Composition

 

Form 4-5 (Grades 9-12)

 

Form 3 (Grades 7-8)

 

Form 2 (Grades 4-6)

 

Composition and Literature for Form 4-5 (Grades 9-12)

2023-2024

 

For a man to write well, there are required three necessaries: let him read the best authors; observe the best speakers; and have much exercise of his own style.

 

-Ben Johnson

 

Here is the foundation of all good writing: reading worthy books, narrating and discussing living ideas, and writing frequently. This approach to composition teaches students to communicate clearly and express themselves with vigor, grace, and ingenuity in a way that a formulaic writing program cannot teach. In class we will read biographies, literature, poetry, and essays to give the students a wide variety of ideas to inspire their discussion and writing projects.

 

We will meet for a 45 minute class twice a week. The first session of the week will be for reading and discussion. The second session will be a writing workshop and a lesson from either Meiklejohn’s Hints on Composition or A Rulebook for Arguments. Every term we will have a Readers Theater Night on a Shakespeare play. Students may request to invite friends or family who are interested in participating. If a student is unable to attend the Shakespeare Night, then they can watch a recording of the play or listen to a dramatization. The only homework will be Free Reading, which will include poetry and the student’s choice of the term’s classic literature, read at the student’s pace.

 

*A Term consists of ten weeks of class plus one week of exams. Exams are for reviewing what the students have learned that term.

 

 

 

Term 1

 

 

Free Reading: The Oxford Book of English Verse 1x week, Smith of Wooton Major by J.R.R. Tolkien, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, or The Story of Sigurd the Volsung by William Morris.

 

 

Term 2

 

 

Free Reading: The Oxford Book of English Verse 1x week, Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien, Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot, or The Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton.

 

 

Term 3

 

 

 

Free Reading: The Oxford Book of English Verse 1x week, Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Chosen by Chaim Potok, Poetry by Robert Frost and Wendell Berry.

 

Form 4 & 5 Composition Application Details

 

Required Materials not included in cost of tuition.

 

To join or start a small group or inquire about tuition fees, fill out the form below and send it to racheli@rachelteaches.com

 

Composition and Literature for Form 3 (Grades 7-8)

2023-2024

 

For a man to write well, there are required three necessaries: let him read the best authors; observe the best speakers; and have much exercise of his own style.

 

-Ben Johnson

 

Here is the foundation of all good writing: reading worthy books, narrating and discussing living ideas, and writing frequently. This approach to composition teaches students to communicate clearly and express themselves with the vigor, grace, and ingenuity in a way that a formulaic writing program cannot. In class we will read biographies, mythology, literature, poetry, and essays to give the students a wide variety of ideas to inspire their discussion and writing projects. They will write every week using the ideas we discuss to complete projects for each Term*. The projects of Term 1 will be personal letters; Term 2 will be travel logs and letters; Term 3 will be discussions through correspondence.

 

The class will meet online for one hour, twice a week. The first session of the week will be for reading and discussion. The second session will be a writing workshop and a lesson from Meiklejohn’s Hints on Composition. Every term we will have a Readers Theater Night on a Shakespeare play. If a student is unable to attend the Shakespeare Night, then they can watch a recording of the play or listen to a dramatization. The only homework will be Free Reading, which will be poetry and the student’s choice of the term’s classic literature, read at the student’s pace.

 

*A Term consists of ten weeks of class plus one week of exams. Exams are for reviewing what the students have learned that term.

 

Term 1

 

Composition Projects: Writing Personal Letters

 

Free Reading: The Oxford Book of English Verse 1x week, The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow by Allen French, Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton, or Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.

 

 

Term 2

 

Composition Projects: Writing Travel Logs and Letters

 

 

Free Reading: The Oxford Book of English Verse 1x week, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, A novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, or a historical fiction novel by Howard Pyle.

 

 

Term 3

 

Composition Projects: Writing Discussions through Correspondences

 

 

Free Reading: The Oxford Book of English Verse 1x week, Door to the North by Elizabeth Coatsworth, Animal Farm by George Orwell, a novel by Sir Walter Scott.

Form 3 Composition Application Details

 

Required Materials not included in cost of tuition.

 

To join or start a small group or inquire about tuition fees, fill out the form below and send it to racheli@rachelteaches.com

 

 

Composition and Literature for Form 2 (Grades 4-6)

2023-2024

 

 

"Composition is not an adjunct but an integral part of their education in every subject. The exercise affords very great pleasure to children, perhaps we all like to tell what we know, and in proportion as their composition is entirely artless, it is in the same degree artistic and any child is apt to produce a style to be envied for its vigour and grace."

 

Charlotte Mason, Vol. 6 A Philosophy of Education

 

In Forms 1 and 2, students are still learning to express their thoughts clearly and to write with ease and accuracy. Composition in this stage is integrated in all the other subjects they are studying. Literature, poetry, history, and other subjects are excellent sources for ideas and language that we study through copy work, dictation, and narration. This being the case, any other course for Form 2 or Form 1 will already have Composition as part of the lessons. You can view the courses for Form 1 and 2 Here.

 

 

 

Form 2 Composition Application Details

 

Required Materials not included in cost of tuition.

 

To join or start a small group or inquire about tuition fees, fill out the form below and send it to racheli@rachelteaches.com