Literacy Lab for Homeschool Middle Grade Students (6,7 and 8th grade): Mon, Tues and Friday 12-2:30 pm
Homeschool students gather with other local homeschool students to explore high interest areas of curiosity about their community, their world and themselves with in depth explorations on student selected focus areas of inquiry. Students will work one-on-one, in partnerships, small group and whole group to develop their inquiry skills of research including building background knowledge, developing clear concise open ended questions, exploring research resources beyond the internet, interviewing skills from phone to in person conversation skill practice and finalizing their findings of inquiry with both a written and performance based presentation of their findings.
This time together will follow a writing and reading workshop model with mini-lessons on the craft of writing and researching, using mentor texts to support genre of writing, delving into reliable resources to “mine” for answers, lessons on grammar and spelling and how they impact the voice, message and author’s purpose. Concluding with finding the right medium, audience and means by which to share their fascinating findings.
Literacy Lab for Enrolled Middle Grade Students: Wednesdays, 2pm-5pm:
This offering will focus on skill building in literacy, vocabulary, grammar and developing writing and speaking communication to help students substantiate and elaborate on their thinking (developing meta-cognitive skills) through a structured and engaging workshop model with mini lessons that from introduction are explained, modeled, practiced and then applied in a variety of unique modes by students while employing organizational and communication practices that work to build strong life-long habits for successful learning.
Literacy Lab for High Schoolers: Sunday Afternoons 1-4 pm
This is an opportunity for high school students to work in a structured work space either individually or in small groups to work on upcoming school projects and assignments with one-on-one and small group instruction to support collective needs in informational writing, problem-solving for how to navigate complex texts, developing work habits of success that support an emphasis on timeliness, accuracy, organizational methods and both short-term and long-term time mapping to achieve success and clarity of expectations.
Instructor:
Jennifer E. Lawson was Vermont Teacher of the Year in 2011, an Honorary Freedom Writer Teacher in 2012, and a recognized TEDx teacher in 2012. Jenn taught English language arts and social studies in middle school for 21 years. She received her master's in middle level education in literacy and history from Connecticut College. She has designed and piloted an alternative pathways transition program for 8th and 9th graders and is a coauther with Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound of Measuring Your School's Carbon Footprint. Jenn has produced three operas with students grades 6-8th through "Creating Original Opera" with the Metropolitan Opera Guild and G.E. and is a trained facilitator in restorative justice practices and the wraparound model.