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Essay Writing: Step by Step for Middle School

In this 15-week (2x per week) essay writing LIVE class, your learner will write complex sentences, descriptive, process, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution paragraphs, as well as expository, narrative, and argumentative essays.
Kathie Harsch
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:
(67)
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Class
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What's included

30 live meetings
15 in-class hours
Homework
1-2 hours per week. If a student does not finish their essay during our class time, they would need to finish outside of class to submit for my feedback.
Assessment
Rubrics will be used to assess progress in essay writing and Google Forms (Quizzes) will be used for multiple choice types of questions.

Class Experience

US Grade 6 - 8
👉🏼If you are a homeschool parent, please CONTACT ME for dates and times with your TIME ZONE and let me know what time would be beneficial for your child. I am in the EST zone. 👈🏼


👉🏼COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This is a 2x a week for 16 weeks course in writing at the middle school level.

This course is for native English speakers or those proficient enough in English to be able to discuss their needs with me. 

PLEASE remember consistent attendance in a writing program helps your learner the most.

I do require that cameras are left on throughout the lesson, so that I can see your child's face. This is important as it allows me to see if they are getting frustrated or might be confused or if their sound should suddenly be affected. 

👉🏼What will be taught:
Compound and complex sentence writing, text structures, author's purpose, writing paragraphs for description, process, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution, writing thesis statements, essay writing for expository, narrative and argumentative forms. There will be two main assessments with a review before each one. 


👉🏼How my classes are structured:
Before class begins, within the Outschool Classroom, students will receive a link to Google Classroom where I will be giving them a Google Doc and/or Google Slides as assignments, and other materials I've created for reference
Class meeting:

1. Meet and greet - a warm friendly hello 
2. Quick Warm Up Activity: to review concepts
2. Lesson of the day with examples - interactive with questions
3. Writing time
4. Sharing time
5. Wrap up and a look forward to the following lesson

👉🏼15 WEEKLY SESSIONS - 2x per week - it is essential that students attend both sessions each week as each session builds on the previous session.


👉🏼There is homework for this class. Class time usually is not long enough to write an entire essay, so students may need to write some of their essays outside of class time.

👉🏼REFUNDS/CANCELLATIONS
I follow Outschool policy.

If I have an emergency and cannot make class, you can watch the video provided after the LIVE session has ended and it is made available by Outschool in the Outschool classroom.

So, PLEASE check your emails from Outschool because that is where the messages go. Quote directly from Outschool information: "Please note that the Conversations feature will track read and unread messages from within the Outschool platform, and will sync with your personal email. For example, if you read and respond to messages via your email, those messages will show as Read from Conversations."
Learning Goals
Students will learn to improve their essay writing skills and be able to plan and write a multiple paragraph essay, using an introduction, main idea paragraphs and a conclusion for different purposes and audiences.
learning goal

Syllabus

Curriculum
Follows Teacher-Created Curriculum
5 Units
30 Lessons
over 15 Weeks
Unit 1: Writing for Purpose and Structure
Lesson 1:
Intro to Course and Compound Sentences
 Students will learn how the course is outlined and will learn how to use coordinating conjunctions to merge two independent clauses (sentences) together. 
30 mins online live lesson
Lesson 2:
Complex Sentences
 Students will learn how to use subordinating conjunctions to join a dependent clause and an independent clause into a complex sentence. 
30 mins online live lesson
Lesson 3:
Author's Purpose in Sentences
 Students will learn how to identify an author's purpose in sentences as well as write their own sentences with purpose. 
30 mins online live lesson
Lesson 4:
Text Structures Introduction
 Students will learn how to identify text structures and how that links to author's purpose and audience. 
30 mins online live lesson

Other Details

Parental Guidance
Parents we will be using Google Classroom to house all of the writing assignments for this course as well as all the resource materials students would need to access, such as word lists, spelling rules, MLA format, etc. We will also be using other Google Apps, such as Google Drive, Google Docs, and Google Slides, Google Forms. Sometimes I use YouTube for short lessons about grammar or another skill students might need. I also use Kahoot for review activities around assessment times. Your child will need a Google account to access materials from Google Classroom. Please do not include their last name in the account, as per Outschool privacy guidelines.
Pre-Requisites
This course is for native English speakers or those proficient enough in English to be able to discuss their needs with me.
Supply List
Notebook and pencil/pen for planning writing
Student should be using a computer, laptop or iPad because it is difficult to watch what is going on in class on a phone and type on a phone. The screen is just too small.
Google account for their learner to access class materials. 
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Joined June, 2022
4.9
67reviews
Star Educator
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Teacher expertise and credentials
Florida Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
Bachelor's Degree in English from University of South Florida
I have 27 years of teaching experience with middle school students in English Language Arts and Creative Writing. I am certified to teach English 6-12 in the state of Florida. I'm a professional writer, blogger, podcaster, and video content creator. I've self-published several teen books, and I've written ELA  curriculum and teacher resource materials for TeachersPayTeachers for the last 8 years.

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Live Group Course
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$40

weekly or $600 for 30 classes
2x per week, 15 weeks
30 min

Completed by 3 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 10-13
1-4 learners per class

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