English with American History Bundle

• Learn the people and events important in American history including the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, Westward Expansion, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II (with solely an American focus), the Cold War including the Korean and Vietnam wars, and the Civil Rights Movement.
• Learn new words in context related to history and geography.
• View US geography changing as America grows and states are added.

Course Structure

Students will have readings each week as well as activities posted in Canvas to review the material. Our live class time will include Mrs. G’s lesson on the same material as well as review games, mini-projects the students share, or reader’s theater plays.

Course Assignments will include:

• Readings from either United States History (Holt McDougal) or The Making of America (National Geographic) and review questions in Canvas
• Supplemental worksheet activities posted in Canvas
• Read 9 to 14 historical fiction or biographies related to the topics being studied, sharing new facts learned with classmates; complete questions about each book read in Canvas
• Research mini-projects, sharing facts with classmates
• Complete two major projects, one each semester, including reading one nonfiction book for each.

English Through American History

Course Structure

Students will

• Improve formal writing with a focus on how to revise and edit.
• Demonstrate an understanding of English grammar including: parts of speech, sentence structure, punctuation, and common sentence errors.
• Identify the elements of fiction through novels read as well as common techniques of literature such as irony, symbolism, flashback, and figurative language.
• Read poetry related to people, places, and events studied and write poems.

Course Assignments

• Read at least 9 books (historical fiction or biography); students enrolled in either of Mrs. Graybill’s American history course will have suggestions provided. I’m happy to share this list with those enrolled in this course as well.
• Write seven multi-paragraph essays (descriptive essay, biographical narrative, explaining a political process, cause/effect essay, compare/contrast, persuasive, & analyzing a primary source).
• Write and give an informative speech with presentation slides.
• Write a creative story.
• Write poems related to historical topics.
• Complete projects related to the elements of fiction.
• Complete grammar exercises.

Who should enroll?

This class is for 7th – 8th graders, others by permission from the instructor.

Technology Requirements

• High speed, broadband Internet
• Headset and microphone (for live sessions)
• Streaming video capabilities to watch recorded lectures
• Microsoft Word and Power Point are very helpful. If a different word processing program is used, students will need to save or export documents to a pdf.

Evaluation and Feedback

All exercises in Canvas will be graded and averaged for a final grade. Tests will be assigned. Essays will receive detailed feedback. Projects will receive additional feedback so that improvements can be made along the way.

Communication

Parents are welcome to contact me with any questions before registering their student. Once I know a student has registered, the family will receive a welcome packet with additional information about the course. I will contact parents if there is a concern with students not keeping up with the work or frequently turning in late assignments.