Parent Letter 2019-20

Our classes are held in room 5 at St. Simon and Jude Catholic Church from 1:00 to 2:45 on Wednesdays. 

If COVID numbers warrant it or SSJ changes policies for using their classrooms, we will meet in our Zoom Room

TUITION    $250.00 per semester. 

    July 15, 2020               Fall semester tuition is due (to ensure a spot in class)  

    November 15, 2020     Spring tuition is due

BRING TO CLASS: 

•  3-RING BINDER with: 

                           dividers

                           page protectors 

                           loose leaf paper

•  a yellow and a blue highlighter
•  an appropriate writing utensil:
                          mechanical pencil
                          pencil & sharpener 
                          pen
• page protectors
• loose leaf paper
•  a small stapler

Your 3-RING BINDER must have @ least 
      5 labeled dividers   
      1. Class Notes  
      2. Homework
      3. Vocabulary
      4. Hand-outs and CheckLists
      5. Essays

BASIC MATERIALS FOR HOME:   

HOME 3-RING BINDER 
This should be a large 3-ring BINDER with page  protectors. This work sample portfolio will be submitted 2X (December & May)

A HOME FILE SYSTEM to store 

completed Essays, Tests, etc.

RECOMMENDED but OPTIONAL:

  
A Portable Wall  
which contains 
writing models and 
helpful, easily 
accessible information on a tri-fold pocket.  

YOU CAN BRING THIS TO CLASS 
<-----  @ the IEW site

PARENTAL ROLE IN IEW
Parents are the first and best teachers of their children and this class celebrates that.

Parents are encouraged to dive into IEW with their children.  
Please schedule IEW time everyday at home and be prepared to help, facilitate, and encourage.

FOCUS OF CLASS: 
This writing class focuses on stylistic techniques taught incrementally to establish a well-balanced style of writing. These techniques or tools are put to practical use in the essays that students write each week. The writing assignments include, but are not limited to: exposition papers, creative writing, apologetics, one, three and five paragraph essays.

LAGNIAPPE:   
In addition to basic IEW writing tools, our IEW class integrates other components of writing:
• We practice general timed writing and journal writing.   
• Vocabulary and grammar are an integral part of the class work and homework.
• Students have the opportunity to show mastery in their essays.
• The literature component of class encourages discussion and critique. Although this is not the main focus of our curriculum, it is often a student favorite.

GRADES: 
Grades are determined using a matrix that includes all elements and the student's completion of required elements.
Additionally, basic grammar, formatting, and writing skills will be graded. There is an automatic 10 point deduction for late essays. Final grades, portfolios, and late term essays are mailed or made available to students in the summer.
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updates
2015√
2016√ 
2017√
2018√
2019√
2020√

2018-19 Calendar

2018-19 Calendar 

August 22, 29 

September 5, 12, 19, 26 

Fall Break: October (2 essays required in Oct. Submitted via email) 

November 7, 14, 28 

December 5, 12 

Christmas Break: December 19 through January 15 

January 16, 23, 30 

February 6, 13, 20, 27 

Spring Break: March 6 through March 19 

March 20, 27 

April 3, 10, 24 

Make-up classes (if needed) May 1, 8

Poetry

Every student in our IEW class has been given a poem to memorize. Poems should be memorized by September 19, 2018.

Have you ever considered the benefits of poetry?  There are quite a few! 

"The way the words roll off the tongue, it’s as if a poem craves to be spoken aloud. The rhyme, the meter, the emotion. Not satisfied with merely being read silently, a poem comes to life when it is spoken.*

"Even after almost three millennia of written literature, poetry retains its appeal to the ear as well as to the eye; to hear a poem read aloud by someone who understands it, and who wishes to share that understanding with someone else, can be a crucial experience, instructing the silently reading eye ever thereafter to hear what it is seeing. Better yet is reading aloud that way oneself." **

sources:

IEW article by *Jennifer Mauser 

**Poets.org