Category Archives: Language Arts

Creative Writing (Blogging) (Sam)

 

English Credit

In this once a week English class, students will create a personal blogging site and add personal writings. During each session, students will be able to brainstorm ideas while using creativity to produce blog posts.

To receive credit for this class, you must complete all assigned writings, turn in all work, complete mini projects, including blog design and other blog site maintenance.

Voices of Resilience: Japanese Internment and CID History (amy)

Language Arts Credit

Course Description: This course invites students to explore the historical and cultural dimensions of Japanese internment during World War II, with a focus on the International District of Seattle as a vibrant cultural hub. Through a collective reading of Jamie Ford’s poignant novel, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” students will engage in discussions that connect literary themes with real-life experiences of the Japanese American community. Join us for a transformative journey through history, literature, and community exploration.

Students will earn Language Arts credit by actively participating in class discussions, completing assignments, and attending sessions regularly. 

Required texts/materials: The instructor will procure the texts/materials.

MS Literature – The Astonishing Color of After (hannah)

Note: This class is open to middle school students only.

In this middle school English class, we will read The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan. From the author’s website: 

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird. Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. 

Alternating between reality and magic, past and present, hope and despair, this is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, bravery, and love.

This twice-a-week class will include weekly close reading; in-class writing and discussion about literary elements, major themes, and Taiwanese culture; and bigger writing assignments and projects throughout the term. To earn credit, students must read the book, participate in discussion, and complete all written work assigned.

Fearless English (Scobie)

Note: This class is open to high school students only.

How I Make My Hypnosis Recordings - Start to Finish | Giovanni Lordi

English Credit

This is the class where each week, you write something you’re genuinely excited to read aloud to your classmates, mostly fictional passages, but sometimes other kinds of work.

  • There is always work outside of class because we use class mostly for reading your pieces aloud. You get your pieces written between classes!
  • This class is FIRE, people, based on the idea that you should only bother writing what you’re super-pumped to share. When you do this the way it’s meant to be done, it feels like being in the best writing class there ever was.
  • Drafting all your work in a single google document opened directly from the assignment is required. If you have another method, take a different class.
  • Reading your pieces aloud exactly as written is required. No editing on the fly. If you don’t want your work to sound sloppy and mistaken when you read it, don’t turn in sloppy and mistake-laden work.
  • You may request that I read one of your pieces aloud in order to hear your own work read by a former voice artist and narrator.
  • Late work erodes the value of this class for everyone, including you. If you are not committed to having your work ready on time, please find another class to take. If you submit work late more than once, expect to be asked to leave the class.

HS Literature – The Kite Runner (hannah)

Note: This class is open to high school students only.

In this high school English class, we will read The Kite Runner by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. From the author’s website: 

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

This twice-a-week class will include weekly close reading; in-class writing and discussion about literary elements and Afghanistan history; and bigger writing assignments and projects throughout the term. To earn credit, students must read the book, participate in discussion, and complete all written work assigned. 

The History of White People (Sam)

 

English Credit

In this once a week English class, students will be reading text and discussing the finding found in the literary work and research of Nell Irvin Painter. This class will cover the history of white people and their advancements in literature, history, science, religions and the arts both in Europe and The Americas. To receive credit for this class, you must read each assigned chapter, take quality notes, participate in all discussions and complete all assigned work, including a research project.

To receive credit for this class, you must complete all assigned readings, turn in all notes, complete short and medium sized essays, including research work and possibly a research paper or larger writing assignment.

Required texts/materials: The instructor will procure the texts/materials.

Poetry Lab (hannah)

In this twice-a-week English class, we will read, interpret, and write our own poetry. 

We will read lots of poetry to study how this art form continues to change over time and across cultures. We will write lots of poetry, examining elements of the form and experimenting with different styles. You will be facilitated in different writing activities and methods in order to develop confidence and apply new skills. This class will require you to write with soul, share aloud, and give / receive feedback on each other’s work. 

Topics will include levels of analysis and literary devices; contemporary and historic poets ranging from Mahmoud Darwish to our current Poet Laureate, Ada Limon; found poetry, haiku, rhyme and free verse. 

You will be expected to complete every writing assignment in order to earn credit for this class. Open to all.