English - We're in Trouble! (course descriptions)

[goldberry]

Okay, I have a math-science kid.  She has math-science credits in abundance.  She hates to read and fights it like you would not believe.  She took over one semester to read The Crucible. :(  However, she is able to read science texts and articles and comprehend them very well.  She loves to write, but creative writing, not format writing.  I confess that I have caved into her fighting. 

 

Her 9th grade year, we did two Bravewriter classes and she did have a pretty nice reading list that year.

 

10th grade year, she did not do any special writing assignments or classes. She read 3-4 books.   :(  

 

11th grade (this past year) we worked through The Critical Reader to prepare for her SAT test.  She also took one Bravewriter class. She read 2-3 books.

 

What else - She spent plenty of time writing fiction over the last two years (as of now she has about 3 almost book length stories, plus numerous shorter fan-fiction stories. She participated in NaNoWriMo.  She has had writing assignments related to science. She has an excellent vocabulary.  (We did do Latin roots as well as two Vocabulary Cartoon books somewhere in there.)  She reads tons of science articles, both online and in magazines, and has independently incorporated that information into her learning.

 

For 12th grade, she is doing an early college program, so we are basically done with homeschool.  I am trying to get her transcript and course descriptions together, and I have a big blank space for English 10 and 11.  I am not concerned about her ability to read and comprehend or to write.  She is not exceptional in those areas, but she is capable.  She scored 650 Reading/Writing on her SAT, and on the Accuplacer placed easily into college level English.

 

I know I should have done better.  We spent an inordinate amount of time on science especially because that is her passion and we just followed it.  The english got through but not in any formal way.  I need help making some kind of description based on what we actually did.

 

ETA 10th grade is the year she did NaNoWriMo.

Edited July 8, 2016 by goldberry

[klmama]

English 10

 

This one-credit English course will primarily focus on creative writing, particularly the short story, the novella, and the novel.  In addition, the student will read a variety of novels and will study vocabulary through Latin roots. 

 

 

English 11

 

This one-credit English course will help the student develop critical reading skills using both fiction and non-fiction works.  The student will further develop composition skills, primarily focusing on ____ and ____ OR  writing  #  ____.  (Blanks should have whatever skills or number and types of writing the Bravewriter classes emphasized). 

[goldberry]

These might be suspiciously short compared to my other descriptions!  But maybe I should shorten those as well....

[theelfqueen]

 Did she do cross-curricular writing in other areas  - research papers or projects? Develop bibliographies, outlines, written submissions for a science fair? Did she go to any plays or watch adaptations of literature on film?

 

I would play up creative writing and also the reading of non-fiction journal articles.

 

Does this help :

http://www.thehomescholar.com/pdf/course-description/novel-way.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

[klmama]

These might be suspiciously short compared to my other descriptions!  But maybe I should shorten those as well....

 

You could certainly lengthen these!  For example, in this one you could add more details about the writing process.  Look at the NaNoWriMo materials to see what guidance she had for that, and look at the list theelfqueen linked.  List specific things she learned or practiced.  Did you discuss grammar and spelling errors with her?  Include that, too.   Here's an adapted version with places to add info.

 

English 10

 

This one-credit English course will primarily focus on creative writing, particularly the short story, the novella, and the novel.  The student will learn character development, plot development, ___, and ___ while writing # short stories, # novellas, and one novel.  Grammar and spelling skills will be reviewed throughout the course as needed.  In addition, the student will read a variety of novels, including ___, ___, ___, and ___.  The student will also study vocabulary through Latin roots. 

[EKS]

Did she read and write across the curriculum?  For example, in her science classes did she read anything besides the textbooks?  If so, you could remove any reference to those in the science descriptions and put them in the English descriptions.  Same with writing--remove any reference to papers written for her science courses and put them in the English descriptions.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

For 11th grade what about watching a few plays? Maybe The crucible since she read it, a Shakespeare or two, and The Importance of Being Earnest.

[quark]

Of the X number of books I've listed in English and History course descriptions, about 25% were audiobooks. Not because DS doesn't like to read but because he doesn't like other types of white noise and the books contributed to our studies in so many ways. Similarly, could she listen to audiobook versions?

[goldberry]

 

 

I would play up creative writing and also the reading of non-fiction journal articles.

 

Does this help :

http://www.thehomescholar.com/pdf/course-description/novel-way.pdf

 

Yes, that does help, thank you!