LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
The Caerus Literature and Composition curriculum is a carefully designed progression of skills and knowledge. Placement in a class should be based on a student’s skill level first, and age/grade/maturity second. All levels assume that parents will be directly involved in managing their child's studying, and that students will be dedicating some time every day to the weekly reading and composition assignments.
PREREQUISITE SKILLS
The prerequisites for each class include skills that have been covered in the years prior. These are skills that will not be explicitly retaught.
Literature and Composition 1 (grades 6-8)
Students entering L&C1 must at minimum be prepared for sixth-grade-level work.
Students entering L&C1 should
-demonstrate mastery of the correct capitalization and end punctuation of sentences
-be comfortable producing informal compositions of 150-250 words
-be able to copy sentences from the board with ease and accuracy
-be able to read and comprehend the literature texts assigned without supports
Literature and Composition 2 (grades 7-9)
Students entering L&C2 must be able to write cohesive paragraphs in a variety of rhetorical modes.
Students entering L&C2 should:
-demonstrate competency with complex sentence punctuation
-be able to identify parts of speech, parts of the sentence, phrases, and clauses.
-understand the purpose of a paragraph
-understand topic sentences and unity in a paragraph
-understand the difference between narration, description, and exposition
-understand the organizational structure of narrative, descriptive, and various expository paragraphs
-understand the difference between formal and informal writing.
NOTE: The ability to write an essay is predicated on the ability to write a strong, well-organized paragraph.
Literature and Composition 3 (grades 8-10)
Students entering L&C3 must be able to produce a basic formal essay.
Students entering L&C3 should:
-understand the structure of a formal essay.
-have some experience using quotations in essays.
-have experience with MLA parenthetical documentation.
Honors Literature and Academic Writing 1 (grades 9-11)
Students entering L&W1 must be able to produce a well-crafted, formal essay (1.5 pages) that demonstrates unity, cohesion, and coherence.
Students entering L&W1 should:
-ideally have memorized the rules of phrase and clause punctuation.
-be experienced with MLA formatting and citation of a single source.
-be comfortable writing essays of 500-600 words.
-be comfortable generating a viable thesis on their own.
-be comfortable writing and editing with minimal guidance.
The Caerus Literature and Composition curriculum is a carefully designed progression of skills and knowledge. Placement in a class should be based on a student’s skill level first, and age/grade/maturity second. All levels assume that parents will be directly involved in managing their child's studying, and that students will be dedicating some time every day to the weekly reading and composition assignments.
PREREQUISITE SKILLS
The prerequisites for each class include skills that have been covered in the years prior. These are skills that will not be explicitly retaught.
Literature and Composition 1 (grades 6-8)
Students entering L&C1 must at minimum be prepared for sixth-grade-level work.
Students entering L&C1 should
-demonstrate mastery of the correct capitalization and end punctuation of sentences
-be comfortable producing informal compositions of 150-250 words
-be able to copy sentences from the board with ease and accuracy
-be able to read and comprehend the literature texts assigned without supports
Literature and Composition 2 (grades 7-9)
Students entering L&C2 must be able to write cohesive paragraphs in a variety of rhetorical modes.
Students entering L&C2 should:
-demonstrate competency with complex sentence punctuation
-be able to identify parts of speech, parts of the sentence, phrases, and clauses.
-understand the purpose of a paragraph
-understand topic sentences and unity in a paragraph
-understand the difference between narration, description, and exposition
-understand the organizational structure of narrative, descriptive, and various expository paragraphs
-understand the difference between formal and informal writing.
NOTE: The ability to write an essay is predicated on the ability to write a strong, well-organized paragraph.
Literature and Composition 3 (grades 8-10)
Students entering L&C3 must be able to produce a basic formal essay.
Students entering L&C3 should:
-understand the structure of a formal essay.
-have some experience using quotations in essays.
-have experience with MLA parenthetical documentation.
Honors Literature and Academic Writing 1 (grades 9-11)
Students entering L&W1 must be able to produce a well-crafted, formal essay (1.5 pages) that demonstrates unity, cohesion, and coherence.
Students entering L&W1 should:
-ideally have memorized the rules of phrase and clause punctuation.
-be experienced with MLA formatting and citation of a single source.
-be comfortable writing essays of 500-600 words.
-be comfortable generating a viable thesis on their own.
-be comfortable writing and editing with minimal guidance.