Ninth grade literature and composition

[WafflyToaster]

I'm teaching Language Arts to a co-op next year, and my now-eighth graders will be in high school. Yikes! 

 

I emailed the IEW folks, and they responded that a ninth-grader might use Speech Boot Camp, The Elegant Essay, Teaching the Classics, and Windows to the World all in one year! 

 

Would using the Jill Pike syllabus for Windows eliminate the need for all that stuff? Sheesh.

 

I have looked at The Elegant Essay before, and I don't care for it all that much. I've taught at the college level, so I'm hoping to move my rising high-schoolers away from some of the IEW stuff which is fun for younger students but not so great in college: catchy openers, decorations, etc. 

 

This year, for 8th graders, I used Lightning Lit., made up my own IEW-based papers on various topics (some literary, some not), and also used Paragraphs for Middle School as another view (from IEW) on style. I had considered using either Lightning Lit. or Excellence in Literature next year, while working through The Lively Art of Writing or some other writing text. I know The Well-Trained Mind recommeds A Rulebook for Arguments and The New Oxford Guide to Writing, though it's hard to imagine how to implement those for a class. The Rulebook is so short! 

 

Any thoughts would be most welcome! Thank you! 

[Mom22ns]

I like the idea of EIL along with some writing instruction, lively could work. They are both inexpensive, and can be used largely independently with your coop time offering guidance, literature discussion and writing feedback. 

[Loesje22000]

The Rulebook is so short!

 

Any thoughts would be most welcome! Thank you!

The Rulebook of Arguments has a workbook now, that isn't short.

 

You may consider The 'Help for Highschool' syllabus from Bravewriter.

Dd likes the switch from IEW to this very much.

(We use the online classes though)

 

As we don't tie Literature to History, I started a thread about 9th grade Literature a la LL8:

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/587177-balancing-english-literature/

 

Maybe it gives some inspiration :)

 

I'm no experienced homeschooler, but 'just' someone who also switched from a LL/IEW combo.

[WafflyToaster]

Thank you! It seems like the Rulebook is more of a logic text , which is important, obviously, but we can only complete so many things, and I would like to be efficient. (I know that's a run-on!  :001_smile: )

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I'm teaching Language Arts to a co-op next year, and my now-eighth graders will be in high school. Yikes! 

 

I emailed the IEW folks, and they responded that a ninth-grader might use Speech Boot Camp, The Elegant Essay, Teaching the Classics, and Windows to the World all in one year! 

 

Would using the Jill Pike syllabus for Windows eliminate the need for all that stuff? Sheesh.

 

I have looked at The Elegant Essay before, and I don't care for it all that much. I've taught at the college level, so I'm hoping to move my rising high-schoolers away from some of the IEW stuff which is fun for younger students but not so great in college: catchy openers, decorations, etc. 

 

This year, for 8th graders, I used Lightning Lit., made up my own IEW-based papers on various topics (some literary, some not), and also used Paragraphs for Middle School as another view (from IEW) on style. I had considered using either Lightning Lit. or Excellence in Literature next year, while working through The Lively Art of Writing or some other writing text. I know The Well-Trained Mind recommeds A Rulebook for Arguments and The New Oxford Guide to Writing, though it's hard to imagine how to implement those for a class. The Rulebook is so short! 

 

Any thoughts would be most welcome! Thank you! 

 

That seems like way more than most coops would get through.

 

I did a coop for a group of 8/9th graders a few years back.  The coop met every two weeks.  I tried to get a weekly meeting for this group, but couldn't convince leadership.  I did get a 90 min block by starting early.  But that only gave me 16-18 class meetings.

 

I did Windows to the World and used the Jill Pike syllabus.  The syllabus was good for helping with pacing. I did not do any of the lessons that used Teaching the Classics, because we just didn't have time.   I also liked the rubrics, because it kept me from grading too rigorously on the early assignments.  There were a couple rubrics that I rewrote, because they referred to specific IEW style points (ex. dress ups) that I considered IEW terms rather than standard rhetoric terms.  Not all of the students had done IEW writing in lower grades, so I didn't want success to be based on using those specific style features.

 

I included the cost of the student books and the novels in the class fee.  This let me buy identical copies of the novels, so that when we were discussing them in class, we could refer to page numbers, rather than vague references to somewhere in a certain chapter.  

 

Students submitted their written work to me as attached documents via email.  This let me do editing comments directly on their essays and return them before then next class.  I would definitely do this again, however, I would also add a rough draft check point on the essays.  Some of the final submissions were rougher than they should have been.  I gave each student the option of having me look at a rough draft, but what I found is that it was only the better students who bothered.  The students who really needed the outside council didn't ask for it.  I also gave an option of revising and resubmitting for a regrade.  Again, the students who needed to learn from my comments typically didn't bother to do revisions.  (The most frustrating being the student who submitted a revision that didn't take any of the comments on board and actually submitted a more disjointed paper the second time.)

 

I had a syllabus for each semester that listed readings and assignments along with due dates.  When students had questions about what they needed to do, I immediately referred them back to the syllabus.  I thought this was important training for later, more advanced courses; and it also kept me from getting off track or piling too much on the class.

 

Lessons learned:

No extra credit.  It was only done by the stronger students and took time to grade.  

Reduce the penalty for late work.  I tried to be strict and had a 10% penalty per day late.  The consequence was that a student who was late with a mediocre assignment would get a D or F on it.  I think this is unduly harsh for 9th graders.  I would probably revise this to 10% off if it is late and nothing accepted if it is over a week past due.  This lets a student have a problem, but still be able to recover from it if the work is good and is turned in within a couple days.  I think that my harsher policy fostered an attitude that late work wasn't worth doing at all.

 

Require rough drafts.  The essay writing and revision process was something the students needed to learn.  Having a required rough draft and revision written in to the syllabus would have made this more organic.  (Just as an example, I gave them a month to write their Jane Eyre essay.  I should have given them a week to 10 days for a rough draft, then required a revision.  It wouldn't have taken longer on the syllabus.  I suspect most delayed writing until a few days before it was due anyway.)

 

Communicate expectations clearly with students AND parents.  I needed to be more explicit about plagiarism, in particular with respect to the allusions project.  One student copied all of his explanations and examples directly from a site that had posted an answer key to the exact list of allusions listed in WttW.  The student and parent professed to thinking that this was what the assignment was.  In hindsight, this was the first coop class many had taken that had an academic topic (rather than being a pure elective).  It may have been a first time dealing with outside written assignments and deadlines.  

 

I communicated a lot via email.  I also handed out written copies of the homework assignments.  In hindsight, I should have had both parents and students on my email list.  A couple of the parents seemed blindsided by assignments and by the fact that their kid was not turning things in.  If I were to do this again, as soon as a student missed a deadline, there would be an email to both student and parent reminding them of the deadline and grade markdown policy for late work.  

 

I would be very clear at the beginning of what the course was supposed to be.  I ended up not issuing a course grade.  Instead I gave out a grade report that listed each assignment and the points earned on it.  I suggested a couple grading schemes that they could use.  At that point I didn't want to issue a grade, because at least one student would have gotten a D or F.  If I did a similar course again, I would be clear on if I was issuing a grade or not.  I might also suggest a student drop the course if they were not doing the work.  

 

I'll share more if you want.

 

 

[WafflyToaster]

Thanks so much, Sebastian! I appreciate your comments. I have been teaching in a co-op setting for a few years now, and I've discovered many of the same techniques you have, in terms of requiring drafts, nixing extra credit, and so forth. 

 

Great idea on purchasing all the books! 

 

So you ONLY used Windows to the World that year, without an additional writing text? Was that sufficient writing instruction?

 

We do meet every week, but I can understand your frustration with just meeting once every two weeks. I already feel we should meet twice a week!