Help planning English for 9th Grade

[UmmIbrahim]

Hello High School Board,

 

I'm currently working through a plan for high school for my rising 9th grader. We have always homeschooled, but this whole high school business is a new world, and I'm feeling the pressure to change from our more relaxed style into hour tracking and a more fixed schedule.

 

I'm currently planning "English I" for our 9th grade year. From what I've read on previous threads, this course should be a combination of composition and literature. I'm looking into several ideas about covering those areas, but would love some feedback.

 

My son has been working his way through WWS 1 during the last year. We had previously always outsourced writing to a local class for homeschoolers that used IEW, but our teacher moved, and we decided to continue on our own. He can write fairly well when he's in a good mood, but really doesn't enjoy writing. We started with WWS 1 because I had read that the levels were incremental and I figured it certainly wouldn't hurt to start at the beginning and work our way up. He's been able to do the work independently and I've been pleased with the results so far. He may never love writing, but this is getting the job done as much as can be expected over here. 

 

I was thinking of finishing up WWS 1 and starting WWS 2 over the summer at a much faster pace (he took Geometry and a few other time consuming classes last year that resulted in our turtle's pace in writing) and then moving forward in the series (I already have WWS 2 and WWS 3).

 

Additionally, I recently purchased Brave Writer because I really love Julie's philosophy and would love to work more with helping him find his voice in addition to having him be "competent." I want to incorporate the "Help for High School" program during the year as well.

 

I am not sure about the viability of this plan, because WWS is really a middle school program, right? I like the level and don't want to drop something that's working without tears (big consideration in these teen boy years!). What are the implications of this plan for the future? Would this not be an English 9 course then if the materials are not officially high school level? We looked at EIW (the one with the DVDs) because I had read that it was kind of a "git 'er done" writing program, but my son said no way because the sample videos looked really boring. That would be a recipe for fights and tears for sure.

 

I guess I just need someone to help me talk through the considerations here because I don't know what I'm doing :)

 

Regarding the literature component, I'm thinking of just making a book list based on some high school level novels/short stories/poetry that he picks. He's a pretty voracious reader and loves lots of things, so I'm less worried about this part. I saw some free online Glencoe literature guides and had him pick about fifteen books from those available to read for the year. Talk about no coordinating plan or theme, but I'm not very good at this official planning stuff it seems.

 

Does that seem reasonable for literature? Any opinions/feedback are welcome, I just need some moral support.

 

When we finalize the plan and start implementing things, I am guessing that I need to be timing the work done in the composition and literature. How do you record actual hours? I was kind of figuring that the actual reading would not count towards hours spent, but how do I calculate instructional hours? Just the time spent on analysis/discussion? What about time spent writing papers and compositions? Time spent working on the writing program? I believe I need to get to 180 hours for 1 credit but just want get a sense of how you record your hours. 

 

Okay, I'm descending into a vortex of too many questions, but I really really really appreciate the help as we jump into high school!

 

 

 

 

[freesia]

Your plan looks good and seems to suit your style. Choose some Glencoe guides and maybe do WWS and then some HHS.

 

With regard to hours, I am sure Lori will post her chart for you. A credit can be 120-180 hours. The year we tracked I put circles cut in fourths in his plan book and he colored in as he worked-rounding to the nearest 15 minutes. Reading time absolutely counts in the hour total.

 

Ooopss, the dinner timer is going off. I'll try to come back later.

[bluedarling]

My eldest did WWS1 during 9th grade, and still did fine in DE English 101 by 12th. (Outside English class in 10th, and IEW Adv. Comm and parts of OYAN in 11th.)  I don't think WWS 2 in 9th would be a problem.  Most middle school curric. can still be used successfully for 9th. Just add more literature/harder than you would have for 7th.  When we did WWS, we were doing beautiful feet history, so I figured the literature portion of that covered us for the missing lit in English.  And my boys were really weak on grammar, so we had grammar on top of it, too.  We didn't track hours.  I actually graded very little.  I "guess-timated" the grade based on the effort put forth by the child, how much was turned in and the quality of the work that had been turned in.  (I now prefer things that are easier to grade...but it didn't hurt us any.)   (I think we attempted to track hours at the start, but my children were incapable of this. I gave up.)   Your plan sounds great to me.

[RootAnn]

Ugh. I typed up a huge post & lost it. Grr.

 

WWS is used by quite a few as part of high school level English. I wouldn't be afraid of using it as part or all of the composition part of your English credit. I'd continue with WWS until your son hits a wall (or gets really bored, or needs a break, etc) in WWS. Then, I'd go ahead & do Help for High School for awhile & swing back to WWS, if necessary, later. I wouldn't try to do them both at the same time.

 

Handling the credit for English is something that people do differently. All those hours add up pretty fast. There are several options on how you can handle that.

1) Do a writing-heavy year with just a little literature.

2) Do a literature-heavy year and the writing is about the literature.

3) Do half lit & half writing - spending an hour a day on both combined (or splitting it so some weeks you just do lit & some you just do writing)

 

Those all involve spending basically an hour a day to get you to a full credit.

 

4) Do a full literature & full writing program - spending two hours a day on English.

 

If you do #4, you can either count it as two credits (legitimate, but not necessarily done as often as the next option) or just swallow the extra time and still count it as one English credit. It just is one of those credits that takes a lot of time.

 

Personally, I found it REALLY easy to overschedule my 9th grader this year. So, honestly, I'd cut back on the number of books you want him to cover. There is a lot of debate on how many books to cover each year and it really depends on the kid, but I'd cut back to maybe five books, add in a few short stories, poetry, & one play. Call it a writing-heavy year if you want. 

 

I'd rather let them have more free time for reading or other interests than have to cut stuff at the end of the year or have it go into the summer. (Note that my 9th grader procrastinateddragged her feet & is now paying the price by having to work during the summer! So, I know of what I speak.) 

 

Good luck!!

[freesia]

Yes, I second the overestimating, for sure. 15 books is very high to read and analyze. I would make a list of about 8 that you really want to cover and see how it goes. The others could be on a booklist for free reading if he's keen.

[Brad S]

If WWS is going great, I wouldn't change.  It's easy to run into problems in writing; if you hit a wall or need a change, then you could try something else.  Otherwise, I'd ride the wave. 

 

Yes, it's easy to over-schedule. I really think that writing is important, and my DS wasn't where I wanted him to be yet, so we're doing a writing course and a separate lit. course in 9th (and maybe 10th).  There are a few of us out there.  It's really what works for your family.

Edited June 1, 2016 by Brad S

[UmmIbrahim]

Thanks freesia,

 

I told my son that reading time can count and the response was a fist pump. I guess I was just thinking back to high school when we had the readings to be done at home and the class time was analysis and discussion.

 

I think achieving 180+ will be easy with the reading time, so that eases my mind.  :hurray:

 

Your plan looks good and seems to suit your style. Choose some Glencoe guides and maybe do WWS and then some HHS.

With regard to hours, I am sure Lori will post her chart for you. A credit can be 120-180 hours. The year we tracked I put circles cut in fourths in his plan book and he colored in as he worked-rounding to the nearest 15 minutes. Reading time absolutely counts in the hour total.

Ooopss, the dinner timer is going off. I'll try to come back later.

 

[UmmIbrahim]

This is great news! I am happy to hear that other people have successfully used WWS for high school. I feel like the output I get is appropriate for his age and level, so if he's giving me high school level vocabulary, structure, etc. it doesn't matter that a 7th/8th grader could also be using the same curriculum at another level.

 

In my state starting homeschooling high school is a big leap because it's tough to "change your mind" and head to school down the road if things change. He wouldn't get credit for any of his homeschool work, so DE is definitely on our radar for the future. I'm happy to hear that your child integrated to DE work successfully.

 

We'll also see how this hour tracking thing goes. For the moment the fear is motivating us "This counts! This is real! This is essential for your future! etc." but we may slack off with exact tracking down the road. Uncharted waters! :)

 

 

My eldest did WWS1 during 9th grade, and still did fine in DE English 101 by 12th. (Outside English class in 10th, and IEW Adv. Comm and parts of OYAN in 11th.)  I don't think WWS 2 in 9th would be a problem.  Most middle school curric. can still be used successfully for 9th. Just add more literature/harder than you would have for 7th.  When we did WWS, we were doing beautiful feet history, so I figured the literature portion of that covered us for the missing lit in English.  And my boys were really weak on grammar, so we had grammar on top of it, too.  We didn't track hours.  I actually graded very little.  I "guess-timated" the grade based on the effort put forth by the child, how much was turned in and the quality of the work that had been turned in.  (I now prefer things that are easier to grade...but it didn't hurt us any.)   (I think we attempted to track hours at the start, but my children were incapable of this. I gave up.)   Your plan sounds great to me.

 

[UmmIbrahim]

Thanks RootAnn for your thoughtful replies (including the lost one! I hate it when that happens!)

 

I like options 2 and 3 :) He's a great reader so really focusing in on the literature gives us a bit more breathing room with the writing side of things. So half writing or a little less might be the way for us to structure things. And when we stop timing work down to the minute (I'm sure it will happen), an hour a day sounds like a great way to get in what we need to.

 

I appreciate your thoughts about the number of works to cover as well. Fifteen is definitely too ambitious, and he's going to have tons of other stuff going on next year. I will pare down our number to cover and will also consider that he has a teen book club that he attends where he has read great works (Orwell, Twain, Dickens, etc.) and will be getting other exposure to great books outside of our official English class. I'm trying so hard to not bite off more than we can chew, so I appreciate the voice of reason!

 

Regarding summer, we've always gone year round because we are so generally relaxed, so continuing to work will be just more of the same. Good luck managing your 9th grader's summer work schedule!

 

Ugh. I typed up a huge post & lost it. Grr.

 

WWS is used by quite a few as part of high school level English. I wouldn't be afraid of using it as part or all of the composition part of your English credit. I'd continue with WWS until your son hits a wall (or gets really bored, or needs a break, etc) in WWS. Then, I'd go ahead & do Help for High School for awhile & swing back to WWS, if necessary, later. I wouldn't try to do them both at the same time.

 

Handling the credit for English is something that people do differently. All those hours add up pretty fast. There are several options on how you can handle that.

1) Do a writing-heavy year with just a little literature.

2) Do a literature-heavy year and the writing is about the literature.

3) Do half lit & half writing - spending an hour a day on both combined (or splitting it so some weeks you just do lit & some you just do writing)

 

Those all involve spending basically an hour a day to get you to a full credit.

 

4) Do a full literature & full writing program - spending two hours a day on English.

 

If you do #4, you can either count it as two credits (legitimate, but not necessarily done as often as the next option) or just swallow the extra time and still count it as one English credit. It just is one of those credits that takes a lot of time.

 

Personally, I found it REALLY easy to overschedule my 9th grader this year. So, honestly, I'd cut back on the number of books you want him to cover. There is a lot of debate on how many books to cover each year and it really depends on the kid, but I'd cut back to maybe five books, add in a few short stories, poetry, & one play. Call it a writing-heavy year if you want. 

 

I'd rather let them have more free time for reading or other interests than have to cut stuff at the end of the year or have it go into the summer. (Note that my 9th grader procrastinateddragged her feet & is now paying the price by having to work during the summer! So, I know of what I speak.) 

 

Good luck!!

 

[UmmIbrahim]

Agreed :) I appreciate all of the input, this group is wonderful for helping me figure out how to approach this. I'm less scared by the minute!

 

 

Yes, I second the overestimating, for sure. 15 books is very high to read and analyze. I would make a list of about 8 that you really want to cover and see how it goes. The others could be on a booklist for free reading if he's keen.

 

[UmmIbrahim]

Thanks for the input. I think how much of each we do will depend on how efficiently my ds can work. If we end up with lots of window gazing and feet dragging, we may end up with more time than expected. I agree about the importance of writing (need it for pretty much everything), so if it takes up more time, so be it.

 

 

If WWS is going great, I wouldn't change.  It's easy to run into problems in writing; if you hit a wall or need a change, then you could try something else.  Otherwise, I'd ride the wave. 

 

Yes, it's easy to over-schedule. I really think that writing is important, and my DS wasn't where I wanted him to be yet, so we're doing a writing course and a separate lit. course in 9th (and maybe 10th).  There are a few of us out there.  It's really what works for your family.

 

[EppieJ]

We did WriteShop 1 for composition. For literature, I gave ds a book list of varying genres to pick from as a jumping off place, and required a minimum of one book per quarter. We used the sparknotes.com study guides and I had him take the quiz as a comprehension check. He read books like Huckleberry Finn, The Little Prince, Dante's Inferno....

 

As far as keeping track of hours, etc., I use a free online program http://homeschoolskedtrack.com that tracks lesson plans, hours, completed assignments, resources...and you can also print out course reports as well as create a transcript.

[Pistachio mom]

For writing, you may want to look at Sharon Watson's Power in Your Hands. Her website has a couple chapters up as free PDF's. It is written to the student and is very thorough in helping the student develop solid writing skills. It has made me rethink my writing program.