5/6 Grade Reading & Writing (Elementary)

Jan 29- April 30; No Class Feb 19, April 16

This class is typically for students in 5th-6th grade, often ages 10-12.

King of the Wind revolves around a mute stable boy who cares for a neglected colt that eventually becomes the famed Godolphin Arabian who sires three winning racehorses. The story starts in Morocco, moves to France and ends in England.  The class discussion will cover the central theme of never giving up in the face of adversity and obstacles, as well as friendship and loyalty. Students will further develop their paragraph writing skills through intentional effort and training in the use of stylistic elements to make each word, sentence, and paragraph stronger.  

Skills Needed to Succeed in this Class

• Elementary Writing Foundations - prerequisite for this class for all new students

• Able to read books independently and develop study skills such as annotating and charting while reading

• Uses the computer to complete writing assignments

• Listens carefully and follows instructions

• Has learned how to write a correct basic paragraph (as taught in our Primary Reading and Writing class)

• Willing to receive affirmation as well as correction on homework in order to grow as a writer

• Able to complete 2.5 to 3.5 hours of homework weekly

Skilled Learned in this Class

• Working towards mastery of TWJ basic writing steps and strategies for writing an expanded paragraph including brainstorming, outlining, writing a rough draft, rewriting for a final draft

• Creating quality expanded paragraphs with well developed “chunks”

• Providing specific examples from the novel to support assertions

• Explaining examples with insightful commentary

• Increased development of quality rewriting in the following ways:

  ○ Improving word choice through active verbs, concrete nouns, and well-placed adjectives and adverbs

  ○ Using sentence variety and transitional words and phrases

  ○ Learning to include complex punctuation in writing
  
  

Other Class Details

12 weeks

Class meets for 2 hours per week. 

Maximum class size 20 students.

Supplies: pencil, paper, class novel (see Study Book), TWJ Writing Foundations Handbook

Gmail account to access Google Classroom and communicate with instructor

King of the Wind

by Marguerite Henry

ISBN-13 ‏: ‎ 978-1416927860

Click to order from Amazon

For families that pay out-of-pocket for homeschooling classes, The Write Journey, LLC offers a discount of 10% for those classes. Use code “PRIVATEPAY” during check out to apply discount. This offer cannot be combined with any other discounts. The reduced rates for private-pay individuals may be used by students enrolled in charter schools, but only if the family chooses to pay for the goods or services out-of-pocket.

Venmo, PayPal, or Check? Use code “PERSONAL” during check out to change the class cost to $0. After you complete the registration process, please send us your payment. Venmo @TheWriteJourney-Cordell PayPal (Friends & Family) – info@thewritejourney.net

Paying with Charter School Funds? Use code “CHARTER” during check out to change the class cost to $0. After completing the registration process, contact your charter school to order vouchers/purchase orders in three one-month payments. Contact us for assistance if you plan to use charter funds and do not find The Write Journey (or Writing with Kris or Kris Cordell) on your charter school’s vendor list.

To pay with a check, contact us at 916.696.1759.

Cancellation Policy:

Due to the administrative costs and preparations of The Write Journey team to prepare classes and offer reasonable class sizes of 16- 20 students, we must charge a cancellation fee. Teachers typically begin communication 2 weeks before classes begin, and class schedules must be finalized in order to offer the correct number of spots open for families. 

A $25 cancellation fee will be charged up to 2 weeks prior to the start of the ordered class. Any time after 2 weeks prior to the start of class, the cancellation fee is one full month’s charge. For private pay families with more than 2 children, a flat rate of $50 will be charged.