ENGLISH,
READING,
AND
WRITING
SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT
ENGLISH, READING, AND WRITING
SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT
ENGLISH
Pre-K to 2nd Grade
Class format: 1-hour class, twice a week
In English, our youngest students build foundational language skills in phonics, reading, spelling, and grammar during classes tailored for age-appropriate virtual learning. Our online classes feature a combination of on-screen learning, interactive activities, and drawing and writing exercises designed to help students strengthen their writing abilities. Our experienced PK–G2 teachers keep students smiling, learning, and reading their way to success.
Kindergarten
Kindergarteners develop essential reading and writing skills in twice-weekly English classes. Through teacher modeling, peer collaboration, and guided and independent practice, students:
- Build phonics skills in letter sounds, vowel combinations, consonants, blends, and digraphs
- Study capitalization and punctuation rules for sentences and stories
- Learn parts of speech
- Practice reading comprehension strategies to identify story and picture elements, plot, characters, and setting
- Read decodable books to practice fluency and reinforce phonics skills
Minimum of four students, maximum of eight students per class.
1st Grade
Become a fluent and avid reader in our twice-weekly 1st grade English class. Each week, 1st grade students:
- Learn vowel sounds, digraphs, and blends
- Practice strategies to decode and encode words
- Study conventions of English grammar and usage, from proper capitalization and punctuation to nouns, verbs, and adjectives
- Build vocabulary acquisition, comprehension skills, and fluency through exposure to various genres of literature
Minimum of four students, maximum of ten students per class.
2nd Grade
Challenge yourself with advanced phonics and grammar lessons, designed to help 2nd graders become confident readers. In twice-weekly classes, 2nd grade students:
- Utilize strategies for decoding unfamiliar words
- Study vowel teams, prefixes, suffixes, and irregularly spelled words
- Master the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing and speaking, including simple and compound sentences, pronouns, verbs, and contractions
- Read diverse genres of literature to build their reading fluency and comprehension
- Identify main ideas, answer comprehension questions, navigate text features while reading, and compare and contrast
Minimum of four students, maximum of twelve students per class.
Reading and Writing
Grade 2
Class format: 1-hour class, once a week
In G2 Reading and Writing, students become excellent readers and creative writers. Our virtual classes feature on-screen lessons and weekly writing assignments, in which students practice their handwriting while producing written pieces.
Our online classes feature a combination of on-screen learning, interactive activities, and drawing and writing exercises designed to help students strengthen their writing abilities.
Minimum of four students, maximum of twelve students per class.
Reading Comprehension
Our reading lessons expose 2nd graders to a new world of reading critically. Each week, students:
- Become exposed to an array of literary genres, from poetry and drama to fiction and non-fiction
- Analyze texts, determine the central theme and author’s purpose, and summarize key details
- Use context clues to determine definitions of new words, identify the main idea, and compare and contrast different texts with one another
Writing
Our 2nd grade students become adept at forming original ideas and expressing themselves through writing, as they:
- Produce numerous written pieces, from creative and nonfiction narratives to informative essays and opinion pieces
- Study the conventions, styles, and format of model texts as examples for their own writing
- Learn the writing process, from brainstorming and planning to drafting, revising and editing
- Receive detailed instruction and feedback on how to reread and edit their own work
ENGLISH/READING AND WRITING
Grades 3–11
Class format: 2-hour class, once a week
In English/Reading and Writing, students study the building blocks of English—grammar, syntax, vocabulary—and learn how to use these tools to express themselves on the page. Our two-hour online class incorporates grammar and vocabulary lessons, reading comprehension practice, and writing units to give students a 360° view on the craft of writing.
Minimum of four students, maximum of twelve students per class
Importance of Writing Skills
Writing skills are essential across all areas:
- English
- Social Studies
- History
- Sciences
- Private school applications
- College applications
- Job applications
- Public speaking presentations
Importance of Grammar
Readability
Writing filled with grammar mistakes is difficult to read and comprehend
Communication
The better the grammar, the clearer the message, the better your message and meaning come across
Credibility
As a writer who has mastered good grammar, you gain credibility among your peers and teachers
Poor grammar and typos are an immediate turn-off in college and job applications
Teaching Writing Skills at Different Ages
Grades K–2: Creative Writing
- Personal narratives
- Realistic fiction stories
- Opinion letters
- Persuasive essays
- Informational reports
Grades 3–8: Writing Process
- Informational essay
- Persuasive writing
- Personal narratives
- Literary analysis
Grades 9–12: Essay Styles and Original Arguments
- Compare and contrast essays
- Classification and definition essays
- Personal narratives with larger significances
Grammar and Vocabulary
Each week, students tackle new language arts concepts—from the subjunctive mood to imperative voice, subjects and predicates to appositives, metaphors and allusions to personification and hyperbole. Through close study, our young writers learn why, exactly, grammar and vocabulary matter:
- Craft complex, yet crystal clear sentences and discover and interpret greater depth in literature, all with a confident grasp on the nuances of the English language
- Wield punctuation effectively, thoughtfully, and creatively after mastering the intimidating rules of commas, semicolons, and colons
- Enrich your fiction and nonfiction writing with literary and rhetorical devices
- Study prefixes and suffixes, Greek and Roman roots, and more to expand their language abilities. Practice finding more active, vivid, and specific nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs that make their writing stand out.
Reading Comprehension
Students become fluent and critical readers of all writing, from nonfiction essays to the novels assigned in school. During the reading comprehension lesson, students hone critical reading skills across genres, writing strategies, and more. Topics include:
- Analyzing poems, plays, fairytales, and other genres
- Identifying point of view, setting, plot, themes, and figurative language
- Using signal words to describe comparisons and contrasts
- Understanding supporting evidence
- Interpreting multiple research sources
Essay Writing
To write clearly is to think clearly. We believe that a strong essay says something—It makes a statement, expresses an opinion, interprets and presents evidence to support a thesis.
In each essay unit, students study mentor texts to understand the style and conventions of a broad array of essay genres:
- Opinion writing: From letters to the editor to opinion speeches, learn how to form and defend an argument with compelling evidence
- Literary analysis: Through close study of texts, craft in-depth analyses of themes, character development, and figurative language
- Informative essays: Conduct research and synthesize sources to clearly and engagingly present information, evidence, and conclusions
- Narrative: Write myths, legends, and historical fiction with a firm grasp on plot, setting, and character
Our writing teachers take students through the writing process, emphasizing with each step how to approach all writing with a critical eye. Teachers offer detailed feedback on each draft, guiding students in writing introductions, topic sentences, supporting details, and conclusions. Students become adept at responding to feedback and making substantive revisions to produce polished essays.
VSA Future Free Bonus Classes
TYPING PRACTICE
– Incoming 3rd grade students receive complimentary subscriptions to a typing practice program, to help them gain essential typing and computer skills.
WRITING HOMEWORK HELP
– RW students (G3 and up) can sign up for free Writing Homework Help (schedule available later this summer). Writing Homework Help meets once a week.
ONLINE EXERCISES PRACTICE
– Reading & Writing students in Grades 3 and up can attend our free Online Exercises sessions each week. Each session is 60 minutes long, and students can attend 1–5 sessions a week (slots are limited on a first-come, first-served basis).
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