Fall 2023 - Advanced Reader's Cohort: Wild Things, In their own words

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There are TWO options for this class. Parent and child ($150) or Parent and child with weekly live sessions for child ($220). To keep the class small, there are only 12 seats on Monday's live classes. However, all students may participate in forum discussions. If you DO NOT want your child to have a seat in the live class, please use the code NOLIVES and the course will be $150.
 
For Grades: 2 - 4
 
I have taken the course description from CTY (Center for Talented Youth) and modified it to fit our needs. Once your purchase, please have your child compelte the pre-work and e-mail it to me so I can assess where we need to focus.  Don't worry or be embarrased if your child isn't where you want them, the purpose of this course is for them to improve - A LOT!
 
Limited spots available. I only take so many clients per group so once the spots are gone this page will dissapear. Don't miss out!
 
Students will meet discuss the books and learn with others, however this is NOT FULLY an online course FOR the children. This class is FOR THE ADULTS to learn how to teach their advanced learners. Each week I will walk you through the lessons (on demand and occasionally live) and coach you through teaching this course. Each week I will guide the students through their discussion and critical anaylsis. By the end of this class you will be a better teacher for your advanced reader. You'll see their work and be filled with pride! If you take several of these classes over the next couple years, you will also be able to teach language arts at a high level without a curriculum. 
 
Here is the course we will be teaching our children:
 
"Who are the real wild things—animals or humans? Read the books, then you decide. In this course you will read four books about enchanting animals and the humans who love them. Told from the viewpoint of the animals, you will experience fears and frustrations, delights and discoveries as the various characters move from a shopping mall to a zoo, the English countryside to London, across the wilds and through a battlefield, and through the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. "Wild Things" presents many opportunities for you to make inferences, determine motivations, evaluate arguments, differentiate fact from opinion, and create narrative and persuasive works of writing such as dialogues, journal entries, newspaper articles, editorials, stories, and essays. You will engage in conversations with classmates from around the globe as you analyze and evaluate the choices of the lovable and personable animals and humans in each book." 
 
(98% of that course description is copied directly from CTY. Not my original idea, but we are running with it!)
 
Parents will learn:
 
Depth of Knowledge: Not all questions are created equal! Learn how to question learners to encourage deep critical thinking and comprehension by using Bloom's Taxonomy. 
Better than Book Lists: Giving your child books is a great start, but there's something better! When parents read difficult with their children, the child's knowledge and understanding grows quicker. Learn routines that will allow you to read challenging books with your child, even if you're short on time. 
Collaboration & Communication: Being personable and commicating clearly and confidently is just as important as being knowledgeable. Learn strategies to improve your child's ability to work well with a team and speak with confidence. 
Writing for the Real World: How can we teach children to express their thoughts with clarity, creativity, and sophistication? Parents will learn how to model excellent writing so that their children can do the same.
Secrets of the Top Private Schools: Learn what really sets students up for success in high school, college, and beyond. Explore what the top private schools do to keep their students on top, from which sports to play to what curriculum to use. 
 
********Over the 9 weeks, I will provide a course packet that has all of the worksheets and guides to complete the below, which is taken directly from CTY. You will be using this to teach your child. ********* (I am in the process of making the course packet and the first 3 weeks will be sent to parents on or before September 5th.) 
 
Students will:
 
This course is designed for advanced learners with a passion for reading and writing. We’ll read complex texts at or above the 4th grade level while learning critical reading strategies, literary analysis skills, persuasive writing, and creative writing techniques. You will also engage with peers in written discussion forums, test your knowledge of the texts with weekly quizzes, and submit longer pieces of writing for your parent's review. Your parent will provide in-depth written feedback on your work each week, too, helping you develop your reading and writing skills as the course progresses.
 
What students will learn
Critical reading strategies
Persuasive writing techniques
Creative writing techniques
Writing fundamentals including grammar, organization, sentence structure, and clarity
How to use quotes as textual evidence
Important concepts for analyzing literature
How to revise your writing using your parent's feedback
 
By the end of the course, your child will be able to:
Engage collaboratively in online discussions about various topics, texts, and issues, build on others’ ideas and express their own clearly
Demonstrate comprehension of key details from two or more texts on the same topic in order to write knowledgeably
Write short, persuasive pieces using information from the book to support your claims
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what it says explicitly and when drawing inferences from it
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences
Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information
Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which related ideas are grouped to support the writer's purpose. Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details
Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations
Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content