Sixth Grade English/Writer’s Workshop
English and Writer’s Workshop are essentially linked courses at The Barstow School, for all the skills learned in English are brought to fruition in the student’s own written work.
In English we study a variety of material. In grammar we focus on the eight parts of speech: noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjunction. By examining these parts of speech in text and in fun, interactive technology, students fain a greater familiarity with their own language and development style. The students also come to understand what they read through grammatical analysis.
Vocabulary forms the next component of the English curriculum. Through an integrated vocabulary program that begins in the sixth grade and extends to their senior year of high school, the students will gain a greater awareness of the richness of the English language. We use our vocabulary words in a variety of real-world activities that include discovering them in our readings each week.
Literature is the final and most essential part of the English/Writer’s Workshop curriculum. In sixth grade we read a fine balance of contemporary literature as well as many classical texts, such as Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech and The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien will also be read during the sixth grade year. Students will read shorter works of their own, acting as professional book reviewers and story tellers in the process.
All of these learned skills find their fulfillment in Writer’s Workshop, where students develop writing skills through experimentation with various writing genres they will encounter in their lives. Students engage in various projects such as writing book reviews, journal writing, research projects, dialogue writing, personal narratives, persuasive essays, and poetry writing. We look at a variety of examples from newspapers, magazines, books, and the Internet to introduce each genre. In many cases we discover these genres in the various novels we read in class.
Writer’s Workshop does not replace the writing that takes place in English or any other class. Rather, this course develops those writing skills that will enable them to be successful in any class for any type of writing assignments. By developing the natural imagination and creativity of a young person, students will amaze themselves by what they achieve. Students also engage in a variety of writing contests throughout the year; this gives them an outside forum for their writing. Students take a great deal of pride in awards from contests and in seeing their writing published.
Required Texts:
|
Title
|
ISBN
|
|
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
|
9781580495141
|
|
Red Scarf Girl
|
9780061667718
|
|
The Hobbit
|
9780618150823
|
|
The Old Man and The Sea
|
9780684801223
|
|
Trash
|
9780385752169
|
|
The Adventures of Ulysses
|
9780590425994
|
|
Freak the Mighty
|
9780439286060
|
|
Walk Two Moons
|
9780064405171
|
|
Vocabulary Workshop: Level B
|
9780821571071
|
