing the aspect of Literature learned for that lesson, and the second half of LL8 starts includes more analysis in the worksheets, so they become increasingly helpful.

It will be a bit tight to complete all of LL8 in 30 weeks, so you may actually want to skip the first unit (the short story "A Crazy Tale") and the accompanying lesson -- which I think is the rare weak unit in LL -- and possibly skip either the second short story unit ("Wakefield"), or one of the poetry units, which will bring your total units to complete in 30 weeks to 10 or 11, which you can start after finishing TtC. We also were reading at a brisker pace than the LL8 schedule, and we also did the workpages and read the teaching info while simultaneously reading the book (instead of waiting until after finishing the book), which helps to condense the program a bit. Or, you could use this LL8 schedule from Core Foundations and adapt it to fit your needs.

For overcoming a Writing:
Well, it wasn't quite a phobia, but our DS#2 has mild LDs in spelling and writing (probably "stealth dyslexia"), and he struggled for a very long time with the physical act of writing, the process of writing (thinking of what to say and getting it down on paper), plus the specific LD issues on top of that. Things that help:

1. Type the writing
Once DS could type (touch typing, so he could type without looking at the keyboard), any changes that had to be made in the writing process were SO less intimidating when he could just cut and paste, or insert, or use Spell Check for part of his proofing -- rather than having to write, and then re-write, by hand the first rough draft and then every revision.

2. Brainstorming and organizing
Some students freeze up because they can't think of what to say. If that's where your DD struggles, try doing this part together, with you asking a lot of guided questions and jotting things down on a white board. Or, DD might need a visual way to help her organize her thoughts -- use a white board, or fill in a "4 square" sheet (here's a quick slideshow to explain the 4 Square method), or use a mind-mapping organizer or other graphic organizer, or try out Inspiration.

3. Break longer writing into bites
Some students feel overwhelmed at the thought of writing more than a few sentences in one sitting. Break the writing into small bites (10-15 minutes for a "bite" -- no longer), and do 4 writing "bites" scattered throughout the day, interspersed with non-writing activities. Some students might only be able to manage 2-3 sentences per sitting in these short concentrated "bites" -- but by the end of the day, that comes out to a minimum of a complete paragraph; and when the student does that each day for 5 days, that's the rough draft of a 5-paragraph essay accumulated over one week!

Once the student starts getting over the hump of the struggle with writing, the student might move to two 20-minute minute bites a day, and write a complete paragraph in each "bite". That allows the student to be able to complete an essay in a week:

day 1 = brainstorming/organizing, begin writing
day 2-3 = writing
day 4 = revising
day 5 = proof-editing, final copy

4. Pinpoint what the specific fear or struggle with writing is, and work to find strategies to address the specific issue(s). Questions to start thinking through what the spe Does DD...

- write, but not want anyone to see what she has written?
- fear having her writing graded (i.e., she feels like she's being "judged")?
- struggle with spelling and fear that people will think she is "stupid" by seeing poor spelling in her writing?
- struggle to think of something to say?
- feel overwhelmed by the overall process of writing, or feel it takes too long and she'll never finish?
- struggle with handwriting (which can in turn make the idea of writing a paragraph or a paper a struggle)?

BEST of luck as you work towards finding what is the best resource for your 9th grade English! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Lori D.

[ProudGrandma]

we are planning to use Writing With Skill 1 next year.  I think it's a good idea.  What do you think?

[Lori D.]

On 6/12/2015 at 3:51 PM, NEprairiemom said:

we are planning to use Writing With Skill 1 next year.  I think it's a good idea.  What do you think?

I have no personal experience with WWS, but from the samples, it looks like WWE and the sequel of WWS are solid programs. Since your student has not had a lot of previous experience with Writing, or with instruction in Writing, and lacks confidence in that area, you might ask for the experience of others who have used WWS if that will be a problem to jump in with WWS1, if you have not used WWE first.

It doesn't sound like you are using WWS as part of an online class? Just using it at home? If so, that gives you more flexibility for working with a sometimes setting aside WWS for a week or two to do a writing assignment out of a Literature program...

I understand that there is a little bit of beginning literary analysis in WWS, but it would certainly not be enough to take the place of a Literature program. The big question now would be which of the Literature options do you feel would be the best fit for your student? Some questions to help think through deciding on which Lit. program fits best for your family:

- Is the student a strong/weak reader?
- Has the student read any classics previously?
- How much exposure to literary analysis or formal Literature study and Literature topics has the student had previously?
- What has discussion about books being read for school looked like in the past?
- After looking at the samples, which Literature program do you think is the best fit for your student?
- Which program uses books that would be of most interest to your student?
- Which program would give you and your student the best understanding of how to go about doing Literature for high school -- i.e., give you both a good foundation this year that you can build on for the rest of high school?

BEST of luck as your decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Lori D.

[Junie]

we are planning to use Writing With Skill 1 next year.  I think it's a good idea.  What do you think?

 

Ds14 and I just finished WWS 1!  We should have done it a few years ago, but better late than never.  He needed writing instruction and this provided it for him.

 

The book starts out in baby steps and works up to writing complete essays.  He did well with the step-by-step instructions.

 

Let me know if you have specific questions.

 

 

ETA:  This was for the writing portion of his English class.  We also did quite a bit of literature.

[Aretemama]

Writing with Skill is great for ninth grade. You can do all three levels stretched over three years (if your child needs to cover all the topics) or take all three years and crunch into one year if you just need more review of expository writing. WWE is not a pre-requisite. You would still need to add in literature based on your child's reading level and interest.

[5ray2006]

My oldest ds, my first 9th grader, is behind in his writing skills and doesn't like to read. He skips over all writing assignments and we have to make him read. This past year we enrolled him in a beginning IEW course at a local co-op that we later dropped because he hated the class. He says IEW is too formulaic. He has ADD with EF disorder.

 

We hired a tutor back in April and designed a curriculum for him to get him caught up. He currently is working on: Lightning literature 8, Analytical Grammar, and he will be starting WWS1 next month. After WWS, my plan is for him to take a few BraveWriter courses next spring/summer 2016. DS should be finished with LL8 at the end of this year. We will start the Teaching the Classics/ Window to the World combo next January/ February and work throughout the summer.