What's New - 2021-2022

 

 

​

Note - new class offerings are subject to change. As we work hard to bring you new classes, sometimes we decide that the class should be approached in a different way, and certain texts may be removed or added. In addition, sometimes, the writing process takes longer than anticipated, so the 'arrival' date of a class may be later than originally planned. 

 

FIRST QUARTER:

 

For The Beginning Student (Grades 3-6) –

 

• Beginning Poetry: A revised take on our original Intro to Poetry, this class introduces poetry in its most basic components – including rhyme, meter, literary devices, and theme – across varying styles and eras of poetry. Students will become acquainted with a number of well-known poets including A.A. Milne, Shel Silverstein, Christina Rossetti, Mary Ann Hoberman, Ogden Nash, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Frost, and William Blake.

   

• Book Study – The Cricket in Times Square: Throughout this class, students engage directly with George Selden's 1960, Newbery Honor-winning book. While reading the entire text, students learn about various elements of literature and practice written response alongside unexpected but fun characters – Chester (a cricket), Tucker Mouse, and Harry Cat. (prerequisite: The Composition or similar experience) (Note: Students must have their own copy of the text for this class.)

 

For The Growing Student (Grades 7-9) –

 

• Overview of Early Literature - Part I: An excerpt-based class, students are introduced to the epic through early historical literature including The Epic of Gilgamesh (circa 2100 BC), Homer's The Iliad (8th Century BC), Beowulf (circa 1000 AD), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (circa 1400), The Faerie Queene (1590), and Paradise Lost (1667).

   

• Overview of Literature – 1800s – Part I: An excerpt-based class, students are introduced to primary works of literature from the early and middle 1800s, including poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) and William Wordsworth (1770-1850), The Swiss Family Robinson (1812), Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers (1836) and Oliver Twist (1838), Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), poems by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), Jane Eyre (1847), and Moby Dick (1851).

 

 

SECOND QUARTER:

 

For The Beginning Student (Grades 3-6) –

 

• Beginning Literature – Part I: An excerpt-based class, students are introduced to various works of early elementary literature including Aesop's Fables (published 1484), Heidi (1880), The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883), The Jungle Book (1894), The Reluctant Dragon (1898), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), and The Secret Garden (1911).

   

• Beginning Creative Writing: A simplified version of our popular Intro to Creative Writing, geared specifically to young creative writers! Students learn about the major components of creative writing including characters, plot, setting, dialogue, action, and voice.

 

For The Growing Student (Grades 7-9) –

 

• Overview of Early Literature - Part II: An excerpt-based class, students continue a study through early historical literature including an introduction to Shakespeare (1600s), Don Quixote (1605), The Pilgrim's Progress (1678), Robinson Crusoe (1719), The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1791), and poems by Phyllis Wheatley (1753-1784) and William Blake (1757-1827).

​

• Overview of Literature – 1800s – Part II: An excerpt-based class, students are introduced to primary works of literature from the middle and late 1800s, including poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) and Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), Little Women (1868) and Little Men (1871); Around the World in Eighty Days (1873); The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884); The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892); The Red Badge of Courage (1895); and poems by Robert Frost (1874-1963).

 

​

THIRD QUARTER:

 

For The Beginning Student (Grades 3-6) –

 

• Beginning Literature – Part II: An excerpt-based class, students are introduced to various works of classic 20th-century elementary literature including The Boxcar Children (1924), Little House in the Big Woods (1932), The Twenty-One Balloons (1947), Charlotte's Web (1952), The Courage of Sarah Noble (1954), Bridge to Terabithia (1977), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1979).

   

• Book Study – Little House in the Big Woods: Throughout this class, students engage directly with the acclaimed children's novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Lessons guide students through a complete reading of the text, with a focus on Wilder's use of description and expository writing as she conveys her growing up years. (Prerequisite: The Composition or similar experience) (Note: Students must have their own copy of the text for this class.)

 

For The Growing Student (Grades 7-9) –

 

• Overview of Literature – 1900s – Part I: An excerpt-based class, students are introduced to primary works of literature from the early and middle 1900s, including Helen Keller's The Story of My Life (1902); Pygmalion (1912); poems by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), Edgar A. Guest (1881-1959), and Isaac Rosenberg (1890-1918); poems and works by Langston Hughes (1902-1967); Johnny Tremain (1943), The Diary of a Young Girl (1947), and an overview of The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis (1950-1956).

 

 

FOURTH QUARTER:

 

For The Beginning Student (Grades 3-6) –

 

• Book Study Class – to be determined . . .

 

For The Growing Student (Grades 7-9) –

 

• Overview of Literature – 1900s – Part II: An excerpt-based class, students are introduced to primary works of literature from the middle and late 1900s, including The Lord of the Rings (1954); A Wrinkle in Time (1962); All Creatures Great and Small (1975); Tuck Everlasting (1975); Sarah, Plain and Tall (1985); Number the Stars (1989); and poems by Wendell Berry (1934-) and George Ella Lyon (1949-).

 

• Book Study Class – to be determined . . .