ENGLISH LANGUAGE ART

GRAMMAR

Students will learn the fundamentals of storytelling, fundamentals that will help shape their ability to read, analyze and interpret texts in the future. Not only will they be able to identify these components, your child will be able to utilize them creatively and take them as they discuss all different kinds of mediums during everyday conversation.


This course is also designed for children looking to develop their english language and reading skills--children who wish to excel, and surpass expectations not just academically, but outside the classroom.

Blue stripes on white

G3

Objectives

  • Identify components of a story (plot, characters, chronology, etc). 

  • To be able to paraphrase simple stories

  • Understand simple sentence structures

  • Be familiar with context clues (synonym, antonym, specific example, explanation semantics, synectics, and picture clues) collective nouns,  and subject/verb agreements

  • Understand the rules of plural and singular

​Learning Outcomes

  • Have a clear view on literature and develop the sense of literature 

  • ​Understand must-known basic grammar knowledges 

  • Expertise in basic comprehension and summarization skills

  • Able to organize sentences with perfect grammar knowledges

  • Develop kid's understandings of grammar to establish solid foundation of English to support future English learning

​Related Background/Culture

  • Language Power 

  • British Columbia Ministry of Education

  • 19th century European Romantic poetry/romanticism. 

  • 19th century European Children’s Literature 

  • 19th century American political discourse (speeches). 

  • Fictional short stories (Disney’s “Mulan”).

Exersices/Activities

  • Fill in the blank exercises (Comprehension of Grammar Elements)

  • Multiple choices (​Sentence structure, content clues)

  • Poem analysis

  • Close reading exercises to apply grammar rules

  • Homework regarding target grammar/punctuation element 

  • Class discussion, and practise through verbal application in class

READING

Reading course focuses primarily on reading comprehension through  the close reading of passages, short stories, and poems. Children are encouraged to read certain imperative literary texts within the English canon and identify, explore, and discuss important literary devices while reading additions important to academic thinking.

G4 Reading Sample Class

G4

Objectives

  • Learning about theme, plot, setting, point of view, characterization, etc(the components to a story)

  • Learning how these elements inform them as readers, and how they can use this skill to develop their writing and analytical reading abilities

​Learning Outcomes

  • Be able to identify the components of a story and easily discuss a story within any setting.

  • Read an entire novel (body of work)

  • To be able to write a book report

  • Hugely improve English vocabulary

​Related Background/Culture

  • The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum 

  • The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 

  • Matilda by Roald Dahl

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by Jk Rowling

  • Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

  • Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Exersices/Activities

  • Reading comprehension quizzes (Assess the understanding of character)

  • Book report (Testing their ability to identify and examine all elements considered)

  • Short writing assignments (ex. “describe the setting in Harry Potter…”)

  • In class discussion about element and how it relates to the piece of literature

WRITTING

Writing course focuses on the writing techniques, varying genres, cultural/political events, and key writers/figures of each English literary period.Students will read, and dissect works of fiction and non-fiction ranging from the beginning of the English literary writing world: starting with Homer’s “Odyssey” and “Iliad”,  Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, all the way to more contemporary works such as George Orwell’s political discourse. 

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By doing so, students will be better understand the evolution of English writing and speaking throughout time by contextualizing  and conceptualizing each text/narrative with context specific to each time period.  The analytical thinking that extends not just toward the creative, but to analytical and informative kinds of writing they will do throughout their academic and career oriented journeys.

G4

Objectives

  • Learn how and when to use certain skills and writing techniques (different kinds of writing, require different methods and writing application)

  • Learn how to apply figurative language to writing (creative, and academic)

  • Be familiar with writing short stories and the components of short stories 

​Learning Outcomes

  • Build confidence outside the classroom while writing about different contexts, stories, novels and poems

  • Master components of a persuasive writing piece

  • Start to apply analytical thinking while writing

  • Develop writing style that is more creative and academic

​Related Background/Culture

  • European and American poetry, and prose

  • Classical poetry and prose

  • Early Modern poetry and prose

  • Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K Rowling

  • The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum 

Exersices/Activities

  • Short answer response questions (ex. "Write a short response using third person")

  • Creative writing assignments (i.e. "Create a poem using alliteration")

ELA ACADEMIC

ELA academic is an academic level program that is designed for high school students and prepare for college studies. The grade 9 level targets on fundamental high school reading and writing knowledges to help student quickly adapt to higher level of literacy study. The grade 10 provides advanced and specialized skills for students who already have outstanding literacy performance.

G9 Writing Sample Class

Grade 9 Reading

Course Introduction

  • Designed to complement the Grade 9 Writing course

  • Students will read important works of Science Fiction from the 19th - 21st centuries, including Frankenstein and the Time Machine

  • Student will learn the tools of literary analysis

  • ​Students will practice their literary analysis skills through close reading and class discussion

Grade 9 Writing

Course Contents

  • Read essays by famous writers, such as George Orwell

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  • Study examples of excellent high school essays

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  • Analyze important literary works from Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Isaac Asimov, and others

Course Introduction

This course is designed specifically to teach students how to write high quality academic essays. We study the essay as a literary genre. Students will read many examples of great essays and learn to deconstruct essays.

 

The majority of this course will be walking students through the process of writing good academic essays. They will learn to develop thesis statements, how to construct arguments, and how to use evidence to support these arguments. I will also introduce them to basic research methods, proper citation, note taking, and organization. Finally, students will produce their own essays, learn how to edit their own work, and learn how to edit another student's work. The goal of this class is to prepare students for University level writing

Homework/Exercises

  • Write thesis statements

  • Conduct research

  • Construct arguments

  • Use evidence

  • ​Edit your own and other students' writing

Grade 10 Reading & Writing

Skills

  • Understand the genre and types of essays

  • Understand proper tone, diction, structure of an essay

  • Review common literary and poetic devices

  • Understand techniques of oral composition

  • ​Understand the intersection between literature, history, and archaeology as it pertains to the Trojan War

  • Understand the MLA style for citing

  • Understand proof-reading and deeper editing

  • ​Understand the process of writing an essay

Course Breakdown

Unit 1: Introductions to Essays

  • Types of essays

  • Literary features

  • Thesis, argument, evidence

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Unit 2: Reading

  • Homer's Illiad Bks.

  • Arthur Miller The Crucible

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Unit 3: Essay Writing

  • How to write an outline

  • Research

  • Organization

  • Citations

  • First draft

  • Editing & Peer Editing

Homework/Exercises

  • Correctly identify two different types of essays

  • Identify the features of an essay and write a summary about it

  • ​Write a 500-word comparison of the archaeological evidence from the ancient city of Troy and its description in the Iliad

  • Annotated bibliography assignment

  • Write a bibliography using proper MLA format

  • ​Submit your final draft

SHAKESPEARE

The Shakespeare course is designed to invite students to explore Shakespeare’s famous plays. Shakespeare is often intimidating but the materials used in this course are designed for younger students. The books present the full story of Shakespeare’s plays and explore their complex themes with level appropriate language and vocabulary that still challenges. The goal is for students to gain an understanding and appreciation for Shakespeare’s most famous plays. Along the way they will expand their vocabulary, critical thinking and analytical abilities, spelling and grammar, reading, and speaking.

Objectives

  1. ​understand what is happening in the story: understand the words in the story, to be able to understand the sentences, and to understand what the plot of the story is

  2. To show that students are able to think and talk about the story. For instance, what it would be like to be a woman in Shakespeare’s time, since women were not allowed to act or even have a job

  3. Students have the ability to express their own idea when analyzing the story

  4. Understand the theme and main idea of the story

Course Outline

Unit 1: Introduction to Shakespeare

  • Time

  • Life

  • Influence

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Unit 2: Midsummer Night's Dream

  • Read

  • Vocabulary

  • Script example

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Unit 3: Romeo and Juliet

  • Read

  • Vocabulary

  • Deep reading of 3 scenes

  • Character exploration

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Unit 4: ​The Tempest

  • Read

  • Vocabulary

  • Deep reading of 3 scenes

  • Character exploration