Language Arts Class Descriptions

This is a full-credit high school English course taught at the AP level to prepare students for college level reading, analysis, and academic writing. The course features selections from World Literature and will prepare students for the AP Literature and Composition examination. The course will broaden a student's critical reading and textual analysis skills by challenging them to think and write more comprehensively about World Literature.

In this course, students will read and respond in writing to fiction works, non-fiction texts, and poetry. The analytical method will focus on both rhetorical context (subject, purpose and audience) and the six "Big Ideas" of the AP course include: Character, Setting, Structure, Narration, Figurative, Language, and Literary Argumentation. Other objectives from the AP curriculum include reading a text closely and drawing conclusions from details; identifying the techniques used by an author and their effects; developing an interpretation of a text; making an argument for it in writing; and supporting that argument with compelling textural evidence.

Literature: Featured literature will include: Antigone by Sophocles (441- Greece); Othello by William Shakespeare (1603- England); Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847- England); The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899-Poland); The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915-Germany); Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958- Nigeria); and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989- Japan). Remains of the Day is summer reading.

Composition: An essential component of this course will analytical writing. Students in this class should have mastered the basics of academic writing, such as constructing a thesis statement that makes an argument and organizing their thoughts through effective topic sentences and transition statements. This class will deepen students' textual analysis skills with a focus on developing rhetorical analysis, the study of how a text makes meaning. Over the course of the year, students will develop familiarity with a variety of writing styles and forms including rhetorical analysis, literary analysis, critical response, and close reading.

Prerequisites: Students taking this class should have taken American Literature at Compass or received permission of the Instructor to enroll at the AP level. Students are expected to take an active role in discussion and complete all writing assignments.

Schedule/Format: There are two weekly meetings: (1) Mondays from 2:00 pm-2:55 pm online in a synchronous virtual classroom and (2) Wednesdays from 2:00 pm- 2:55 pm in person. A physical meeting room will be designated for on-campus students who have classes immediately before or after the virtual session.

Workload: Students should expect to spend 4-6 hours per week outside of class.

Assignments: All assignments will be posted in a Google Classroom management site. Students will need their own gmail accounts to access Google Classroom.

Assessments: Students' written assignments will be evaluated using a rubric and assigned points that the homeschool parent can use when assigning an overall class grade.

About AP: "AP" is a trademark of the College Board, which owns and designs the course outline and "audits" (i.e. approves) high school instructors who employ their expertise and creativity to deliver the college freshman-level content. The College Board's complete AP Literature and Composition program can be read HERE, and the instructor AP Course Audit Approval form can be viewed HERE.

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-english-literature-and-composition-course-and-exam-description.pdf

AP Fees: The fee for the College Board's AP Literature and Composition exam in May 2025 is not included. Each family is responsible for scheduling and paying for their student's AP exam.

Textbook/Materials: Because students will need clean, inexpensive copies of each novel to mark in, and they must be able to refer to the passages on the same page numbers, copies of mass market paperbacks will be pre-purchased and bundled for students. (See Supply Fee below).

Supply Fee: A class fee of $64.00 is due payable to Compass on the first day of class for the class bundle of novels.

What to Bring: Students should bring the current literature, paper, pen or pencil and highlighter to class each week. Some students may wish to bring paper clips, adhesive flags or post-it notes for marking passages/pages.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a full credit in English for purposes of a high school transcript.

Chewy, chunky, crispy, or crunchy- kids love cookies! Join us for a one-day, 3-hour Christmas Cookie Academy where bakers will craft 3 kinds of cookies. In the workshop, kids will prepare and bake: Almond Spritz Cookies, Molasses Cookies, and White Chocolate Cherry Oat. Students will leave with a tray of 3-4 dozen cookies ready for an exchange or holiday party and the recipes to repeat the cookies at home. See the Compass Cooking Class webpage for more FAQs about our cooking classes. There is a supply fee of $25.00 due to the instructor at the start of the workshop.

Chewy, chunky, crispy, or crunchy- tweens and teens love cookies! Join us for a one-day, 3-hour Christmas Cookie Academy where bakers will craft 4 kinds of cookies. In the workshop, tweens and teens will prepare and bake: Cranberry Cookies with Orange Glaze, Almond Spritz Cookies, Molasses Cookies, and Chai Sugar Cookies with Espresso Glaze. Students will leave with a tray of 3-4 dozen cookies ready for an exchange or holiday party and the recipes to repeat the cookies at home. See the Compass Cooking Class webpage for more FAQs about our cooking classes. There is a supply fee of $25.00 due to the instructor at the start of the workshop.

Can your child sit in a circle for story time? Line up for lunch? Take turns talking? This one-day, 3-hour (half-day) program is a "taste" of kindergarten for 5- year-olds. Start your child's week off right with "Mornings with Miss M" at Compass Kindergarten. Children will work in a small group with an experienced early elementary educator for this dynamic, play-based program that offers regular interaction and socialization.

This fun, activity-based program will create rhythm and routine in a homeschooled kindergartner's week and give them a sense of community and a peer group. Children will practice routines and transitions as they move through the morning. Each session will include some simple structure such as a daily arrival song/greeting, circle time, story, snack time, activity, lunch, active game, and closing/goodbyes. Through games and activities, they will also practice key childhood social skills such as sharing, taking turns, and entering play with others. Academic basics such as the ABCs, days of the week, colors, shapes, and number sense will be integrated into activities involving fairy tales, nature and art. The teacher will provide ideas for parents to work on at home with their child during the week.

Compass Kindergarten is offered in three weekly sessions: Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. Registration is stand-alone for each day so parents can register for one, two, or all three. While each kindergarten class will give children the opportunities for learning and playing in a social environment along with classroom routines, each of the three days will focus on a particular area of study and discovery of how each is connected.

On Mondays, the focus will be on Language Arts where students will be exposed to folktales, seasonal stories, and classic favorites while also practicing some foundational language arts skills. The stories read in class will be used as inspiration to connect aspects of literacy such as comprehension, comparing similar/different, recalling sequences, and predicting outcomes. The Alphabet Book will be used as as "spine" to spark discussions on capital and lower case letter forms, initial letter sounds, blends, vowel sounds, rhyming words, and other pre-phonics skills. The language arts-themed kindergarten session is intended to enhance and clarify literacy skills being introduced at home, but is not a comprehensive reading curriculum.

Readiness Students must be age five (5) by the start of the program or have the teacher's approval for younger. To be successful in this program, entering kindergartners must be able to do the following preschool-level skills: (1) be able to separate from parents with little discomfort; (2) be able to sit and listen to a story or stay on a task for 10 minutes; (3) be able to follow simple, age-appropriate directions from the teacher or another adult; (4) be able to write and recognize his/her first name; (5) be able to hold and use crayons and scissors correctly; (6) be completely self sufficient in a public restroom (wiping, flushing, washing hands, etc.)

Other Notes:

• Children should bring a bagged lunch and water bottle to each session.
• There is a $50.00 material fee for class consumables due payable to the teacher on the first day of class.
• Parents can choose to drop children off for this program (different than Compass's school-year policies for 55 minute classes.)
• Registration for this program is by 16-week semester with priority registration for continuing students.
• Parents who are shopping around or applying to alternate kindergarten programs should review the Compass withdrawal policy.

Middle school students will learn how to improve their critical thinking for a deeper understanding using strategies in reading comprehension, research, and debate. They will discuss and define critical thinking and learn the skills associated with it: researching, sorting information for a variety of purposes, identifying underlying assumptions, defining terms, evaluating evidence, considering opposing points of view, and spotting classic logical fallacies.

In this semester, students will be asked to present opinions or consider dilemmas and claims ranging over a wide variety of historical or contemporary topics that may be drawn from literature, law, religion, or comparative worldviews. Students will learn to ask, "Is this a good argument? Is it well constructed and convincing?" They will discover how to break a whole concept into its component parts to formulate and build clear, compelling, persuasive arguments.

The semester will build up to an exciting debate in the Lincoln-Douglas format. Students will have to choose a contemporary question (e.g. "Is AI bad for society?"), and they will work together to research arguments for or against that question. The Positive and Negative teams will develop arguments, write speeches, and work to develop arguments for their positions!

Middle school students should expect to spend an average of two hours per week on reading and short written responses for this class. Topics in this series include: Topics in this series include: Comprehension Connections (Semester 1) and Critical Thinking (Semester 2).

In Cover-to-Cover, middle school-aged students will read renowned classics and award-winning young adult literature. This book discussion group will examine a different theme each quarter to introduce students to literary analysis. Students will read, examine, and compare two full-length novels that share similar themes through facilitated discussions and extension activities which encourage students to make personal connections to what is read. The group will evaluate themes, characters, setting, and writing style.

Second quarter, students will examine the genre of fantasy novel with The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy and The Call of the Wild by Jack London.

Assigned chapters are expected to be read at home, either as read-aloud, individual silent reading, or listening to the unabridged audiobook. Students should come to class prepared to discuss the reading. Classroom discussions will emphasize the use of textual evidence when explaining thoughts and opinions. Students will be assigned creative, short assignments to enhance and demonstrate their understanding of each novel such as quote explications, thematic questions, or imagining a conversation between characters from different books.

Topics in this Series: Fantasy (Quarter 1); Dystopian (Quarter 2); Adventure (Quarter 3); and Mystery & Detective (Quarter 4).

Textbook/Materials: Because students will need clean, inexpensive copies of each novel to mark in, and because they must be able to refer to the passages on the same page numbers, copies of mass market paperbacks will be pre-purchased and bundled for students. (See Supply Fee below).

Supply Fee: A class fee of $11.50 is due payable to Compass on the first day of class.

What to Bring: Students should bring the current novel, paper, pen or pencil and highlighter to class each week. Some students may wish to bring paper clips, adhesive flags or post-it notes for marking pages.

Children are full of stories and bubbling over with big ideas! In this class, students will learn how to capture their creative vision into a simple story that they will write and illustrate. This quarter, our storytellers will make up the myth of a mystical mountain. Will they find lost legends and lonely labyrinths among lush landscapes and more?

Students will learn how to build a Story Arc through guided, weekly activities. They will discover the key elements to composing a story such as crafting characters, posing a problem, advancing the action, constructing the climax, and writing the resolution- through brainstorming questions like, "Who is in your story?", "Where does this take place?", "What does that look like?" and "What happened after ____?"

Students should be able to read, write, and spell at the second grade level or higher for this class. Psst- don't tell your child, but this class helps lay the foundation in language arts for more advanced creative writing and composition. Pair this class with Acting: Kids Theater or Writing Wonders to further encourage communication and storytelling skills. The supply fee is included in the class tuition.

Children are full of stories and bubbling over with big ideas! In this class, students will learn how to capture their creative vision into a simple story that they will write and illustrate. This quarter, our storytellers will imagine time machine travel. Will they spring forward to a far-flung, fantasy future or backward to behold bewildering bygones?

Students will learn how to build a Story Arc through guided, weekly activities. They will discover the key elements to composing a story such as crafting characters, posing a problem, advancing the action, constructing the climax, and writing the resolution- through brainstorming questions like, "Who is in your story?", "Where does this take place?", "What does that look like?" and "What happened after ____?"

Students should be able to read, write, and spell at the second grade level or higher for this class. Psst- don't tell your child, but this class helps lay the foundation in language arts for more advanced creative writing and composition. Pair this class with Acting: Kids Theater or Writing Wonders to further encourage communication and storytelling skills. The supply fee is included in the class tuition.

This full-credit English course is designed to prepare students for college level academic writing. It will deepen student's critical reading and textual analysis skills by asking students to think critically about the "American Dream" and what it means to be an American by reading texts that engage with these topics from the 18th century to today. In this course, students will read and respond in writing to both fiction and non-fiction texts, and our analytical method will focus on rhetorical context (subject, purpose and audience).

Spring Semester will feature Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston), The Things They Carried (Tim O'Brien), and a selection of other short fiction and poetry.

Writing Lab: An essential component of this course will be an in-class Writing Lab. Students in this class should have mastered the basics of academic writing, such as constructing a thesis statement that makes an argument and organizing their thoughts through effective topic sentences and transition statements. This class will deepen students' textual analysis skills with a focus on developing rhetorical analysis, the study of how a text makes meaning. Over the course of the year, students will develop familiarity with a variety of writing styles and forms including rhetorical analysis, literary analysis, critical response, close reading, opinion essay, and personal essay. Students should bring a laptop to class one day per week for in-class writing.

Note: This is a 14-week class that will not meet on: 4/2/2025, 4/4/2025, 4/16/2025, 4/18/2025, 5/14/2025, 5/16/2025

Prerequisites: Students taking this class should have mastered the foundations of Introduction to Genre and British Literature (or similar English courses), are expected to take an active role in discussion and complete all writing assignments.

Topics in this Series: American Literature, Part I (Semester 1) and American Literature, Part II (Semester 2). Students continuing from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Workload: Students should expect to spend 2-3 hours per week outside of class.

Assignments: All assignments will be posted in a Google Classroom management site. Students will need their own gmail accounts to access Google Classroom.

Assessments: Students' written assignments will be graded using a rubric and assigned points that the homeschool parent can use when assigning an overall class grade.

Textbook/Materials: Because students will need clean, inexpensive copies of each novel to mark in, and they must be able to refer to the passages on the same page numbers, copies of mass market paperbacks will be pre-purchased and bundled for students. (See Supply Fee below).

Supply Fee: A class fee of $44.00 is due payable to Compass on the first day of class for the class pack of books and handouts.

What to Bring: Students should bring the current literature, paper, pen or pencil and highlighter to class each week. Some students may wish to bring paper clips, adhesive flags or post-it notes for marking passages/pages.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a half-credit (one semester) or full credit (both semesters) in English for purposes of a high school transcript.

This full-credit high school English class will focus on developing critical reading and writing skills through the study of a range of canonical and post-colonial genres and texts written in English. Through exposure to a variety of voices across time periods and geographical regions, students will investigate major themes, such as the importance of language as a locus of power, the continuity of human nature, and the role of the imagination.

Spring semester will introduce students to post-colonial texts and genres featuring Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Mary Wollstonecraft), Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), and Paradise Lost (John Milton).

Writing Lab: An essential component of this course will be an in-class Writing Lab. Students will write two or three critical response papers and a full-scale literary analysis essay each term. Students will continue to hone the components of academic writing, including how to construct a thesis statement that makes an argument, how to support their ideas effectively with textual evidence, how to organize an argument logically, and how to cite sources in MLA format. Students should bring a laptop to class one day per week for in-class writing.

Note: This is a 14-week class that will not meet on: 4/2/2025, 4/4/2025, 4/16/2025, 4/18/2025, 5/14/2025, 5/16/2025

Topics in this Series: British Literature, Part I (Semester 1) and British Literature, Part II (Semester 2). Students continuing from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Prerequisites: Students should be able to read at grade level and have completed Introduction to Genre or equivalent high school level writing class. Students are expected to take an active role in discussion and complete all writing assignments.

Workload: Students should expect to spend 2-3 hours per week outside of class.

Assignments: All assignments will be posted in a Google Classroom management site. Students will need their own gmail accounts to access Google Classroom.

Assessments: Students' written assignments will be graded using a rubric and assigned points that the homeschool parent can use when assigning an overall class grade.

Textbook/Materials: Because students will need clean, inexpensive copies of each novel to mark in, and they must be able to refer to the passages on the same page numbers, copies of mass market paperbacks will be pre-purchased and bundled for students. (See Supply Fee below).

Supply Fee: A class fee of $22.00 is due payable to Compass on the first day of class for the class pack of books and handouts.

What to Bring: Students should bring the current literature, paper, pen or pencil and highlighter to class each week. Some students may wish to bring paper clips, adhesive flags or post-it notes for marking passages/pages.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a half-credit (one semester) or full credit (both semesters) in English for purposes of a high school transcript.

In this introductory high school English workshop, students will be introduced to the concepts of literary genres and analytical writing. Each quarter, the class will examine one select work or genre. Students will learn to recognize figurative language, tone, subtext and diction, identify symbolism and imagery, and develop an awareness of narrative perspective and of the social-historical contexts in which these works were created. Third quarter will feature The Play Romeo and Juliet Folger Edition by Shakespeare.

Composition: Students will also learn the fundamental components of academic writing, including how to construct a thesis statement that makes an argument, how to support their ideas effectively with textual evidence, how to organize an argument logically, and how to cite sources in MLA format. Some class periods will be dedicated Writing Lab session in which students write in-class in order to get on-the-spot support and feedback from the teacher. Students should bring laptops to these class sessions.

Topics in this Series: The Novel (Quarter 1), Poetry (Quarter 2), The Play (Quarter 3), and The Epic (Quarter 4). Students who continue from one quarter to the next will receive priority registration.

Prerequisites: Students should be able to read at grade level, and it is recommended that students have had a middle school writing class.

Workload: Students should expect to spend 1-2 hours per week outside of class.

Assignments: All assignments will be posted in a Google Classroom management site. Students will need their own gmail accounts to access Google Classroom.

Assessments: Students' written assignments will be graded using a rubric and assigned points that the homeschool parent can use when assigning an overall class grade.

Textbook/Materials: Because students will need clean, inexpensive copies of each novel to mark in, and they must be able to refer to the passages on the same page numbers, copies of mass market paperbacks will be pre-purchased and bundled for students. (See Supply Fee below).

Supply Fee: A class fee of $8.50 is due payable to Compass on the first day of class for the select novel.

What to Bring: Students should bring the current novel, paper, pen or pencil and highlighter to class each week. Some students may wish to bring paper clips, adhesive flags or post-it notes for marking passages/pages.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a partial credit in English for purposes of a high school transcript.

Be part of a team! Join the Compass Collaborative newspaper staff. The staff is a mixed-age team with students from 6th to 12th grade.

Students will learn about journalism and develop writing skills. They will craft effective articles, conduct interviews, and write reviews. Each quarter, writing assignments and responsibilities will be divided based on individual interests. Students will each contribute at least 2-3 items to the Collaborative edition each quarter.

While research and data collection will occur outside of class, a portion of staff meetings will be dedicated to writing and editing. The newspaper advisor will use these sessions to demonstrate what constitutes 'good' writing. All staff members will practice editing skills to improve grammar, punctuation, and overall clarity and accuracy in their writing. Students will be informally paired for peer review and feedback on their writing.

The newspaper staff will also learn about the formatting, layout, and graphic design elements that go into the newspaper. Interested students will serve as layout apprentices and learn to use Microsoft Publisher.

All students register for the same class, and roles and responsibilities will be reviewed and delegated during the first meetings. Students should expect to work on assignments outside of class and will be expected to bring a laptop, notebook, and pen/pencil to each class meeting.

Get your child to read the classics without a clash! Children will become familiar with the world's best-known authors and timeless tales through the approachable illustrated format of graphic novels. Kids will not realize they are reading literature and being introduced to literary analysis as they read these entertaining, illustrated, short-form stories.

Third quarter, students will read some of the best of the Bard in abridged Shakespeare Shorts. Meet merchant Antonio, a moneylender, and their romantic interests in old Italy in The Merchant of Venice. Journey to a magical forest to learn what happens when whimsical fairies influence the fates of four young lovers in A Midsummer Night's Dream , and unravel mistaken identities, misunderstandings, and mis adventures of a cast of characters in The Twelfth Night.

Through colorful, dramatic graphics and an approachable conversational tone, graphic novels show kids that literature can be enthralling! Each quarter will begin with an overview of the graphic novel genre including vocabulary unique to the illustrations and format (panels, speech bubbles, etc.) by looking at several other examples of graphic novels. Each week, students will read a portion of a graphic novel at home from the Saddleback Educational Publishing Graphic, Illustrated Classics Series. In class, literary elements and character analysis will be discussed. Extension activities such as reading, listening, or watching excerpts of other tellings of the same tale will take place in class. Students will think they are talking about cool, comic-style books, but the facilitated class discussion will introduce kids to classic works of literature and perhaps interest them to later read the complete novel.

Students are expected to read approximately one half of one graphic novel (25-30 pages) per week which they may read individually or read aloud with their families. These novels are generally considered at the ages 8-12 reading level.

Collect all 12 (3 per quarter)! Build an illustrated classic library. Because students will need the same editions of all three graphic novels to be able to refer to the passages on the same page numbers, class sets of the graphic novels will be purchased for students. A supply fee of $48.00 will be due payable to Compass on or before the first day of class for 3 novels.

Topics in this series include: The Most Extreme Adventures (Quarter 1); Best of British Books (Quarter 2); Shakespeare Shorts (Quarter 3), and Classic Adventure Quests (Quarter 4).

Information Masters transforms students into savvy consumers and producers of information capable of navigating today's intimidating infosphere. This class introduces high school students to the latest in electronic resources and methodologies for conducting meaningful inquiry and research. Each week, students will develop new media literacy skills necessary for high school and college research writing.

Second semester, students will organize their resources with an online bibliography generator. The class will discuss the ethical use of information and how to summarize, paraphrase, and cite sources correctly. To avoid plagiarism while summarizing resources, students will learn note-taking skills using written and online tools. The class will also learn the Cornell Method of Notetaking as one technique.

https://www.uc.edu/campus-life/learning-commons/learning-resources/notetaking-resources/cornell-method-notes.html

This semester, the class will establish frameworks associated with designing a research project. They will walk through the steps of the research process and plan an individual research project. The class will learn how to synthesize material from multiple sources into a cohesive, properly documented final project. Students will learn how to summarize key elements for presentation and how to apply finishing touches to an oral and media-aided presentation such as Power Point, Canva, or Google Slides.

Students taking this course on-level will be expected to share their final product in the form of a class presentation, Ted Talk-style video, or blog. Students taking this course at the Honors level should expect to 1-2 additional hours of homework each week with the goal of having a publishable paper by the end of the semester, an effort which is a note-worthy accomplishment on a college application or resume.

Topics in this Series: Inquiry & Investigation (Semester 1) and Research & Reflection (Semester 2). Students continuing from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Prerequisites: Reading and writing at grade-level.

Workload: On-level students should expect to spend 1-2 hours per week outside of class. Honors students should expect to spend 3-4 hours per week outside of class.

Assignments: All assignments will be posted on password-protected Canvas classroom management site. There, students access assignments, upload homework, take automated quizzes, track grades, and message instructor and classmates.

Assessments: The instructor will assign points for the completion of various assignments, and parents can use the total point earned versus possible for determining a grade in the class.

Textbook/Materials: All articles and reference materials will be available online or posted as pdfs on the class Canvas site.

What to Bring: Students should bring a laptop or tablet to class, paper or notebook, and pen or pencil.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a component (partial) credit in English or Language Arts for purposes of a high school transcript.

Roundtable is a seminar-style literature analysis and discussion class for high school students. Instead of a broad, general survey of literature, Roundtable students will examine a focused, "special topic" in literature through critical evaluation and rich discussion. Written works will be selected for their contribution to a specific genre and their influence on society.

Second semester, the class will examine the genre of time travel fiction with a critical eye on what elements are found in time travel fiction. The class will examine the exploration of alternate timelines and the consequences of altering history through a study of works such as: Time Machine by H.G. Wells; (1895) Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (1899); Thurst by Lidia Yuknavitch (2022); Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979); and Timeline by Michael Crichton (1999).

For this course, students should be engaged readers who come to class prepared to participate in intellectual discussion. Students are also expected to take part in weekly class discussions by sharing their reflections and reactions to the readings and drawing conclusions and comparisons with other works. For each novel, the instructor will provide a guide with thoughtful questions and prompts on the reading that students must come to class prepared to discuss with textual evidence. The course instructor will serve as a facilitator-moderator to lead Socratic, "roundtable" discussions in addition to other in-class activities, such as partner and small group work, to further the class's understanding of the literature. This course will focus on comprehension and analysis through discussion rather than composition. Students will be assigned creative, short assignments to enhance and demonstrate their understanding of each novel such as rewriting a scene, imagining a conversation between characters from different books, developing a prequel or sequel scene, writing a review, etc.

When discussing written works, students will be expected to give textual references such as specific quotes and examples- a higher-order high school and college-level skill that will be needed in later courses which require written analysis of literature. A key skill that will be taught in this class is how to annotate texts. Students will begin by examining samples of the instructor's own annotated novels then move to annotating the first short story in class as a group. For each novel, students will be given specific details to search for and annotate such as major plot points, character traits, interesting word choice, setting details, quotations, or questions. Later, students will be prepared to annotate automatically as they read with their own questions and reactions, a skill that can also be applied to the readings in other courses.

Topics in this Series: Dystopian Discourse (Semester 1) and the Time Machine Travel (Semester 2). Continuing students from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Prerequisites: Students should be able to read and comprehend at a minimum 9th grade level for this course. Per Compass guidelines, accelerated 8th grade students may register for this course, however, in addition to the 9th+ grade reading level, they must possess the maturity to handle high school level topics and more mature discussion.

Workload: Students should expect to read approximately 100 pages per week. For students who have challenges with reading, audio books may be used, but students should still be prepared to follow along and annotate in the physical novel.

Assignments: Weekly assignments will be posted in the Canvas classroom management system. Students will need their own e-mail addresses to access the system, and parents may be set up as additional "observers" to their teen's Canvas account.

Assessments: Points will be assigned for preparation, participation, and short assignments, and parents may use the total points earned to calculate a grade.

Textbook/Materials: Because students will need clean, inexpensive copies of each novel to mark in, and because they must be able to refer to the passages on the same page numbers, a "class bundle" of mass market paperbacks will be pre-purchased for students. (See Supply Fee below).

Lab/Supply Fee: A class fee of $54.00 is due payable to Compass on the first day of class for the class book bundle.

Explore the world of gargantuan gods, humble heroes, and malevolent monsters! Mythology is the birthplace of some of the most entertaining and incredible cultural stories ever written. Some ancient myths even have plots that rival today's comics and blockbuster movies. Many myths still have millennia-old appeal because of their timeless tales of good versus evil, life and death, creation and the afterlife. This class explores the origins of early mythology, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, Romans, Celts, Aztecs, and more through epics, plays and poetry. Readers will explore the realm of mythology through short stories, class discussion, analyses, extension activities and projects that will boost comprehension and the understanding of myths as the basis for many other forms of modern media. Students will enjoy reading and discussing battles, romance, treachery, larger than life heroes and characters, intricate gods and goddesses, and all sorts of fantastical creatures!

Third quarter, the class will explore Monster Myths featuring the legendary creatures who wreaked havoc on society and the heroes who defeated them. As examples, the class will read about the great Anglo-Saxon warrior Beowulf who battled and defeated a trio of monsters: the vicious Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a dragon. They will read about the decade-long voyage of Odysseus who fought off monsters such as the Cyclops, the witch Circe, and the sea monster Scylla. Finally, students will unravel the tale of Orestes who faced the monstrous Furies, vengeful spirits of the underworld.

For this class, students need to be on-grade-level for reading. Topics in this series include: Heroes (Quarter 1); Origins (Quarter 2); Monsters (Quarter 3); Transformations (Quarter 4)

Young readers and writers will explore classic tales in a variety of creative, multi-media interpretations. Pulling from classic children's literature including fairy tales, fables, and favorites, such as Newberry Award medalists, the group will explore 3-4 well-known stories each quarter (generally spending 2 weeks per tale).

Third quarter will feature Friend Stories with the tales Conderella, Alladdin and his Magic Lamp, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

For each story, the instructor will share a lively read-aloud of the featured story. Next, the class will watch a short clip of an animated, televised, or stage version of the same story. Finally, the group will hear a re-telling of the same story from a different angle, such as one adapted to a theme, a different era, or a different culture. Students will discuss what was the same and what was different among the different adaptations. Was a character added or omitted? Was the performed version true to the original? Finally, students will write and illustrate their own, original re-telling of the story by changing characters, setting, or even crafting a surprise, new ending. New Twists on Old Tales introduces some basic literary elements and rudimentary literary analysis skills to encourage children to think more deeply about what they read.

Topics in this Series: Amazing Adventures (Quarter 1), Favorite Fairy Tales (Quarter 2), Friend Stories (Quarter 3), and Morals from Fables (Quarter 4).

Reading and writing affect a student's achievement in all aspects of schoolwork, so strong language arts skills are fundamental to success in homeschooling. This weekly class is a small group of 3-6 students who read and write at a similar level. Students follow a comprehensive language arts curriculum under the guidance of an experienced reading specialist. Each Monday class meeting will include a short story with select vocabulary words, a graphic organizer, main themes, and embedded learning objectives. Students will continue to practice language arts skills at home with easy-to-implement "page a day" workbook activities assigned by the instructor and implemented by the parents. For most early elementary learners, enrollment in Reading Rally can serve as a complete, self-contained language arts curriculum where families will not need additional resources in reading, comprehension, composition, spelling, and grammar.

Weekly readings are organized around thematic units. The instructor will teach students how to approach a new story as a fun reading puzzle. For example, before reading aloud in class, students will conduct a "picture walk" to overview and predict elements of the story from the illustrations, review a graphic organizer to assist in writing sentences, define vocabulary words, and preview summary questions. Then, the instructor will read the story aloud, model good reading practices, and encourage students to read. Students will only be asked to read aloud when they feel comfortable and have built trust in their group. All follow-up activities are designed around learning objectives such as decoding, comprehension, prediction, visualization, and verbalization.

READINESS: As a comprehensive language arts curriculum, a student must be at a similar grade level ability in reading, comprehension, and writing. Early readers who have not learned to write, for example, or emerging readers who struggle with comprehenion, may not be a good fit for this class. In addition, students must have the hand-eye coordination and basic handwriting skills to be able to copy the instructor's many notes, examples, and definitions from the classroom white board into their own notebook.

Grade level references in Reading Rally are based on scope, sequence and pacing that correlate to the Grade Level Equivalent (GLE) standards of learning. Students who are more than one year behind in GLE in language arts or who have a difference in skill level between their reading and writing may be recommended for a second, weekly class meeting on Fridays or 1-on-1 private instruction to make up ground in reading or writing skills. Additional class meetings or private instruction will be an additional cost.

ATTENTION! Parents should not register for a Reading Rally class until they have had a Language Arts Skills Inventory (i.e. brief assessment) and placement determination by the reading specialist. This must be scheduled separately through Compass at a cost of $125.00. The fee is due prior to the assessment and is not refundable in the event the child is not recommended for a reading group. The instructor has experience working with reluctant and fearful readers, those who are late bloomers, neurodivergent, dyslexic, and ESOL students. However, she might recommend a more complete evaluation by another professional if she suspects other learning differences are impacting the student's langauge arts learning.

Students will work from a spiral bound copy of reading textbook and workbook by Pearson. A class fee of $XX.00 is due payable to Compass for the required books.

Students continuing from one semester to the next will receive priority registration to remain with their reading group.

Reading and writing affect a student's achievement in all aspects of schoolwork, so strong language arts skills are fundamental to success in homeschooling. This weekly class is a small group of 3-6 students who read and write at a similar level. Students follow a comprehensive language arts curriculum under the guidance of an experienced reading specialist. Each Monday class meeting will include a short story with select vocabulary words, a graphic organizer, main themes, and embedded learning objectives. Students will continue to practice language arts skills at home with easy-to-implement "page a day" workbook activities assigned by the instructor and implemented by the parents. For most early elementary learners, enrollment in Reading Rally can serve as a complete, self-contained language arts curriculum where families will not need additional resources in reading, comprehension, composition, spelling, and grammar.

Weekly readings are organized around thematic units. The instructor will teach students how to approach a new story as a fun reading puzzle. For example, before reading aloud in class, students will conduct a "picture walk" to overview and predict elements of the story from the illustrations, review a graphic organizer to assist in writing sentences, define vocabulary words, and preview summary questions. Then, the instructor will read the story aloud, model good reading practices, and encourage students to read. Students will only be asked to read aloud when they feel comfortable and have built trust in their group. All follow-up activities are designed around learning objectives such as decoding, comprehension, prediction, visualization, and verbalization.

READINESS: As a comprehensive language arts curriculum, a student must be at a similar grade level ability in reading, comprehension, and writing. Early readers who have not learned to write, for example, or emerging readers who struggle with comprehenion, may not be a good fit for this class. In addition, students must have the hand-eye coordination and basic handwriting skills to be able to copy the instructor's many notes, examples, and definitions from the classroom white board into their own notebook.

Grade level references in Reading Rally are based on scope, sequence and pacing that correlate to the Grade Level Equivalent (GLE) standards of learning. Students who are more than one year behind in GLE in language arts or who have a difference in skill level between their reading and writing may be recommended for a second, weekly class meeting on Fridays or 1-on-1 private instruction to make up ground in reading or writing skills. Additional class meetings or private instruction will be an additional cost.

ATTENTION! Parents should not register for a Reading Rally class until they have had a Language Arts Skills Inventory (i.e. brief assessment) and placement determination by the reading specialist. This must be scheduled separately through Compass at a cost of $125.00. The fee is due prior to the assessment and is not refundable in the event the child is not recommended for a reading group. The instructor has experience working with reluctant and fearful readers, those who are late bloomers, neurodivergent, dyslexic, and ESOL students. However, she might recommend a more complete evaluation by another professional if she suspects other learning differences are impacting the student's langauge arts learning.

Students will work from a spiral bound copy of reading textbook and workbook by Pearson. A class fee of $97.00 is due payable to Compass for the required books.

Students continuing from one semester to the next will receive priority registration to remain with their reading group.

Reading and writing affect a student's achievement in all aspects of schoolwork, so strong language arts skills are fundamental to success in homeschooling. This weekly class is a small group of 3-6 students who read and write at a similar level. Students follow a comprehensive language arts curriculum under the guidance of an experienced reading specialist. Each Monday class meeting will include a short story with select vocabulary words, a graphic organizer, main themes, and embedded learning objectives. Students will continue to practice language arts skills at home with easy-to-implement "page a day" workbook activities assigned by the instructor and implemented by the parents. For most early elementary learners, enrollment in Reading Rally can serve as a complete, self-contained language arts curriculum where families will not need additional resources in reading, comprehension, composition, spelling, and grammar.

Weekly readings are organized around thematic units. The instructor will teach students how to approach a new story as a fun reading puzzle. For example, before reading aloud in class, students will conduct a "picture walk" to overview and predict elements of the story from the illustrations, review a graphic organizer to assist in writing sentences, define vocabulary words, and preview summary questions. Then, the instructor will read the story aloud, model good reading practices, and encourage students to read. Students will only be asked to read aloud when they feel comfortable and have built trust in their group. All follow-up activities are designed around learning objectives such as decoding, comprehension, prediction, visualization, and verbalization.

READINESS: As a comprehensive language arts curriculum, a student must be at a similar grade level ability in reading, comprehension, and writing. Early readers who have not learned to write, for example, or emerging readers who struggle with comprehenion, may not be a good fit for this class. In addition, students must have the hand-eye coordination and basic handwriting skills to be able to copy the instructor's many notes, examples, and definitions from the classroom white board into their own notebook.

Grade level references in Reading Rally are based on scope, sequence and pacing that correlate to the Grade Level Equivalent (GLE) standards of learning. Students who are more than one year behind in GLE in language arts or who have a difference in skill level between their reading and writing may be recommended for a second, weekly class meeting on Fridays or 1-on-1 private instruction to make up ground in reading or writing skills. Additional class meetings or private instruction will be an additional cost.

ATTENTION! Parents should not register for a Reading Rally class until they have had a Language Arts Skills Inventory (i.e. brief assessment) and placement determination by the reading specialist. This must be scheduled separately through Compass at a cost of $125.00. The fee is due prior to the assessment and is not refundable in the event the child is not recommended for a reading group. The instructor has experience working with reluctant and fearful readers, those who are late bloomers, neurodivergent, dyslexic, and ESOL students. However, she might recommend a more complete evaluation by another professional if she suspects other learning differences are impacting the student's langauge arts learning.

Students will work from a spiral bound copy of reading textbook and workbook by Pearson. A class fee of $XX.00 is due payable to Compass for the required books.

Students continuing from one semester to the next will receive priority registration to remain with their reading group.

Reading and writing affect a student's achievement in all aspects of schoolwork, so strong language arts skills are fundamental to success in homeschooling. This weekly class is a small group of 3-6 students who read and write at a similar level. Students follow a comprehensive language arts curriculum under the guidance of an experienced reading specialist. Each Monday class meeting will include a short story with select vocabulary words, a graphic organizer, main themes, and embedded learning objectives. Students will continue to practice language arts skills at home with easy-to-implement "page a day" workbook activities assigned by the instructor and implemented by the parents. For most early elementary learners, enrollment in Reading Rally can serve as a complete, self-contained language arts curriculum where families will not need additional resources in reading, comprehension, composition, spelling, and grammar.

Weekly readings are organized around thematic units. The instructor will teach students how to approach a new story as a fun reading puzzle. For example, before reading aloud in class, students will conduct a "picture walk" to overview and predict elements of the story from the illustrations, review a graphic organizer to assist in writing sentences, define vocabulary words, and preview summary questions. Then, the instructor will read the story aloud, model good reading practices, and encourage students to read. Students will only be asked to read aloud when they feel comfortable and have built trust in their group. All follow-up activities are designed around learning objectives such as decoding, comprehension, prediction, visualization, and verbalization.

READINESS: As a comprehensive language arts curriculum, a student must be at a similar grade level ability in reading, comprehension, and writing. Early readers who have not learned to write, for example, or emerging readers who struggle with comprehenion, may not be a good fit for this class. In addition, students must have the hand-eye coordination and basic handwriting skills to be able to copy the instructor's many notes, examples, and definitions from the classroom white board into their own notebook.

Grade level references in Reading Rally are based on scope, sequence and pacing that correlate to the Grade Level Equivalent (GLE) standards of learning. Students who are more than one year behind in GLE in language arts or who have a difference in skill level between their reading and writing may be recommended for a second, weekly class meeting on Fridays or 1-on-1 private instruction to make up ground in reading or writing skills. Additional class meetings or private instruction will be an additional cost.

ATTENTION! Parents should not register for a Reading Rally class until they have had a Language Arts Skills Inventory (i.e. brief assessment) and placement determination by the reading specialist. This must be scheduled separately through Compass at a cost of $125.00. The fee is due prior to the assessment and is not refundable in the event the child is not recommended for a reading group. The instructor has experience working with reluctant and fearful readers, those who are late bloomers, neurodivergent, dyslexic, and ESOL students. However, she might recommend a more complete evaluation by another professional if she suspects other learning differences are impacting the student's langauge arts learning.

Students will work from a spiral bound copy of reading textbook and workbook by Pearson. A class fee of $XX.00 is due payable to Compass for the required books.

Students continuing from one semester to the next will receive priority registration to remain with their reading group.

Reading and writing affect a student's achievement in all aspects of schoolwork, so strong language arts skills are fundamental to success in homeschooling. This weekly class is a small group of 3-6 students who read and write at a similar level. Students follow a comprehensive language arts curriculum under the guidance of an experienced reading specialist. Each Monday class meeting will include a short story with select vocabulary words, a graphic organizer, main themes, and embedded learning objectives. Students will continue to practice language arts skills at home with easy-to-implement "page a day" workbook activities assigned by the instructor and implemented by the parents. For most early elementary learners, enrollment in Reading Rally can serve as a complete, self-contained language arts curriculum where families will not need additional resources in reading, comprehension, composition, spelling, and grammar.

Weekly readings are organized around thematic units. The instructor will teach students how to approach a new story as a fun reading puzzle. For example, before reading aloud in class, students will conduct a "picture walk" to overview and predict elements of the story from the illustrations, review a graphic organizer to assist in writing sentences, define vocabulary words, and preview summary questions. Then, the instructor will read the story aloud, model good reading practices, and encourage students to read. Students will only be asked to read aloud when they feel comfortable and have built trust in their group. All follow-up activities are designed around learning objectives such as decoding, comprehension, prediction, visualization, and verbalization.

READINESS: As a comprehensive language arts curriculum, a student must be at a similar grade level ability in reading, comprehension, and writing. Early readers who have not learned to write, for example, or emerging readers who struggle with comprehenion, may not be a good fit for this class. In addition, students must have the hand-eye coordination and basic handwriting skills to be able to copy the instructor's many notes, examples, and definitions from the classroom white board into their own notebook.

Grade level references in Reading Rally are based on scope, sequence and pacing that correlate to the Grade Level Equivalent (GLE) standards of learning. Students who are more than one year behind in GLE in language arts or who have a difference in skill level between their reading and writing may be recommended for a second, weekly class meeting on Fridays or 1-on-1 private instruction to make up ground in reading or writing skills. Additional class meetings or private instruction will be an additional cost.

ATTENTION! Parents should not register for a Reading Rally class until they have had a Language Arts Skills Inventory (i.e. brief assessment) and placement determination by the reading specialist. This must be scheduled separately through Compass at a cost of $125.00. The fee is due prior to the assessment and is not refundable in the event the child is not recommended for a reading group. The instructor has experience working with reluctant and fearful readers, those who are late bloomers, neurodivergent, dyslexic, and ESOL students. However, she might recommend a more complete evaluation by another professional if she suspects other learning differences are impacting the student's langauge arts learning.

Students will work from a spiral bound copy of reading textbook and workbook by Pearson. A class fee of $XX.00 is due payable to Compass for the required books.

Students continuing from one semester to the next will receive priority registration to remain with their reading group.

Reading and writing affect a student's achievement in all aspects of schoolwork, so strong language arts skills are fundamental to success in homeschooling. This weekly class is a small group of 3-6 students who read and write at a similar level. Students follow a comprehensive language arts curriculum under the guidance of an experienced reading specialist. Each Monday class meeting will include a short story with select vocabulary words, a graphic organizer, main themes, and embedded learning objectives. Students will continue to practice language arts skills at home with easy-to-implement "page a day" workbook activities assigned by the instructor and implemented by the parents. For most early elementary learners, enrollment in Reading Rally can serve as a complete, self-contained language arts curriculum where families will not need additional resources in reading, comprehension, composition, spelling, and grammar.

Weekly readings are organized around thematic units. The instructor will teach students how to approach a new story as a fun reading puzzle. For example, before reading aloud in class, students will conduct a "picture walk" to overview and predict elements of the story from the illustrations, review a graphic organizer to assist in writing sentences, define vocabulary words, and preview summary questions. Then, the instructor will read the story aloud, model good reading practices, and encourage students to read. Students will only be asked to read aloud when they feel comfortable and have built trust in their group. All follow-up activities are designed around learning objectives such as decoding, comprehension, prediction, visualization, and verbalization.

READINESS: As a comprehensive language arts curriculum, a student must be at a similar grade level ability in reading, comprehension, and writing. Early readers who have not learned to write, for example, or emerging readers who struggle with comprehenion, may not be a good fit for this class. In addition, students must have the hand-eye coordination and basic handwriting skills to be able to copy the instructor's many notes, examples, and definitions from the classroom white board into their own notebook.

Grade level references in Reading Rally are based on scope, sequence and pacing that correlate to the Grade Level Equivalent (GLE) standards of learning. Students who are more than one year behind in GLE in language arts or who have a difference in skill level between their reading and writing may be recommended for a second, weekly class meeting on Fridays or 1-on-1 private instruction to make up ground in reading or writing skills. Additional class meetings or private instruction will be an additional cost.

ATTENTION! Parents should not register for a Reading Rally class until they have had a Language Arts Skills Inventory (i.e. brief assessment) and placement determination by the reading specialist. This must be scheduled separately through Compass at a cost of $125.00. The fee is due prior to the assessment and is not refundable in the event the child is not recommended for a reading group. The instructor has experience working with reluctant and fearful readers, those who are late bloomers, neurodivergent, dyslexic, and ESOL students. However, she might recommend a more complete evaluation by another professional if she suspects other learning differences are impacting the student's langauge arts learning.

Students will work from a spiral bound copy of reading textbook and workbook by Pearson. A class fee of $77.00 is due payable to Compass for the required books.

Students continuing from one semester to the next will receive priority registration to remain with their reading group.

Reading and writing affect a student's achievement in all aspects of schoolwork, so strong language arts skills are fundamental to success in homeschooling. This weekly class is a small group of 3-6 students who read and write at a similar level. Students follow a comprehensive language arts curriculum under the guidance of an experienced reading specialist. Each Monday class meeting will include a short story with select vocabulary words, a graphic organizer, main themes, and embedded learning objectives. Students will continue to practice language arts skills at home with easy-to-implement "page a day" workbook activities assigned by the instructor and implemented by the parents. For most early elementary learners, enrollment in Reading Rally can serve as a complete, self-contained language arts curriculum where families will not need additional resources in reading, comprehension, composition, spelling, and grammar.

Weekly readings are organized around thematic units. The instructor will teach students how to approach a new story as a fun reading puzzle. For example, before reading aloud in class, students will conduct a "picture walk" to overview and predict elements of the story from the illustrations, review a graphic organizer to assist in writing sentences, define vocabulary words, and preview summary questions. Then, the instructor will read the story aloud, model good reading practices, and encourage students to read. Students will only be asked to read aloud when they feel comfortable and have built trust in their group. All follow-up activities are designed around learning objectives such as decoding, comprehension, prediction, visualization, and verbalization.

READINESS: As a comprehensive language arts curriculum, a student must be at a similar grade level ability in reading, comprehension, and writing. Early readers who have not learned to write, for example, or emerging readers who struggle with comprehenion, may not be a good fit for this class. In addition, students must have the hand-eye coordination and basic handwriting skills to be able to copy the instructor's many notes, examples, and definitions from the classroom white board into their own notebook.

Grade level references in Reading Rally are based on scope, sequence and pacing that correlate to the Grade Level Equivalent (GLE) standards of learning. Students who are more than one year behind in GLE in language arts or who have a difference in skill level between their reading and writing may be recommended for a second, weekly class meeting on Fridays or 1-on-1 private instruction to make up ground in reading or writing skills. Additional class meetings or private instruction will be an additional cost.

ATTENTION! Parents should not register for a Reading Rally class until they have had a Language Arts Skills Inventory (i.e. brief assessment) and placement determination by the reading specialist. This must be scheduled separately through Compass at a cost of $125.00. The fee is due prior to the assessment and is not refundable in the event the child is not recommended for a reading group. The instructor has experience working with reluctant and fearful readers, those who are late bloomers, neurodivergent, dyslexic, and ESOL students. However, she might recommend a more complete evaluation by another professional if she suspects other learning differences are impacting the student's langauge arts learning.

Students will work from a spiral bound copy of reading textbook and workbook by Pearson. A class fee of $XX.00 is due payable to Compass for the required books.

Students continuing from one semester to the next will receive priority registration to remain with their reading group.

Reading Rangers is a supplemental reading class for beginning readers. The class is whole language inspired with phonics and decoding games, partner reading, and vocabulary lists for home. The group will explore habits of curious readers through the examination of renowned children's picture story books from authors such as Leo Lionni, Robert McCloskey, Eric Carle, AA Milne, Michael Bond, Janell Cannon, Mem Fox, Hans Christian Andersen, Aesop, the Brothers Grimm, and others. Other books will also be selected based on the interests and level of the enrolled children. The class will discuss characters, setting, sequence of events, and predict outcomes. Children may repeat this class each quarter as new books will be introduced each session, and stories will not be repeated.

Note:: This class is designed for students to enjoy a fun, new dimension of reading with peers and a teacher, but this will not take the place of a comprehensive language arts curriculum and daily reading practice.

Reading/Skills Readiness; Students should be able to read Level 1 books such as Frog & Toad and Little Bear. (In other words, students in this group should have processed beyond Bob-type books.) Students should be able to read the following sight words: all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, day, did, do, eat, four, get, go, good, have, he, in, into, is, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, the, there, they, this, to, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes.

Reading Ready is a supplemental reading class for 5- and 6- year-old kindergartners. The class is whole language inspired with phonics games, partner reading, and self-created spelling lists for home. The group will explore habits of good readers through in-class read-alouds and extension activities inspired by the best examples of well-loved children's literature from authors such as Leo Lionni, Robert McCloskey, Eric Carle, AA Milne, Michael Bond, Janell Cannon, Mem Fox, Hans Christian Andersen, Aesop, the Brothers Grimm, and others. Other books may also be selected based on the interests and level of the enrolled children. Children may repeat this class each quarter as new books will be introduced each session, and stories will not be repeated.

Note:: This class is designed for students to enjoy a fun, new dimension of reading with peers and a teacher, but this will not take the place of a comprehensive language arts curriculum and daily reading practice.

Reading/Skills Readiness; Enrolling students must be able to (1) write and recognize his/her first name; (2) recognize each letter and corresponding sound of the alphabet; (3) familiar with simple blends; (4) know a few beginner sight words (such as I, am, and no); and (5) hold and use crayons and scissors correctly.

Social Readiness; Students must be age five (5) by the start of the class. To be successful in this program, kindergartners must be able to do the following preschool-level skills: (1) be able to separate from parents with little discomfort; (2) be able to sit and listen to a story or stay on a task for 10 minutes; (3) be able to follow simple, age-appropriate directions from the teacher or another adult; (4) be completely self-sufficient in a public restroom (wiping, flushing, washing hands, etc.)

According to Aristotle, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." In this year-long course, high school students will practice strategies to improve their reading comprehension for deeper understanding through critical thinking. They will also improve their ability to argue and persuade in writing.

Using texts on argumentation and rhetoric by Ward Farnsworth, students will learn how to read carefully, define terms, spot logical fallacies, and construct clear, logically compelling, persuasive arguments. The class will be introduced to terminology and techniques in the formal disciplines of logic and rhetoric.

In the first semester, the class will focus on internal skills: how to understand and evaluate arguments according to logical reasoning and critical thinking. In the second semester, the group will focus on external skills: how to build and communicate arguments that are both compelling and persuasive.

Class reading selections will include selections from Farnsworth's books Classical English Argument and Classical English Rhetoric, as well as selections from famous speeches. The class may draw from history, literature, law, political theory, religion, contemporary topics, and comparative worldviews.

Prerequisites: Students must read at grade level for this course.

Textbooks: Students should purchase or rent Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric by Ward Farnsworth (ISBN: 978-1567923858) and Farnsworth's Classical English Argument by Ward Farnsworth (ISBN: 978-1567927986)

Workload: Students should expect to spend 3 hours per week outside of class. Reading assignments will not be especially long, but students will be expected to read thoroughly and carefully.

Assignments: Will be posted on a Google Classroom site for students and parents to access.

Assessments: Papers and assignments will be evaluated and scored which are treated as grade recommendations to parents.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as full credit in English for purposes of a high school transcript.

Secret Pages Society is a facilitated book club just for elementary readers who want to embark on the adventure of reading and the camaraderie and community of a continuing club. Inspired by highlights from Hogwarts, members of the group may decide to design a club crest, establish leadership roles like club chronicler and treasurer (to manage Compass cash and a treasure chest), and sort themselves into "houses" by interests. Class members will shape the rules and readings for the club!

Each quarter, the Society will read one book that is teacher's choice and a second book that the members select as a group from a list curated by the instructor and nominated by members. Members must read assigned chapters from their books at home, either as individual silent reading, read-aloud with parents' support, or listening to an audiobook edition. Readers will be encouraged to take notes on key passages or questions. All books are selected from among Newbery Medalists and Honor Books, Caldecott Medal books, and proven classics of children's fiction.

Club members will read high-quality, age-appropriate literature and expand their understanding of what they read through book discussion and hands-on extension activities. They will be encouraged to interact with the story and each other through activities such as acting out or illustrating favorite scenes, discussing and writing alternate endings, prequels, origin or spinoff stories, researching specific aspects of the story, or dressing as favorite characters. Through guided club discussion, the group will be exposed to beginning literary analysis in a fun, interactive setting by discussing plot, theme, characters, setting, genre, writing style, and artistry using specific examples from the story. They will learn to analyze characters, their actions and motives, respond to hypothetical questions, make predictions, and answer prompts using examples from the book.

Textbook/Materials: Because students will need clean, inexpensive copies of each novel to mark in, and because they must be able to refer to the passages on the same page numbers, copies of mass market paperbacks will be pre-purchased for students for the first book. (See Supply Fee below). Parents will be responsible for buying or checking-out a copy of the second book, once selected. Supply Fee: A class fee of $8.00 is due payable to Compass on the first day of class for Book 1.

Topics in this Series and teacher's choice books include: Adventures: Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier (Quarter 1); Journeys: Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman (Quarter 2); Quests: Aru Shah and the End of Timeby Roshani Chokski (Quarter 3); and Discoveries: Holes by Louis Sachar (Quarter 4).

Public speaking skills are essential to academia, success in future careers, and to simply making friends or standing up for yourself! Students will develop their public speaking skills and their own "voice" through the art of storytelling in a fun, supportive environment taught by a public speaking coach.

In this class, students will examine the elements of effective storytelling by playing hilarious storytelling games and practicing storytelling assignments. The group will identify the elements of a story and how to structure and write a story that will be told aloud. They will learn about different types of stories, from fiction and fantasy stories to personal narratives, motivational, and persuasive stories. Students will learn how to best perform a story of any kind, conquer any level of nervousness, and become more confident storytellers. They will discover how to use storytelling to enhance anything they do.

Each class includes an icebreaker activity, a daily lesson, practice through a game or assignment, individualized feedback, and wrap-up. Students will practice posture, eye contact, enunciation, gestures, pauses, and timing while receiving tips and techniques from the coach and peers. The class will culminate in an end of the quarter presentation for parents.

Topics in future quarters include: Finding Your Voice (Expository)- 3rd quarter, and Making Your Point (Persuasive)- 4th quarter

Public speaking skills are essential to academia, success in future careers, and to simply making friends or standing up for yourself! Students will develop their public speaking skills and their own "voice" through the art of storytelling in a fun, supportive environment taught by a public speaking coach.

In this class, students will examine the elements of effective storytelling by playing hilarious storytelling games and practicing storytelling assignments. The group will identify the elements of a story and how to structure and write a story that will be told aloud. They will learn about different types of stories, from fiction and fantasy stories to personal narratives, motivational, and persuasive stories. Students will learn how to best perform a story of any kind, conquer any level of nervousness, and become more confident storytellers. They will discover how to use storytelling to enhance anything they do.

Each class includes an icebreaker activity, a daily lesson, practice through a game or assignment, individualized feedback, and wrap-up. Students will practice posture, eye contact, enunciation, gestures, pauses, and timing while receiving tips and techniques from the coach and peers. The class will culminate in an end of the quarter presentation for parents.

Topics in future quarters include: Finding Your Voice (Expository)- 3rd quarter, and Making Your Point (Persuasive)- 4th quarter

Teen writers will take inspiration from other writers in this semester-long creative non-fiction workshop:

• • "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." - Maya Angelou
  • "Good stories are not written. They are rewritten." - Phyllis Whitney
  • "You may not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page." - Jodi Picoult

This quarter will cover the basics of writing creative using examples of Flash Nonfiction and Literary Journalism (topical nonfiction). Each week, students will read an essay that demonstrates a particular narrative technique, perspective, or topical approach and then complete a writing exercise designed to emulate that technique. The class will culminate in sharing any essays that may develop out of these exercises in a workshop setting.

Topics in this Series: Creative Writing (Semester 1) , Creative Non-Fiction (Quarter 3), The Personal Essay (Quarter 4) Students continuing from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Prerequisites: Reading/writing at a high school level (9th grade or higher)

Workload: Students should expect to spend 2-3 hours per week outside of class.

Assignments: Weekly reading assignments will be posted on Google Classroom. Students will need their own email addresses to access the system, and parents may be set up as additional "observers" to their teen's account.

Assessments: A point scale of 1-3 will be used to evaluate students based on their level of preparation, their participation in discussion, and their completion of extension activities. Parents may use the total points earned to calculate a grade.

Textbook/Materials: The instructor will furnish a curated class anthology packet.

Lab/Supply Fee: A class fee of $10.00 is due payable to Compass on the first day of class for the select readings.

What to Bring: Short story collection, notebook or laptop (depending on student's preferred method of writing), and printed copies of student's writing on days he/she is ready to share writing.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a component (partial) credit in English/Language Arts for purposes of a high school transcript.

Wannabe Writers is a beginning writing class for first graders. Students will use creative journaling and illustrations to respond to simple writing prompts. The class will explore the use of various punctuation for simple sentences and will use new vocabulary words to express an idea. Each week, students will share their completed writing and drawings with their classmates. For this level, students must be able to read a Level 1 reader independently and possess the readiness skills outlined below. Children may repeat this class each quarter as new prompts and writing techniques will be introduced each session, and assignments will not be repeated.

Note:: This class is designed for students to enjoy a fun, new dimension of writing with peers and a teacher, but this will not take the place of a comprehensive language arts curriculum and regular writing practice.

Writing Readiness: Enrolling students must be able to (1) recognize, spell and write his/her first and last name; (2) recognize and write all upper case and lower case letters and know the corresponding sounds; (3) spell and pronounce simple blends, (4) recognize the following sight words: all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, day, did, do, eat, four, get, go, good, have, he, in, into, is, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, the, there, they, this, to, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes; (5) spell and write all 2-letter sight words unaided; (6) be familiar with simple sentence structure; and (7) hold and use a pencil correctly.

Wee Writers is a simple journaling class for emergent kindergarten writers ages 5 and 6. Beginning writers will use basic sight words and phonetics while writing about feelings and experiences. Students will learn basic sentence structure with noun-verb construction, initial capital letter, and ending punctuation. Beginning sentences such as, "I lik cak." or "I drnk wtr." would be typical of emergent writers. Students will illustrate their journal entries and have opportunities to share and discuss their writing with peers. Children may repeat this class each quarter as new writing activities will be introduced each session.

Note:: This class is designed for students to enjoy a fun, new dimension of writing with peers and a teacher, but this will not take the place of a comprehensive language arts curriculum and regular writing practice.

Writing Readiness; Enrolling students must be able to (1) recognize and write his/her first name; (2) recognize and write each letter of the alphabet and know the corresponding sounds; and (3) hold and use crayons and scissors correctly.

Social Readiness; Students must be age five (5) by the start of the class. To be successful in this program, kindergartners must be able to do the following preschool-level skills: (1) be able to separate from parents with little discomfort; (2) be able to sit and stay on a task for 10 minutes; (3) be able to follow simple, age-appropriate directions from the teacher or another adult; (4) be completely self-sufficient in a public restroom (wiping, flushing, washing hands, etc.)

'Simon Says' sentence structure. 'Go Fish' grammar games. Preposition 'Pictionary'. Word Games is a weekly Language Arts Olympics which uses games and active play to teach the boring stuff: the rules and definitions of language arts such as grammar, punctuation, parts of speech, spelling, vocabulary, and word roots. Kinesthetic learners will have fun with the hands-on and activity-filled adventures which introduce grade-level aspects of language arts. The class will use stories and games such as charades, puzzles like connect-the-dot and crosswords, card games, and fun, in-class challenges like 'Twister', hula hoops, hangman, and relays to reinforce the language arts rules that help young students become better readers, writers, and spellers. Every class is different, so students can take this class each quarter to continue to build their language arts toolbox.

Word Masters is a language challenge for students who enjoy word games, building their vocabulary, and verbal adventures. Why study lists of words if you can make a game of it? The best way to learn new words is to use them! This class is inspired by the annual Word Masters Challenge (www.wordmasterschallenge.com). Each week students will tackle new vocabulary words and practice them through analogies and critical thinking challenges. Students will examine word meanings, relationships, synonyms and antonyms with in-class activities and games such as Pictionary, Scategories, Charades, and Apples-to-Apples. Word Masters will improve a student's reading comprehension, verbal reasoning, logic skills, and the ability to think analytically and metaphorically. Students can repeat Word Masters as new word lists will be introduced each quarter.

Students will become immersed in the imaginary worlds they construct in this unique course that encompasses elements of fiction writing, sociology, and anthropology. Worldbuilding is the foundation of speculative fiction, such as sci-fi and fantasy, role-playing games, videos, comics, and other visual media. Countless examples of Worldbuilding exist in the movies and books we consume every day such as Tolkien's Middle Earth, the many elaborate settlements of the Star Wars franchise, and the popular RPG, Dungeons and Dragons.

In this course, students will develop a fictional locale. Will it be a small village in a known place, a new planet, or an original universe? Students will be guided through an interactive, iterative process of "top-down" design of their unique world, determining broad characteristics first then then elaborating with increasing detail. Builders will make coherent and integrated decisions on geography, climate, ecology, flora, fauna, inhabitants, races, history, social customs, language, religion, origin story, powers/magic, legal system, currency, and technology. The class will read excerpts and watch clips of well-known fictional works which will provide strong examples of each of the elements.

Second semester, the class will create science fiction-inspired worlds. Students, along with their instructor, will develop an in-class world as an example. Students will use the lessons and exercises reviewed in class to further develop their individual world project.

Students will be expected to keep a notebook of decisions and details as they progress through designing the elements of their world. Students will have the option to purchase a discounted student subscription to World Anvil, a web-based subscription service which allows students to create maps, timelines, and other tools to organize their made-up world. Each student will be expected to make a PowerPoint presentation at the end of the semester which addresses each of the built-world elements.

Note: This is a 15-week class that will not meet on 3/21/2025.

Topics in this Series: Fantasy (Semester 1), Science Fiction (Semester 2). Students continuing from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Prerequisites: Reading/writing at grade level.

Workload: Students should expect to spend 2 hours per week outside of class.

Assignments: Will be posted in a Google Classroom.

Assessments: The instructor will assign points for a final semester presentation and completed "Creative Sparks" which are written responses to weekly prompts. Parents may use the student's earned points versus total possible points to calculate a grade for the class.

Textbook/Materials: Students have the option of purchasing a discounted subscription to World Anvil (worldanvil.com) for approximately $35.00.

Lab/Supply Fee: Included

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a component (partial) credit in language arts (creative writing) for purposes of a high school transcript.

Write to the Point is a comprehensive, middle school-level writing class that will prepare 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students for high school level composition. The class will practice the fundamentals of composition through weekly writing assignments that encompass a variety of writing formats.

Second Semester, students will learn to "stick to the point" in their writing. They will be challenged to identify their audience, define their purpose, and back-up their topic, thesis, or moral across multiple paragraph compositions. Creative writing exercises and tools for quick and effective essay composition will be provided while the class will continue to review writing basics such as grammar, agreement, and tense. Students will also learn tips for effective revision, editing, and feedback. In this class, students will have the flexibility to choose topics relevant to their own interests as they work on essays and short stories.

Part of each in-class session will be dedicated to sharing and review of writing completed at home. Sometimes, students will be paired with classmates for peer review of grammar; other times, the class will collaborate through shared GoogleDocs for review and feedback of others' writing. Students should bring a laptop and charging cord to class each week for accessing in-progress assignments.

Topics in this series include: Paragraphs & Articles (Semester 1) and Essays & Short Stories (Semester 2).

Writers @ Work is a fundamental writing class that will prepare seventh and eighth grade students for high school level composition. The class will progress from getting started on learning how to effectively structure purposeful paragraphs) (first semester) to multiple paragraphs linked into articulate and organized essays (second semester).

Second semester will focus on essay writing by combining several paragraphs to form a paper. Essays will cover persuasive, personal, and formal themes. Students will learn about topic sentences, transitions between paragraphs, clarity, and guiding the reader through their discussion. Writers will learn about organizing their thoughts or evidence and selecting the most important points to craft a multi-paragraph composition. Students have freedom to choose topics for each form. They will be encouraged to first write about something they already know about and then write about a new topic where they will be challenged to define the question they want to investigate, find sources for their research, organize details, and document information used.

Grammar concepts will be introduced throughout the year, and students will be encouraged to incorporate the technique in their next writing or revision. Grammar concepts will include a "toolbox" of writing techniques and rules such as sentence structure, complex and compound sentences, independent and dependent clauses, parts of speech, agreement, tense, use of dialogue and quotation marks, and correct use of punctuation. Students will also be taught techniques for brainstorming and outlining before beginning to write and will be given tips on choosing creative, interesting, and powerful words over mundane, vague, and over-used words.

In both semesters, there will be an emphasis on revision. Writing is seldom just the way the author hopes in the first draft. At times, students will be encouraged to use the same paragraph for several weeks to build-upon their first draft, incorporate feedback, apply writing and grammar techniques, in order for them to see the benefits of revision. They will learn to read their own writing from a reader's perspective and develop strategies for improving it. Students will give and receive feedback from class peers and receive regular feedback from the instructor. Time will be set aside in most classes for dedicated, in-class writing.

In Writers' Workshop, middle school students will expand essential communication skills- reading, retaining, discussing, composing, revising, and even listening and speaking- by reviewing short selections of renowned literature and putting pen to paper! Each quarter, students will write about a popular theme using the elements they observe in the example classics.

A massive stone castle. A dark swampy moat. A victorious knight in his gleaming armor! Students are curious about life in a castle. The class will time time-travel to the Middle Ages through classical texts and poetry. Research is an essential skill for writers (and students). Students will uncover information about life in the Middle Ages as they learn the skills of notetaking and documenting resources. They will learn how to organize and present information from another era with discovery drafts, gathering grids, and finally, refining their report based on primary sources. Students will learn how to compile a bibliography and will wrap-up their research report with a short presentation at the last class. Join the fun as we learn about life in a castle!

Imagination and creativity come easily to most young writers, but acquiring technical skills is also important. Each quarter, students will focus on specific skills. The skills are a part of the Writer's Tool Kit that includes: understanding parts and kinds of sentences, plurals, possessives, and punctuation. Across the four quarters of this class, students will also learn how to use a dictionary and a thesaurus, as well as higher-level, middle school level skills such as summarizing, outlining, note taking, writing a book report, or citing sources. In class, students will share drafts and in-progress works to receive peer feedback and promote revising and editing skills.

Homework: Students are expected to write in a journal for a minimum of four minutes per day and respond to prompts that are sent home on an assignment bookmark. They will also be asked to read short assignments such as a chapter or excerpt in preparation for class discussions.

Topics in this Series: Creating Colorful Characters (Quarter 1), Fantasy Fun (Quarter 2), Learn to Research- Life in a Castle (Quarter 3) and Prose, Poetry, & Paintings- A Passport Adventure (Quarter 4).

Writing is not only a critical skill for school and life, it gives teens a voice! In this class, high school students will gain confidence, increase writing fluency, and learn how to incorporate writing a variety of school subjects, for pleasure, and one day, for a job. The objective of this class is for each student to progress and improve his/her own writing. This class does not have a fixed curriculum trying to achieve the same outcome and same skillset for each teen, because each comes to class with different writing experience and varying needs. Instead, through personalized feedback from the instructor and peer feedback exercises, student writers will improve their writing skills from where they started.

Students will learn the steps of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. Key skills practiced at this level include organizing one's thoughts, defining a purpose and audience for the paper, formulating a topic sentence or main idea, developing supporting details, using correct sentence structure. Students will always be encouraged to write about what interests them, or they may work on writing assignments for other classes or projects. They will write in class each week and will be expected to write at home and submit their work to the instructor for feedback. Each week, the instructor will share brief lessons on grammar (such as correct capitalization, agreement, tenses, parts of speech, use of adjectives/adverbs), and/or style (for example, using metaphors, adding details, building tension). Examples and exercises will be presented from a variety of styles and genres with the instructor using models from fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. Students must be near grade level for reading.

Topics in this Series: Writing Lab (Semester 1 and Semester 2). Students continuing from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Prerequisites: Reading near grade level.

Workload: Students should expect to spend 2-3 hours per week outside of class.

Assignments: Will be discussed in class and emailed in a weekly update.

Assessments: The instructor will provide individualized, qualitative feedback and suggestions on assignments. Formal grades will not be given. The parent should review this work or keep a portfolio in order to assign a comprehensive grade the their student's effort and progression.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a component (partial) credit in English for purposes of a high school transcript. In order to earn a full credit in English, this course should be paired with a literature course.

Writing is not only a critical skill for school and life, it gives kids a voice! In this class, fifth and sixth graders will gain confidence, increase writing fluency, and learn how to incorporate writing into everyday work and play. The objective of this class is for each student to progress and improve his/her own writing. This class does not have a fixed curriculum trying to achieve the same outcome and same skillset for each child, because each comes to class with different writing experience and varying needs. Instead, through personalized feedback from the instructor and peer feedback exercises, student writers will improve their writing skills from where they started.

Students will learn the steps of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. Key skills practiced at this level include organizing one’s thoughts, defining a purpose and audience for the paper, formulating a topic sentence or main idea, developing supporting details, using correct sentence structure (for example, initial capitalization and end punctuation). Students will always be encouraged to write about what interests them. They will write for a few minutes in class each week and will be expected to write short assignments at home and submit their work to the instructor for feedback. Each week, the instructor will share brief lessons on grammar (such as correct capitalization, agreement, tenses, parts of speech, use of adjectives/adverbs), and/or style (for example, using metaphors, adding details, building tension). Examples and exercises will be presented from a variety of styles and genres with the instructor using models from fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.

Students should be on or near grade level for reading. Writing Wonders is offered each quarter under the same class name, but students may take it each quarter to continue to improve their writing skills.

Writing is not only a critical skill for school and life, it gives kids a voice! In this class, fifth and sixth graders will gain confidence, increase writing fluency, and learn how to incorporate writing into everyday work and play. The objective of this class is for each student to progress and improve his/her own writing. This class does not have a fixed curriculum trying to achieve the same outcome and same skillset for each child, because each comes to class with different writing experience and varying needs. Instead, through personalized feedback from the instructor and peer feedback exercises, student writers will improve their writing skills from where they started.

Students will learn the steps of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. Key skills practiced at this level include organizing one’s thoughts, defining a purpose and audience for the paper, formulating a topic sentence or main idea, developing supporting details, using correct sentence structure (for example, initial capitalization and end punctuation). Students will always be encouraged to write about what interests them. They will write for a few minutes in class each week and will be expected to write short assignments at home and submit their work to the instructor for feedback. Each week, the instructor will share brief lessons on grammar (such as correct capitalization, agreement, tenses, parts of speech, use of adjectives/adverbs), and/or style (for example, using metaphors, adding details, building tension). Examples and exercises will be presented from a variety of styles and genres with the instructor using models from fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.

Students should be on or near grade level for reading. Writing Wonders is offered each quarter under the same class name, but students may take it each quarter to continue to improve their writing skills.

Writing is not only a critical skill for school and life, it gives kids a voice! In this class, third and fourth graders will gain confidence, increase writing fluency, and learn how to incorporate writing into everyday work and play. The objective of this class is for each student to progress and improve his/her own writing. This class does not have a fixed curriculum trying to achieve the same outcome and same skillset for each child, because each comes to class with different writing experience and varying needs. Instead, through personalized feedback from the instructor and peer feedback exercises, student writers will improve their writing skills from where they started.

Students will learn the steps of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. Key skills practiced at this level include organizing one’s thoughts, defining a purpose and audience for the paper, formulating a topic sentence or main idea, developing supporting details, using correct sentence structure (for example, initial capitalization and end punctuation). Students will always be encouraged to write about what interests them. They will write for a few minutes in class each week and will be expected to write short assignments at home and submit their work to the instructor for feedback. Each week, the instructor will share brief lessons on grammar (such as correct capitalization, agreement, tenses, parts of speech, use of adjectives/adverbs), and/or style (for example, using metaphors, adding details, building tension). Examples and exercises will be presented from a variety of styles and genres with the instructor using models from fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.

Students must be a minimum age 8 to take this class and should be on or near grade level for reading. Writing Wonders is offered each quarter under the same class name, but students may take it each quarter to continue to improve their writing skills.