Book Club Plus
Tentative Schedule: Four weeks in January & February 2026 on Thursdays 12:30 to 3:00 pm
Book Club: We study one novel a month with students helping to select the novels we read.
Students study and evaluate the author’s use of literary devices and characterization. We tease out explicit and implicit themes. Students also annotate their copy of the novel to help them cite textual evidence in both our literature study circles and to support their thesis in their essays.
Word Study: We alternate studying Latin & Greek roots and prefixes to unlock the hidden meaning of English words through mini-lectures, games and competitions OR WordMaster analogies.
NationalWord Master analogy competitions develop attention to subtle connotation and context usage and relationships between words thus are a delight for gifted kids who like puzzles. (As a plus, this is excellent GRE practice.)
Possibly Handwork Time: Students select handwork to do individually or as a team. Handwork could include
flip book animation,
wood burning (I have wood burners),
leather working,
painting/drawing,
clay work,
crochet/knitting,
jewelry making
embroidery,
succulent planting (I have succulents & some soil; students supply pots),
Ages, homework supplies, and other details
Farm School’s Speed Vocabulary Game: Roots, Stems, Leaves, Shoot!
Recess. Project Time.
For a detailed supply list visit our supplies and learning outdoors tips page
Ages
10+ Middle school and up. This class is best for 6th graders and older BUT precocious 5th graders who are emotionally mature, have good self-regulation, and are reading at a middle school level are admitted on a case-by-case basis.
Weekly Homework
Students read about 50-90 pages of our book club novel,
Annotate as they read or respond to literary discussion questions,
Make vocabulary/Latin & Greek stem flash cards,
Sometimes memorize a short poem from our FS poetry collection.
Prerequisites
Middle school reading level,
Class Length
4-weeks. 1 day per week, 2.5 hours each day for 10 hours of instruction over the course of the class.
ABOUT MS. LISA CLARK-BURNELL
Relevant Education and Experience
I have a BA in English and Political from UC Santa Barabara. While an undergraduate, I was a university writing tutor for disadvantaged graduate and undergraduate students, assisting them with writing assignments in all disciplines. Upon graduating with highest honors and multiple awards, I then earned a CLAD multiple subject teaching credential with supplementary authorization in Social Studies and Language Arts from San Jose State University. In 1996 I began teaching middle school language arts, social studies, and math, first in the Bay area and then in Carmel Valley. While at these middles schools I concentrated on designing language arts and history curriculum.
In 2005 I took a hiatus from teaching middle school to stay home with my children. During that period I co-founded and directed Salem Harvest, a non-profit that connects farmers and backyard growers with volunteer pickers to harvest fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste in an effort to end hunger. I also began honing my organic gardening expertise and animal husbandry skills, diving deep into permaculture and restorative agriculture. In 2012 I returned to teaching but this time as a homeschooling parent.
In 2019, at the request of my own kids and other parents, I started teaching classes in my areas of expertise for homeschool students.
For more information about Farm School and why I offer the classes I do, see the About page.
Monarch caterpillar in our native plants habitat
Red-headed parrots eating pecans
Mallard ducks foraging for food below pecan tree
Resident but elusive barn owl made an appearance for the first day of Farm School
Artichokes
Grevillea in pollinator garden
CA Bumblebee dusted in peanut senna pollen
Red-eared slider turtle that wandered into the neighborhood
Farm School's miniature Dexter cattle for milk and meat