Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Class for 2017-18



With a young toddler, I am still limiting myself to teaching one English class this year. My older children have all found other English classes, so I will be teaching my favorite class--Introductory Writing 1--since my 9 year old has yet to dive into the All Things Fun and Fascinating text. I love it!

In order to be successful in this Introductory Writing class, students either must be able to type their own papers or dictate to a typist, and be willing to turn in a writing assignment every week. The pace slowly leads up to three paragraph essays in a sequential way that keeps kids feeling capable as writers. It begins easily, with single paragraphs, notetaking (key word outlines), reading from notes. Then we work through writing from pictures, borrowing a conflict, a research paper, creative writing, and finish with three paragraph essays.

Since I will only be teaching one writing class this coming school year, and I expect it to fill up quickly, register ASAP if you'd like a spot!

Class: Writing Intro 1
Cost: $300 for the year
Location: Lehi, Utah
Class: maximum of 8 students

To register, email me at valjeanh (at) gmail (dot) com.

Buy the student ATFF text here (it's not provided with the class) at  http://iew.com (I noticed some are on clearance for $7 OFF! FCFS)

For more information about me, Valerie Harmon, click here for why I think IEW is the best writing curriculumand click here to see my professional background on LinkedInPersonally, I'm a Mom who custom educates (also called homeschool) my children, lives in Lehi and LOVES teaching, reading, editing, and writing.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Classes for 2016-2017

As most of you know, after almost an 8 year gap, I had a beautiful baby boy in April.

This has been a fabulous experience, but one that requires I limit my teaching. I will only be teaching one writing class this coming school year, and I expect it to fill up quickly. Register ASAP if you'd like a spot!

Class: Writing Intro 3
Time: It's on Thursdays from 12:30-2.
Cost: $300 for the year
Location: Lehi, Utah
Class: maximum of 8 students (Update: 2 spots left)
Dates: Thursday classes will be held September 1, 2016 to April 6, 2017 with breaks on October 20, November 24, December 8 - January 5 and March 2.

To register, email me at valjeanh (at) gmail (dot) com.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Writing Classes 2015-2016


This school year 2015-2016 I am only teaching two writing classes. Here is the information on them.


Introductory Writing II - IEW Medieval-Themed Essay Writing 2015-2016
Teacher: Valerie Harmon
Day: Tuesday
Time: 12:30-1:30P
Price: $300 for the year
Age Range: 9+ (pre-req. Intro to Writing I)
Location: George Mueller Academy 121 E State ST. Lehi UT 84043

Description: This is a YEAR class. The pre-requisite (unless Ms. Valerie gives permission) is the Introductory Essay Writing I with All Things Fun and Fascinating text.


Building and practicing on the techniques learned in Introductory Writing 1, Ms. Valerie teaches students to write, beginning with single paragraphs, notetaking (key word outlines), and reading from notes. Then through writing from pictures, borrowing a conflict, a research paper, creative writing.

Bring: The IEW's Medieval Themed Writing Student Manual  text, something to write with, and paper. Homework will be expected every week on time.

Where to buy the text: The IEW's Medieval Themed Writing Student Manual is required, and not included. You can buy a copy at http://iew.com/shop/products/medieval-history-based-writing-lessons-student-book-only



IEW Introductory Writing 1 course at GMA 2015-2016
Teacher: Valerie Harmon
Day: Tuesdays 

Time: from 1:30-2:30.
Price: $300 for the year

Age Range: 9+
Location: George Mueller Academy 121 E State ST. Lehi UT 84043

Description: This is a YEAR class. There is no pre-requisite. 

Students need to come to class with the text, something to write with and paper to take notes. 

They need to be prepared to type (or dictate to a typist) one writing assignment per week from their notes. I do not penalize students with a bad grade if they forget their paper or don't do their homework ;)  but I do I provide goldfish for coming to class and skittles for immediate reward points. Let me know if your child has any allergies and if you bring a replacement snack/treat I will use that for your child instead. :)

Bring: The All Things Fun and Fascinating text , something to write with, and paper. Homework will be expected every week on time.


Where to Buy the Text: You can buy All Things Fun and Fascinating on The Institute for Excellence In Writing website or the family owned homeschool store Love To Learn (use the code "Valerie" on the Love to Learn site and receive free shipping).

For more information about me, Valerie Harmon, click here for why I think IEW is the best writing curriculumand click here to see my professional background on LinkedInPersonally, I'm a Mom who custom educates (also called homeschool) my six children, lives in Lehi and LOVES teaching, reading, editing, and writing. 

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Introductory Writing, Fall and Winter Semesters, at GMA

Introductory Writing

What:
In order to be successful in this Introductory Writing class, students either must be able to type their own papers or dictate to a typist, and be willing to turn in a writing assignment every week. The pace slowly leads up to three paragraph essays in a sequential way that keeps kids feeling capable as writers. It begins easily, with single paragraphs, notetaking (key word outlines), reading from notes. Then we work through writing from pictures, borrowing a conflict, a research paper, creative writing, and finish with three paragraph essays.

When: Thursdays, 12:30-1:30pm
First Semester: Thursdays, September 4-December 11, no class on October 9, 16, or November 27
Second Semester: Thursdays, Jan 22-April 23, no class on April 9

Where: at George Mueller Academy, 121 East State Street Lehi UT

Who: children ages 8-12.

Cost: $300 per year (it's a year long class, can pay in two payments of $150). Text All Things Fun and Fascinating not provided.

Bring: The All Things Fun and Fascinating text (see details below), something to write with, and paper. Homework will be expected every week on time.

Where to Buy the Text: You can buy All Things Fun and Fascinating on The Institute for Excellence In Writing website or the family owned homeschool store Love To Learn (use the code "Valerie" on the Love to Learn site and receive free shipping).

For more information about me, Valerie Harmon, click here for why I think IEW is the best writing curriculumand click here to see my professional background on LinkedInPersonally, I'm a Mom who custom educates (also called homeschool) my six children, lives in Lehi and LOVES teaching, reading, editing, and writing. 

Advanced Shakespeare, at GMA, Fall Semester only

Advanced Shakespeare

Are you interested in taking Advanced Shakespeare fall semester from Valerie Harmon and Heidi Sorensen, compete in the Utah Shakespeare Festival the third week of October in Cedar City, and prepare and perform a student-led 45 minute Shakespeare play in December? See details below:

Auditions: Monday July 14, at 2:30pm at 680 E State St., Lehi (Chris Jones' office). Come prepared with a memorized monologue (1-3 min) and we might have you also do a cold read.

Dates: Thursdays, September 4-December 11, no class on October 9, 16, or November 27 (We're headed to the Shakespeare Competition in Cedar City from October 9-11)

Where: at George Mueller Academy, 121 East State Street Lehi UT

Who: youth ages 13 and above who are willing to study and write and turn in homework on time
Cost: Cost: $150 per student (includes competition fees, rent for our classroom, gas, food and lodging in Cedar City for the Competition, and a stage for the December play performance (hopefully Draper, but we'll see). And hopefully it'll include a professional play or two to watch in Cedar City. :) Students will be responsible to provide their own quality costume-the costume/time period will be one of the decisions made when class begins).

What: This class is for experienced Shakespearean acting youth (ages 13 and up) to prepare and compete in the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City and put on a play by themselves (with mentoring of course) in one semester.

When: Once a week, Thursdays from 2:30-4pm, One semester

Pre-requisite: Must have experience in Shakespearean acting (Shakespeare Conquest, for example), audition, and be ages 13 and up.

Class size: 18 students

The Shakespeare Competition: students MUST be available to compete in the Utah Shakespeare Festival Competition in Cedar City October 9-11.

Homework and Other Info: Because we will only hold class once a week, students will be expected to work on competition memorization etc. at home, and practice, perform and perfect it in class with the feedback from your mentors and classmates. :)

Part of the class will be mentoring the students in a 45 minute Shakespeare play to be performed in December (hopefully at the Draper Theater, we are working out details). These Advanced Shakespeare students will take on all the roles (which may need to be auditioned for if there are more than one student who desires the role, but that won't happen until after class begins): Director, Producer, Stage Manager and Crew, Sound, Hair, Makeup, Props, Sets, Lighting and Acting.

We MIGHT take the students to Shakespeare Showdown in May 2015 to perform the play, although that will require an additional $75 per student and depends on the teachers' May schedules as well as the students' interest in going.


COMPETITION INFORMATION
October 9-11, 2014, Cedar City Utah

Go here for more information on the competition. You can even watch videos of previous competitors:
http://bard.org/competition/#.U8FipY1dUmk

Links for possible memorization and competition scenes:
Suggestions for all acting events: http://bard.org/competition/pdfs/competitionpieceslist.pdf
Here are some monologue suggestions: http://bard.org/competition/pdfs/scenesmono.pdf
Suggestions for Duos/Trios: http://bard.org/competition/pdfs/scenesduotrio.pdf
Suggestions for Ensemble Scenes: http://bard.org/competition/pdfs/scenesensemble.pdf

We will be performing in the Essex division.

These are the different competitions (in Acting) and their time limits:
Mono (one person): two to four minutes
Duo/Trio (two or three characters): three to five minutes
Ensemble (no less than four people): six to ten minutes

These are the maximum number of competitors in each Competition from our group:
Acting Competition/Monologues: 3 competitors
Acting Competition/Duo/Trio Scenes: 2 groups
Acting Competition/Ensemble Scenes: 1 scene

This is what Judges judge, and what we'll be working on in class:
Voice
   Diction (articulation, variety)
   Projection (volume, clarity)
Body
   Physicalization (appropriate to character, consistency)
   Blocking & Movement (appropriate to action of scene)
Character
   Motivation (clear and believable)
   Emotion (true and believable)
   Objectives (specifically met)
Text
   Language (clarity, pronunciation)
   Understanding (clarity of ideas, concentration, focus)
   Degree of Difficulty


Teachers: Who is Valerie Harmon and Heidi Sorensen? Valerie has taught Shakespeare Conquest for two years with Rise Up Academy. You can see play trailers for the plays here ( As You Like It 1920's style) and here (Love's Labour's Lost traditional style). Heidi Sorensen co-mentored Love's Labour's Lost this past school year with Valerie. They had so much fun, and their youth are begging for more Shakespeare even though they've graduated from Shakespeare Conquest, that Valerie and Heidi decided to put together an Advanced Shakespeare class.

AP English, Fall and Winter semesters, at GMA

AP English at George Mueller Academy is for youth ages 13 and up. Youth need to be prepared to write (typed) at home, turn homework in on time, and practice terms with flashcards. Taking the CLEP and AP Literature tests are optional but encouraged.

AP English will be taught with two goals: practice and polish essay writing and earn college credit. First semester will be reading, writing AND preparing for the CLEP Composition test. Second semester will be reading, writing AND preparing for the AP Literature test.

AP English Class details:
When: Thursdays, 10:30am-12:00pm
First Semester: Thursdays, September 4-December 11, no class on October 9, 16, or November 27
Second Semester: Thursdays, Jan 22-April 23, no class on April 9 (with the AP Literature test in May)

Where: at George Mueller Academy, 121 East State Street Lehi UT

Who: youth ages 13 and above who are willing to study and write and turn in homework on time
Cost: $300 per year (it's a year long class, can pay in two payments of $150)

NOTE: BYU favors students who take AP classes, even if they do not take the AP test. Costs of taking the tests and for the reading and writing texts are not included in the class fee. Class taught by Valerie Harmon (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/valerie-harmon/61/8a7/2b).

Monday, June 30, 2014

Summer Essay Boot Camp

Welcome to the information for the Essay Boot Camp this summer.

The students for the Essay Boot Camp need to be at least 12 and older. The pace of the essay writing camp is fast, so if you're concerned at all about the maturity or ability of your youth to take this camp, then either stay with them in class (no extra cost, I welcome you), or wait until fall semester when I teach a class for home-schooled students (sorry, it's during school hours so it probably won't work with public-schooled students).

Essay Boot Camp
Days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Dates: July 14-July 30 (8 classes)
Time: 12:30pm-2pm
Place: Chris Jones' Group 680 East State Street Lehi, UT 84043
Cost: $100 (bring your own copy of All Things Fun and Fascinating)
Bring: a copy of All Things Fun and Fascinating(see below for where to buy one), water bottle, sack lunch (if you don't eat beforehand), paper and pencil/pen. And finished homework. :)
Register: by emailing me your name, student's name, and your phone number at valjeanh [at] gmail [dot] com

What to expect: In three weeks, three times a week (MWF), in eight classes, I will teach essay writing in a sequential way. It begins easily, with single paragraphs, notetaking (key word outlines), reading from notes. Then we work through writing from pictures, borrowing a conflict, a research paper, creative writing, and finish with three paragraph essays. If the youth are breezing through the work, we may get to 5 paragraph essays, but it depends on the students. There will be a writing assignment after every class, with one day between classes to write it. So be prepared.

Where to Buy the Text: You can buy All Things Fun and Fascinating on The Institute for Excellence In Writing website or the family owned homeschool store Love To Learn (use the code "Valerie" on the Love to Learn site and receive free shipping).

For more information about me, Valerie Harmon, click here for why I think IEW is the best writing curriculum, and click here to see my professional background on LinkedIn. Personally, I'm a Mom who custom educates (also called homeschool) my six children, lives in Lehi and LOVES teaching, reading, editing, and writing. Contact me by email at valjeanh [at] gmail [dot] com.