Upon entering middle school, students face challenges and demands from the Common Core that push them to develop the necessary reading, writing, and comprehension skills needed in order to prepare them for high school. Students are expected to write across the range of narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive modes; more importantly, they move from figuring out what to say in an essay to how to say it with personal style.
If, by middle school, students have not developed good reading habits that allow them to read with fluency, then the summer before entering high school would be the perfect time - and last chance - for middle schoolers to become not only accustomed to reading full-length novels, but also thinking critically about them. Although developing good reading and writing skills can be a lifelong process, the bar set forth by the time students reach high school will be a significant jump from middle school.
This Writing Course designed for 6-8th grade operates more like a workshop: the main teacher will hold "craft lessons" aimed at helping students become more confident at writing and expressing their opinions. Heavy emphasis will be placed on the revising process, with the hope that students can learn from their mistakes and create significantly better second and third drafts.
Each course is six weeks in length. The teaching will be delivered livestreaming through Zoom; course material will be available for download on Canvas. The teaching staff consists of one main teacher and one TA per class. The main teacher will be responsible for teaching, and the TA is in charge of student communication and most of the grading. The final essays will be graded by the main teacher.
For this 6-8th grade Writing Course, there are two types of courses available depending on the needs of the student.
As an acceleration course that meets 2-3 times a week, it is designed to help middle schoolers to overcome their fear of writing a timed essay with the overall goal of improving grades in the short run, and develop efficient reading and writing habits in the long run.
As an enrichment course that meets once a week, it is designed to help middle schoolers who enjoy reading in their own time, who possess average or above average writing skills, and would like guidance in reading more serious literature and honing their formal writing skills.
For 6th graders, the writing workshops will incorporate a variety of techniques such as visual and aural writing, whereby students will be given a photograph, or assigned a piece of music, and encouraged to describe their experience with rich details. The focus is often on small moments from the students' daily lives, drawing connections between personal experiences and the reading assignments.
For 8th graders, the writing workshops will focus on what makes great literature timeless, both in terms of universal themes and the way that these themes are presented through writing. Students will improve their writing by emulating great writers creatively. Students will also practice writing in a variety of genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
7th graders will be placed with either 6th graders or 8th graders after assessment.
All workshops will practice writing book reports and five-paragraph essays. The teaching material for this course will be a combination of McGraw-Hill Language Arts textbooks, Learning Language Arts Through Literature: the Tan and Gray Books, Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar, Houghton Mifflin Literature textbooks, MyPerspective English Language Arts, McDougal-Littell Literature, Shakespeare in the Classroom by Robert Callum, as well as age-appropriate full-length novels:
If, by middle school, students have not developed good reading habits that allow them to read with fluency, then the summer before entering high school would be the perfect time - and last chance - for middle schoolers to become not only accustomed to reading full-length novels, but also thinking critically about them. Although developing good reading and writing skills can be a lifelong process, the bar set forth by the time students reach high school will be a significant jump from middle school.
This Writing Course designed for 6-8th grade operates more like a workshop: the main teacher will hold "craft lessons" aimed at helping students become more confident at writing and expressing their opinions. Heavy emphasis will be placed on the revising process, with the hope that students can learn from their mistakes and create significantly better second and third drafts.
Each course is six weeks in length. The teaching will be delivered livestreaming through Zoom; course material will be available for download on Canvas. The teaching staff consists of one main teacher and one TA per class. The main teacher will be responsible for teaching, and the TA is in charge of student communication and most of the grading. The final essays will be graded by the main teacher.
For this 6-8th grade Writing Course, there are two types of courses available depending on the needs of the student.
As an acceleration course that meets 2-3 times a week, it is designed to help middle schoolers to overcome their fear of writing a timed essay with the overall goal of improving grades in the short run, and develop efficient reading and writing habits in the long run.
As an enrichment course that meets once a week, it is designed to help middle schoolers who enjoy reading in their own time, who possess average or above average writing skills, and would like guidance in reading more serious literature and honing their formal writing skills.
For 6th graders, the writing workshops will incorporate a variety of techniques such as visual and aural writing, whereby students will be given a photograph, or assigned a piece of music, and encouraged to describe their experience with rich details. The focus is often on small moments from the students' daily lives, drawing connections between personal experiences and the reading assignments.
For 8th graders, the writing workshops will focus on what makes great literature timeless, both in terms of universal themes and the way that these themes are presented through writing. Students will improve their writing by emulating great writers creatively. Students will also practice writing in a variety of genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
7th graders will be placed with either 6th graders or 8th graders after assessment.
All workshops will practice writing book reports and five-paragraph essays. The teaching material for this course will be a combination of McGraw-Hill Language Arts textbooks, Learning Language Arts Through Literature: the Tan and Gray Books, Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar, Houghton Mifflin Literature textbooks, MyPerspective English Language Arts, McDougal-Littell Literature, Shakespeare in the Classroom by Robert Callum, as well as age-appropriate full-length novels:
Pricing for this course is dependent upon the number of students enrolled:
One-on-one teaching: $60 per student per hour-long class
2-4 students: $40 per student
5-8 students: $35 per student
Maximum enrollment per class is 8 students in order to make sure that each individual student receives ample attention and class discussion time.
Upon enrollment, student will be guided through the following process:
1. Placement: Student will receive a diagnostic screening (up to 30 min) in order to determine the student's needs. Parents will also receive a phone consultation in discussion of common goals.
2. Syllabus: Parent will receive a syllabus outlining the length, content, and delivery method of class, which will serve as a contract between parent and Boston Roundtable. Once parent and Boston Roundtable have reached mutual agreement regarding the syllabus, parent will choose and enroll in a tuition payment schedule.
3. Class begins as soon as the teacher, TA, and parents find a convenient schedule that works for all participants.
Below is a partial sample syllabus for 8th grade writing workshop:
One-on-one teaching: $60 per student per hour-long class
2-4 students: $40 per student
5-8 students: $35 per student
Maximum enrollment per class is 8 students in order to make sure that each individual student receives ample attention and class discussion time.
Upon enrollment, student will be guided through the following process:
1. Placement: Student will receive a diagnostic screening (up to 30 min) in order to determine the student's needs. Parents will also receive a phone consultation in discussion of common goals.
2. Syllabus: Parent will receive a syllabus outlining the length, content, and delivery method of class, which will serve as a contract between parent and Boston Roundtable. Once parent and Boston Roundtable have reached mutual agreement regarding the syllabus, parent will choose and enroll in a tuition payment schedule.
3. Class begins as soon as the teacher, TA, and parents find a convenient schedule that works for all participants.
Below is a partial sample syllabus for 8th grade writing workshop:
