Course Syllabus
Middle School English Language Arts 6B

Description

This is the second course in a two-course sequence. English 6B is designed with the themes of resilience, self-discovery, empathy and confidence in mind. Students will read nonfiction stories about famous and accomplished people who overcame obstacles and failures on the road to success while learning to analyze nonfiction texts. Then, they will reflect on their own experiences with failure and perseverance and create nonfiction narratives based on their experiences. Next, students will explore themes of confidence and fitting in through the graphic novel New Kid by Jerry Craft. The final project in the course is to use the writing process and technology tools to create a superhero story in comic book format. Prerequisites:  ELA 6A or equivalent

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• Identify themes in nonfiction
• Analyze the effect point of view in on a text
• Write an objective summary
• Analyze the author’s purpose and perspective in nonfiction texts
• Analyze how specific details contribute to the development of central ideas.
• Assess how text features enhance comprehension
• Compose a personal narrative
• Edit writing for conventions
• Revise writing to engage the reader
• Use strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words
• Compare and contrast information presented in textual and multimedia formats.
• Engage effectively in class discussions
• Analyze how authors develop characters
• Examine how authors use literary techniques
• Create and publish a superhero comic

Course Outline:

Unit 5: Fantastic Failures

Unit 6: What’s My Story?

Unit 7: New Kid

Unit 8: Super Stories

Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: Students are responsible for acquiring their own copies of the following texts:
Fantastic Failures: True Stories of People Who Changed the World by Falling Down First by Luke Reynolds
New Kid by Jerry Craft

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements: https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements/

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at CustomerCare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at customercare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: None