Basic Language Arts/Reading Concepts for Middle School

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Course Overview

The Acellus Basic Language Arts/Reading Concepts for Middle School course, taught by Jennifer Erdtmann, has been developed to help students struggling with reading to gain a basic foundation on which to build.

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This course was developed by the International Academy of Science. Learn More

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Scope and Sequence

Unit 1 – Types of Text This unit discusses what it is that makes reading difficult, different types of texts, and different types of narrative texts. Unit 2 – Vocabulary Skills This unit discusses prefixes including a-, anti-, ir-, pre-, pro-, and re-, and suffixes including -ics, -ism, -ist, -or, -er, and -logy. It further discusses an imagery mnemonic device, synonyms, antonyms, and context clues. Unit 3 – Dictionary Skills This unit covers dictionary skills, including identifying guide words, pronunciation, choosing the correct definition, identifying synonyms and antonyms, breaking words into syllables, and finding the history of a word. Unit 4 – Phonics Rules and Practice This unit discusses consonants, vowel, and syllables, C and G sounds, the consonant dipthongs ch, gh, kn, ph, sh, tch, and wr, as well as R-controlled words and the ou sound. Unit 5 – Homophones This unit discusses homophones, including your and you're; to, two, and too; here and hear; their, there, and they're; deer and dear; eight and ate; whole and hole; where and wear; one and won; no and know; aunt and ant. Unit 6 – Before Reading Strategies This unit discusses previewing, predicting, and setting a purpose for reading. Unit 7 – During Reading Strategies This unit discusses building background knowledge, identifying and clarifying difficult words and passages, summarizing, predicting while reading, questioning, making connections to personal experiences and to other subjects, and making connections by annotating. Unit 8 – Story Elements This unit discusses major and minor characters, the protagonist versus the antagonist, setting, plot, conflict, the four types of conflict, foreshadowing, mood, theme, and imagery. Unit 9 – Point of View This unit discusses first-person and third-person point of view. Unit 10 – Figurative Language This unit discusses simile, metaphor, alliterations, personification, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole.