In this class, students will read a variety of great books on their own, improving their reading skills through both oral and written comprehension skills. Their vocabulary will be expanded through the application of contextual clues, derivation of words from Latin roots, and use of the dictionary. Students will additionally be taught common literary techniques in order to identify them in all the different books, and will examine character qualities and experiences in these enthralling works. Art projects and creative activities will be included, adding excitement to their reading. Most importantly, they will continue to fall in love with reading!
With opportunities to discuss grammatical skills, show mastery of the skills, and then independently practice them, students will continue to gain understanding in and love of the English language. Grammar concepts include: Four kinds of sentences (declarative, interrogatory, imperative, exclamatory) and principal elements, adverbs, adjectives, predicate verbs and direct objects, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives, predicate review, possessive nouns, sentence diagramming (visualizing grammatical relationships within sentences), prepositional phrases, compound elements, subject pronouns, object pronouns, possessive pronouns, interrogative pronouns, compound sentences, relative pronouns and relative clauses.
This year students will progress through ancient history-based writing prompts. They will use techniques to continue to develop their writing skills with key word outlines, narrative stories, summarizing from notes, and creative and essay writing.