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Middle School Writing with Jonathan – SMALL GROUP – LIVE – * A Week – Tuesday * – Full Year – Grades 6-9
Tuesday, October 5 2021 @ 9:00AM – Tuesday, May 24 2022 @ 10:30AM EDT
Instructor:
Jonathan MeolaInstructor Email:
jonathan@opententacademy.comGrade/Level:
6 – 9Day of Week:
TuesdayClass Times:
9:00AM – 10:30AM (ET)Terms/Semesters:
Full Year 2021-2022
This fast paced, interactive class begins preparing your student for high school and (eventually) college level writing. In Middle School Writing, the students will be writing five paragraph critiques, research papers and essays (expository, persuasive and narrative). Students will practice each structure at least twice allowing the student to write the second or third papers with the same structure with more ease.
During class, each structure will be introduced, explained, brainstormed and modeled. While working on their homework it is expected that they use their handouts for reference. Students are expected to repeat the entire writing process with some degree of independence. Students might need parental assistance; however, over time we are striving for them to establish their independence as writers.
Students will work on finding their voice through required stylistic techniques that they add into their writing. We also work hard on eliminating the use of the “subject-opener” using various sentence openers. Finally, there is a list of banned words (overused, boring) that the students are not allowed to use, so that they can find more descriptive ways to say what they mean.
There is an emphasis on editing – TRULY editing, by using their composition checklist. However, at this stage editing means revising, revamping, rewriting, restructuring….. not just correcting.
Please note this section is a SMALL GROUP class.
Homework is approximately two hours per week (30 minutes daily).
NOTE: Registration deadline is September 15, 2021.
There must be a minimum of 5 students to run this class.
Learning to love the past
History. This was definitely not my strongest area as a homeschool mother. I knew to provide my kids with what they needed, I had to look at outside resources. Taking a leap of faith, I registered both my 7th and 8th grader for U.S. History with Jonathan Meola.
Learning history through simple short stories using. “A History of US,” has been fun to read-a-loud. With a subject I once disliked myself, I’ve been able to power through, and engage with my children learning to love the past. Mr. Meola is a phenomenally fair instructor, and has allowed our kids to use their creativity for the semester project. The kids have enjoyed this area most about the class. Seeing their creations from the past come to life is a gift in itself. Thank you, Jonathan! You have lit a fire for history within my children!
Thanks for making homeschooling so much easier for us parents
We have absolutely loved Jonathan’s Ancient Civilizations class this year.
He is so organized, and his classes are expertly taught – my son usually makes me leave the room but I will often go back and listen to the recordings and watch some of the videos because they are so interesting.
We are thrilled that OTA is now a vendor with our charter school, and since Z will be in middle school next year, we plan on signing up for a lot more classes.
Keep up the excellent job and thanks for making homeschooling so much easier for us parents!
Fantastic!
What a fantastic course combining hands-on STEM & Social Studies.
I loved watching my children learn about key landmarks around the world with such eagerness and curiosity.
They dove into the history, architectural marvel, geography, and engineering in an engaging fun way.
Mr. Meola is a wonderful teacher and this class is highly recommended!
Best Course EVER!
During our family new year’s celebration, everyone completed a year-in-review questionnaire. One question asked, “What are you most proud of that you accomplished this past year?”
Without hesitation, our daughter blurted out “I learned to write a five-paragraph essay!”
Our daughter, who up until this past semester would only write science lab reports, should be proud of this accomplishment. She willingly dedicated days to completing required essays, and we owe this success to Lights! Camera! Action! class.
Mr. Jonathan’s enthusiasm, instruction, encouragement and feedback all generated a newfound level of confidence within our daughter. Plus, the course spurred everyone in our family (including grandparents) to watch incredible movies, which normally would not be in our Netflix queue. Mr. Jonathan’s impact reached beyond our daughter.
Amazing course!
I would like to say thank you. My daughter, Laura, was so inspired by OTA’s Lights! Camera! Action! class. She WANTS to improve at writing instead of shying away from the process that she finds so difficult. She is putting her heart and soul into trying. I am seeing improvement and I am seeing enthusiasm that just were not there before. You have no idea how joyful that makes me. This latest essay was really, really hard but a bit less overwhelming than the prior two. Slowly the elements that Laura is learning in class are sinking in. I appreciate all that you do for the class! Thank you!
