Writer's Workshop
Writer’s Workshop Syllabus
Description:
Writer’s workshop is a writing class designed to help students struggling with foundational writing skills. These skills include but are not limited to constructing complete sentences, writing paragraphs, and understanding grammar rules. This course will combine textbooks and computer-based programs designed to help remediate these skills and improve typing fluency.
Students will be placed in programs based on their writing needs. Students may or may not participate in any particular curriculum. If you have any questions about your learner’s curriculum, contact Ms. Nicholas.
Curriculum:
Essentials for Writing:
Essentials for Writing is designed for middle and high school students who are struggling with the requirements in English language Arts. The program consists of 95 lessons designed to teach skills essential for learning to write and the complex behaviors needed to compose: narrative passages, stories with a specific theme, descriptive essays, autobiographical sketches and biographies, responses to literature, and persuasive arguments and position papers.
Quill.org
Quill's tools provide practice with grammar conventions, combining sentences, and proofreading passages. Teachers can assign Quill's synchronous lessons tool to provide whole-group or small-group instruction.
Typing.org
Typing.com provides free typing lessons from beginner to advanced levels. This curriculum departs from traditional home row instruction by beginning with the F, J, and space keys, then moving on to U, R, and K, adding more keys. Students test their skills with challenging practice exercises, eventually expanding to words and sentences. After completing screens, students can see their word-per-minute (WPM) accuracy percentages and star ratings.
There's also important additional content with special lessons on computer use, online safety and behavior, time management, formatting correspondence and reports, and coding essentials, introducing students to HTML and CSS. These extra lessons include a mix of instruction, quizzes, and typing practice.
Edmark:
The Edmark Reading Program has helped students who need an alternative to phonics learning to read. The key to success is the program’s use of a carefully sequenced, highly repetitive word recognition method and errorless learning. The program motivates students by breaking learning into steps that ensure they achieve over 90% accuracy. The Edmark Reading Program ensures success for students of all ages.
IXL.com Language Arts:
IXL Language Arts breaks topics down into building blocks, helping students to progress from the fundamentals to advanced communication skills. IXL meets K-12 students at their level regardless of grade, whether they need early literacy support or advanced writing strategies. IXL features a wide range of high‑quality, original texts, from captivating fiction to informational texts relevant to the real world.
Grades:
Grades will be based on classroom activities. Please check parentvue/studentvue to monitor grades.