Every student has the ability to improve and strengthen their writing. From students that need a little extra help to students that possess excellent writing skills, there is always room to create and achieve new learning goals. In this semester-long course, students will learn and/or review the conventions and standards of English writing to compose a variety of written essays to be compiled into a writing portfolio. 

This is a FLEX version for students that cannot attend the live sessions. Each week, students will view an interactive lesson recording that is to be played and paused during viewing for lesson completion. Students will post a weekly writing assignment into the peer feedback section for peer collaboration. Students will also submit their revised, edited, and published writing after each unit to the teacher to be put in a writing portfolio to be sent to parents at the completion of the course.

The goal of this course is for students to be able to construct a well-written narrative, expository, persuasive, literature response, and a research paper.

Weeks 1-3 : In these classes, students will practice: (1) Identifying the elements of a narrative (2) Using a graphic organizer to brainstorm and outline a narrative  (3) Writing a narrative that has a clear beginning, middle, and end (4) Using sensory details and dialogue to create a believable narrative

Weeks 4-6:  In these classes, students will examine model expository essays. Students will review topic sentences, supporting details that directly relate to the topic sentence, and concluding sentences. Students will brainstorm, create a rough draft, revise and edit with the teacher and peers. Students will submit a final copy at the end of week 6. 

Weeks 7-9: In these classes, students will practice: (1) Identifying the difference between a claim and an opinion (2) Identifying the elements of an opinion essay (3) Writing a persuasive essay using the OREO method (4) Creating an essay with clear organization patterns and smooth transitions. 

Weeks 10-12: In these classes, students will select their own piece of literature (poem, short story, novel) and write a literature response using the ACE strategy. Students will practice citing evidence from the text to support their assertions. Students will use a graphic organizer to outline their literature response. Final copies will be submitted at the end of week 12.

Weeks 13-15: In these classes, students will select a research project of their choice! Students will identify credible vs. non-credible sources, create source cards, practice in-text citations and creating a Works Cited Page. Students will work on composing a well-written, logically constructed research essay with cited sources as the last addition to their writing portfolio.

At the end of class each week, students will draft their compositions. After class, students will have one week to submit their final drafts in .doc, .pdf format or as a shared document in GoogleDocs. I will provide written feedback for all students. Students will also have an opportunity to use the feedback to improve their essay and re-submit. I feel it is important for students to have opportunities to apply the skills learned and gain information on how well they have used the newly acquired information. Please note that due dates are flexible for all learners. As a result, please allow me 48-72 hours (not including the weekend) to give feedback on all assignments. Each self-paced learner has his or her own classroom, and it does take me considerable time to get through everyone's work. I thank you in advance for your patience.

A typical class video will follow this structure:

1. Warm Up -3 minutes
2. Lesson Introduction - 2 minutes
3. Direct Instruction with Active Class Participation - 10 minutes
4. Guided Practice - 10 minutes
5. Independent Writing Practice - 25 minutes
6. Review/Exit Activity - 5 minutes

I look forward to having your learner in my class! I offer a warm, engaging learning environment!

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For learners that need differentiation, I offer shorter writing assignments, sentence stems, and guided outlines to assist with writing.