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Extra Credit

Enlightium Academy students have the opportunity to earn extra credit by writing field trip reflection essays or by submitting book reports as part of our Reading Program.

Extra Credit Opportunities

Field Trip Reflection Essay

Many of us have lived in the same city for a long time, but have never taken the time to go visit the museums, art galleries, or historical sites that are near us. We want our students to learn as they are exploring! When your family goes on an educational field trip to a site near you or even on a cross-country road trip, encourage your student to take notes on what he/she is learning and to take pictures of the locations visited.

Write an essay with grade-level appropriate length, grammar, and formatting:

Grade 3–5: at least a 150 word essay; the essay must consist of at least three paragraphs, including: an introduction, at least one body paragraph with details, and a conclusion
Grade 6–8: at least a 300 word essay; the essay must consist of at least four paragraphs, including: an introduction, at least two body paragraphs with details, and a conclusion
Grade 9–12: at least a 500 word essay; the essay must consist of at least five paragraphs, including: an introduction, at least three body paragraphs with details, and a conclusion

Submit the essay to the teacher of a relevant subject in order to receive extra credit. The final score for the essay will replace a graded quiz score.

Students may submit one essay per unit per subject for as many units as there are in their curriculum. However, each essay can only be submitted once and can only be used for one subject.

Submit an image of yourself at the location you visited.

Reading Program

Reading is an excellent tool that will help you to increase your vocabulary, memory capacity and more. You can choose any book(s) from the Recommended Reading List to qualify for the extra credit. Public libraries usually have the books on the list to read so it's a good idea to bring the list with you when visiting the library.

If students read books in their grade level from the Recommended Reading List, they can earn up to 3% extra credit in a course for each quarter. If a student submits a book report for each quarter, the combined increase will be 3% for the final grade. Each book has a point value assigned to it, as listed in the Recommended Reading List. Students can read books totalling five points or more per quarter for the opportunity to receive extra credit for that quarter. A 3% increase can substantially raise a student’s grade; for example, a student at an 89% (B+) can have his or her grade raised to a 92% (A).

During a quarter, students should type each essay after completing a book. Essays can be sent to the student’s English teacher to be evaluated for extra credit. If a student wishes to earn extra credit in a non-English class through the Reading Program, arrangements should be made with the teacher.

The Enlightium Reading Program is a pass/fail system; students will not receive extra credit if the work was plagiarized or if they do not fulfill the requirements as listed above. Students cannot combine extra credit opportunities for one course during a quarter. For example, students cannot receive twice as much extra credit for the first quarter of English if they submit book reports and complete any other extra credit opportunities for that course.

For each book, the student needs to fill out the Reading Program Form and submit an essay. Each essay must meet the following requirements:

Discuss the plot of the book
Discuss what you learned from the book
Typed in a Word document (using Times New Roman and size 12 font) or in the body of an email
Write an essay that follows grade-level appropriate length, grammar, and formatting expectations:

PreK–2nd grade: at least 50 words
Grade 3–5: at least a 150 word essay; the essay must consist of at least three paragraphs, including: an introduction, at least one body paragraph with details, and a conclusion
Grade 6–8: at least a 300 word essay; the essay must consist of at least four paragraphs, including: an introduction, at least two body paragraphs with details, and a conclusion
Grade 9–12: at least a 500 word essay; the essay must consist of at least five paragraphs, including: an introduction, at least three body paragraphs with details, and a conclusion

School Year Reading Program

Each quarter, students can read books totalling five points or more for the opportunity to earn up to 3% extra credit in their English course. The Reading Program form and essays are due by the last day of the quarter in order to receive extra credit for that quarter.

Summer Reading Program

During the summer, students can read books totalling five points or more for the opportunity to earn up to 3% extra credit for the first quarter of their English course.

The Reading Program form is due by the first day of school. As the extra credit is applied towards the first quarter of the English course, the student will not be able to receive additional extra credit for that quarter in English.

Extra Credit for Other Courses

Students have the opportunity to receive extra credit in their non-English courses by reading books related to those subjects. For example, for their history course, students can read The Jungle by Upton Sinclar, which chronicles both the harsh living conditions of 20th-century immigrants living in the U.S. and the numerous health violations in the food industry.

Prior to reading the book, the student should contact their teacher and request the option to write a book report for extra credit.
If the teacher approves, the same essay requirements apply as for the English essays. Including the same pass/fail standards.
Each book read can only result in one essay submitted to one course.

For example, if a student reads Animal Farm by George Orwell, he or she cannot write an essay on Animal Farm for both English and history

Reading Program Form

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Enlightium Academy is a private Christian school serving homeschool, online, and Alliance school students on their journey to embrace their God-given talents and develop a lifelong thirst for knowledge from the biblical worldview.

1330 N. Washington Street, Suite 5050
Spokane, WA, 99201 United States
Toll-Free: (866) 488-4818
Fax: (888) 317-6571