Lotus & Ivy
Waldorf-Inspired Virtual Classes
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Class9LanguageArts

Lotus & Ivy provides live, interactive Waldorf math classes online for 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade. We follow the Jamie York Math Academy curriculum for our live math classes. Eighth grade topics: Number bases, Ancient number systems, Expanded decimal notation,Scientific notation, Octal, base-five, base-sixteen, base-two (binary), Converting between binary and hexadecimal, Square root algorithm, Pythagorean Theorem, Percents & Growth, Percent increase and decrease, exponential growth, the rule of 72, Dimensional Analysis, Converting between metric and U.S. units, Converting units for rates, Converting areas and volumes, Density, Proportions, Rate problems, Algebraic expressions, The laws of exponents, Review of fractions and negatives, Algebraic equations, Converting repeating decimals into fractions, Computer memory & ASCII code, Computer algorithms, Mensuration, Baravalle’s proof of the Pythagorean Theorem, Area of a trapezoid, Heron’s formula, Areas of four types of triangles, Area of a circle, Portions of circles, Volume and surface area of solids (box, prism, pyramid, cylinder, cone, sphere, octahedron, tetrahedron), Archimedes’ ratio, Stereometry, Types of polyhedra, Platonic solids, Duality, Archimedean solids, Euler’s formula, and Imagination 3-D transformation exercises.

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Class 9 English I

Our Class 9 English I classes are live, interactive and meet one per week with the teacher.  Students are invited to interact with the teacher and ask questions as part of class time.

Students will continue to improve their writing craft and deepen their understanding of more complex poetry and prose. They will do reading comprehension based on a wide variety of sources. They will keep reviewing grammar to perfect longer essays.

In the ‘Comedy and Tragedy’ Main Lesson in Class 9, the students build on skills they have started to develop in Class 8, but go further, making comparisons between texts, and finding parallels and connections between plays written in very different time periods. Language Arts affords the opportunity to read and discuss two such different plays, Sophocles’ ‘Oedipus Rex’ and Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. The presentation of the tragic hero in each play will give the 9th grader the chance to make judgments and comparisons, and to argue an individual point of view, which will need to be supported by referring closely to the text.

The History of the Novel is also studied in LA, with a study of Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’ Students will learn how the novel recapitulates the earlier genres of epic, drama and poetry, and understand how Melville’s work expresses all of these in different chapters. As in the Comedy and Tragedy ML, students will wrestle with the problems of fate and free will, and explore other themes and key characters. Students will present individual chapters to the rest of the class, commenting on interesting and notable features, backed up with relevant quotations. They will write in a range of different styles, including essays, persuasive and descriptive writing inspired by Melville’s style, and participate in vocabulary enrichment exercises based on new words they have encountered in the novel.

First semester: The Novel - Moby Dick

The precursors to the novel - the epic, drama, and lyric poetry - and the development and elements of the novel. Characters in Moby Dick: Ishmael and Queequeg; first impressions of Captain Ahab, Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask. Language: epic and lyrical passages and a chapter written in the form of a scene from a play. Examine characters, symbols and themes: fate and freewill; the exploitative nature of whaling; surfaces and depths.

The students will make notes on characters, language, themes and style as they read the novel and also look up and share new vocabulary. They will do a presentation on the opening paragraph of a novel they have read and enjoyed and comment on stylistic features that draw the reader in. They will draw portraits of Queequeg and Captain Ahab and draw a picture of a whaling ship and a diagram of its interior. They will draw a map showing the route of the Pequod and of Melville’s journeys around the world. They will write essays on the novel and its precursors, the relationship between Ismael and Queequeg, and a character study of Captain Ahab. They will write a short analysis of a passage they particularly enjoyed, commenting on its epic, lyrical or dramatic features. They will write a short lyrical piece about the experience of feeling one with nature, inspired by Ishmael’s reflections on the sea and emulating Melville’s style. They will also write a short extra scene using the conventions of drama, which will be based on the characters and plot of Moby Dick, and which will include vocabulary appropriate to the characters. There will be weekly vocabulary extension exercises and, for students who request it, spelling practice. 

Second Semester:

In Semester 2, students will learn about the conventions of newspapers, looking at layout, language, formats and how to write a catchy headline! The students will then study other non-fiction texts, exploring how the writers use language and structure to create interest and impact. Next, they will learn how to apply these techniques to their own writing, including speeches and autobiographical writing. We end the year with poetry, looking at the story of Shakespeare’s sonnets, and also exploring sonnets written by Milton, John Donne, Dylan Thomas and more!

Homework

Homework is provided to do outside of class. Class 9 students can expect to spend 2-3 hours outside of humanities class on humanities homework. Homework includes reading, writing, and other assignments. Assignments are given and graded in Class 9. If you prefer to receive feedback only, communicate this with the teacher.