Overview

Welcome

We are pleased that you selected this independent study course to fulfill your unique educational needs. You are now a member of the Center’s large and diverse student body—a student body that comes from all parts of the United States and many parts of the world.

Although the freedom to choose when and where to study is a privilege, it is also a responsibility that requires motivation and self-discipline. To succeed at independent study, you will need to develop a study plan by setting realistic goals and working toward them. The following paragraphs highlight important course completion information.

About the Course

Welcome to 5th Grade Language Arts, Part Two. I think that being good at language arts helps you to be good at whatever you choose to do in life. If you feel confident as a reader and writer, then other people will take you seriously. Being a good reader, writer, speaker, and listener are parts of everything you do, from sports to the career you will choose.

This course is designed to help you see the real-life application of language arts, which is sometimes also called communication arts. The art of communication takes place through speaking, reading, writing, and listening. All of these things work together. You may feel you are better at some parts of communication arts than others, but you will find yourself using all of these skills every day of your life.

You will complete ten lessons that will help you become an effective communicator. You will be asked to turn in some activities for assessment as part of the progress evaluations. Other activities will be checked by your parent/teacher. During this course, you will read and respond to short pieces of text, read fiction and nonfiction novels, and practice skills that good writers and readers use. You will be asked to “think about your thinking,” which is an important part of learning. This skill is called metacognition, and it will help you to be creative and successful in your life.

I hope you will enjoy learning language arts in this way!

Textbooks and Materials

Required Textbooks

This is a list of the textbooks you will be using in addition to this online course.

Daybook of Critical Reading and Writing, Vicki Spandel, 2001

This is a consumable textbook, which means you may write directly in the textbook. You will not use the entire book for this course, but you may wish to complete the units not assigned on your own, as enrichment activities. If you and your parent/teacher decide that it’s best for you not to write directly in the book, you can use a notebook for the activities and sticky notes for responding as you read.

Writers Express: A Handbook for Young Writers, Thinkers, and Learners, Write Source Publishing, 2000 edition

This book is an excellent resource for all kinds of information. You will use it to support your learning, to provide information for individual questions you might have, and sometimes as a source for reading assignments that go with the different skill lessons. (This book is also required for Part One of this course.)

Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman, Dorothy Sterling (any edition)

This novel will give you practice applying the skills you learned in the nonfiction unit of study. You may use any unabridged edition of this title.

You will choose one of these novels to read:

• True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi (any edition)

or

• Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (any edition)

You may choose either of the above titles. The discussion in the lessons includes activities and assessments that go with both books. You will choose only one of the titles for this course, but you may wish to complete the other book on your own if you read quickly or find that you enjoy the excerpts in the Daybook. You may use any unabridged edition of the title you choose.

Students can buy their books directly from the Center for Distance and Independent Study. If you do not already have your textbooks, please order them at this time. If you get your Daybook from some other source, please be sure it is the correct grade level and edition. However, if you have an older version of this textbook, it is not necessary to purchase a newer copy. Look in the index or table of contents for specific page numbers that relate to the topic, since some editions may be numbered differently.

Other Materials

You will also need the following items:

1. Notebook paper
2. A pencil or pen to complete assignments and progress evaluations
3. “Sticky notes” for use with the Daybook and/or the novel study
4. A dictionary and a thesaurus (or access to online versions)
5. A journal: A journal is usually a spiral or some other type of notebook that contains notebook paper. It is used for writing, drawing, prewriting, and jotting down things that pop into your mind as you read. It can even be a diary. If you travel, you might use a journal to write down all the things you do on your trip. During this course, your journal is a place for you to
   
   
   • complete written assignments;
   • document your thinking while reading, especially if you are not writing directly in the Daybook;
   • practice some of your own writing; and
   • write down the work you do for your novel study.

A large part of being successful in learning is staying organized. Being organized looks different for every person. Talk with your parent/teacher and decide how you can best keep your papers in order, study for progress evaluations, and find what you need quickly when it is time to work.

Lessons

This course is composed of ten lessons. Each lesson contains the following sections:

• The PURPOSE explains the overall goal of the lesson and introduces the subject matter of that lesson.

• The WHAT YOU WILL LEARN section lists the specific skills and strategies you will be learning about in order to meet the Grade-Level Expectations (GLEs) for the lesson, which are standards set by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. These are the things you will do on your own and share with your parent/teacher. Your progress toward meeting these standards will be evaluated in the progress evaluations.

• The READING ASSIGNMENT lists the pages you will read in the textbook(s) for that lesson. You will complete activities related to the reading assignment for some of the lessons. You will also use Writers Express as a resource book. You will use this book to give you more information about the skills and strategies in each lesson.

• The DISCUSSION consists of the course author’s discussion of the important information in the lesson.

• The READ AND PRACTICE section helps you review what you learned in the textbook and prepare for the progress evaluation. Do not mail your answers to the Center for Distance Learning and Independent Study. The answers are provided so you can check your understanding.

• The SKILL LESSONS will help you learn about how the English language works. There will be lessons on grammar, mechanics (like punctuation and capitalization), and research tools (like a dictionary). Future lessons will ask you to use these skills in your writings and Daybook lessons.

• The PROGRESS EVALUATION is an open-book assignment that tests your knowledge and understanding of the course material.

Notes: Progress evaluations must be submitted in sequence, and you cannot submit more than three progress evaluations in a seven-day period. Also, practice exercises are designed to reinforce material presented in the course; they cannot be viewed by your instructor and will not be graded, so do not send your answers to the Center.

Technical Specifications

Hardware Recommendations: PC

• Pentium 75 processor
• 20 MB RAM
• Hard disk drive with 70 MB free space
• SVGA monitor
• 56k modem

Hardware Recommendations: Macintosh

• Macintosh Power PC Processor
• 20 MB RAM
• System 7.5.3
• Hard disk drive with 70 MB free space
• SVGA monitor
• 56k modem

Please note that Web browser performance will be enhanced if your system exceeds these recommendations.

Software Requirements

You will need a Web browser that supports graphics and JavaScript (Netscape Communicator/Navigator 4.0 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher). Your browser should also accept cookies, which are used solely to verify your login.

An active e-mail account is also required for instructor-evaluated courses. Some courses may require software for playing or recording audio or video, reading documents in PDF, etc.

It is suggested that you have virus protection software on your system. Symantec AntiVirus or Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit are recommended for PC users, and Disinfectant is recommended for Mac users. Virus protection software will help to protect your system (and ours) against computer viruses. MU students can download virus protection software at https://ea-front.missouri.edu.

Begin Coursework

Starting with the first lesson, study the lesson’s Purpose, What You Will Learn, and Discussion sections. Then complete the Reading Assignment and any recommended Practice Exercises. Take notes and make sure you understand all the material presented in the readings. Follow this procedure for each lesson. Complete progress evaluations in the order they are presented in this course.

Make a Plan to Accomplish Your Goals

Use the number of lessons and progress evaluations to create a schedule that will help you stay on track. You will have nine months to complete this course. As you complete the course, check your schedule often to make sure you are on track to accomplish your goal.

The following forms are PDF files and require Adobe Acrobat Reader:

Independent Study Planning Sheet (pdf)

Grades

Your final grade is based on how many points you earn on the progress evaluations. These points will be added for a final percentile score.

Check Your Progress