Writing Literary Theme Essays, Grades 6-8
8 class sessions, 1.5 hours per class (12 hours of instruction)
February 21 - April 10
Wednesdays, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. PST
Course Description:
Welcome to Writing Literary Theme Essays! In this course, students will learn how to support their essay writing by identifying topics and themes within a text, extracting specific theme statements from stories, and proving how the theme statements tie to the story through their essay writing by using strong evidence and supported reasoning.
Then, students will read entertaining stories, watch short clips, and engage in discussions where they will analyze the author’s message and dive deeper into understanding the purpose behind the author’s story.
By the end of this course, students will have learned how to identify and write theme statements, find evidence that supports their claims, properly integrate and cite evidence, write an effective body paragraph, introduction, and conclusion, and reflect back on their growth over the course.
Instructor Biography:
Shelby Marland is a teacher of English Language Arts and Social Studies for Grades 6-8. She received her B.A. in Education Studies at University of Washington and her Master of Arts in Teaching at UCI. She is passionate about teaching writing as she aims to provide students with the tools to support their journey into becoming strong writers. She teaches the Argument Writing course for the UCI Writing Project Summer Youth Program.
Welcome to Writing Literary Theme Essays! In this course, students will learn how to support their essay writing by identifying topics and themes within a text, extracting specific theme statements from stories, and proving how the theme statements tie to the story through their essay writing by using strong evidence and supported reasoning.
Then, students will read entertaining stories, watch short clips, and engage in discussions where they will analyze the author’s message and dive deeper into understanding the purpose behind the author’s story.
By the end of this course, students will have learned how to identify and write theme statements, find evidence that supports their claims, properly integrate and cite evidence, write an effective body paragraph, introduction, and conclusion, and reflect back on their growth over the course.
Instructor Biography:
Shelby Marland is a teacher of English Language Arts and Social Studies for Grades 6-8. She received her B.A. in Education Studies at University of Washington and her Master of Arts in Teaching at UCI. She is passionate about teaching writing as she aims to provide students with the tools to support their journey into becoming strong writers. She teaches the Argument Writing course for the UCI Writing Project Summer Youth Program.