Poetry & Paragraphs
Time TBA Possibly Four weeks in March 2026 on Fridays 10 to 12 am
Poetry: We study one novel a month with students helping to select the novels we read.
We start our morning poetry study with both serious and silly poetry to learn the literary devices poets employ and use them in our own writing. We tease out explicit and implicit themes. Students also annotate their copy of the poems the novel to help them cite textual evidence in both our literature study circles and to support their thesis in their response to literature paragraphs.
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Writers Workshop: Students learn to write fabulous paragraphs in many genres.
Possibly Project Time: Students select projects to work on as a team. Projects have included
aquaculture (catfish, bluegill, koi, and crayfish),
bonsai trees,
fort construction,
sericulture (silk worms) & butterfly habitat,
annual and perennial edibles,
student newspaper,
vermiculture (raising composting worms)
flip book animation
rock band
theater group
t-shirt design/crochet
Ages, homework, supplies, etc.
Writing Time
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
Type up paragraphs written in class
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