Above & Beyond

5th Grade Enrichment Opportunities

For those of you who would like an extra challenge, below are several projects that require independent work and offer the opportunity to explore literature and writing in a direction of your choosing. If you have other ideas for independent study, please let me know. We can design something together to fit your needs and goals.

These projects will be completed outside of and in addition to regular coursework. You may complete one extra project per quarter, to be averaged in with your Language Arts grade. If you would like to work on an independent project, please see me to plan and confirm.

Option #1 - Author study:

• Choose an author in whose work you are interested
• Read three of his or her books
• Research the author's life through a biography or Internet resources
• Write a 5+ paragraph essay discussing the books and the author, including your own perspective on the work

Option #2 - Independent writing project:

• Plan and draft a significant piece of writing - story, memoir, report, play, collection of poetry, cookbook, or whatever you really, really want to write
• Discuss your project with me
• Revise your work and prepare it for "publication"

 Option #3 - Novel study

• Choose a novel to read that we both agree on
• Write a 5+ paragraph essay discussing the book, including your perspective
• Create a related presentation - you will have to design this in response to your chosen book, so there is lots of room for creativity. Consider a painting, sculpture, video, song, or other non-written way to share a connection to the book.
• Present your project to the class or another group. (All presentations will involve a teacher conference and approval during the planning stage)

Thank you to Ms. Berg for allowing me use her Enrichment Ideas. J