Make Your Essays Lit: Writing Critical Analysis for Middle Schoolers
Learn to Slay at Writing (and Lowkey Love it!)
Meredith King
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:(76)
What's included
4 live meetings
3 hrs 40 mins in-class hoursClass Experience
This class designed to help improve middle schoolers’ writing confidence, ability, (and enjoyment). In this course, students will improve their writing and critical thinking skills by learning to write critical analyses on their favorite movies. Students will get to choose topics they actually care about and will learn lots of skills to edit their writing. Week 1: What’s it About? In the first class, students will learn to identify major themes in movies and talk about why those themes are important. Students will pick a movie to analyze and submit their topic idea on day 3. Week 2: Supporting Your Ideas In week two, students will learn how to find other voices to support their ideas. They will gather research and create a bibliography using MLA format. Week 3: Developing the Essay In week three, students will build an essay from their bibliography. They will learn to identify the points they want to make and how to craft paragraphs around their ideas. They will submit a draft of a 5-paragraph essay on Wednesday and receive feedback. Week 4: Editing Using the feedback from their draft, students will learn to improve their writing through the editing process. They will learn to use better word choice, sentence structure, and paragraph structure. Students will submit a second draft of the essay at the end of the week.
Learning Goals
Students will learn to write a critical analysis essay, develop opinions and communicate them through writing, begin developing a “voice”, learn how to support their ideas, and learn how to take constructive criticism effectively.
Other Details
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined May, 2020
4.9
76reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
Hi! I’m Meredith, a former homeschooler, communication scholar, circus artist, contortion coach, and dance teacher. I grew up and currently reside in my Old Kentucky Home, where I teach full-time at a university. I’ve also spent nearly 15 years as a dance teacher and choreographer. I specialize in classical ballet, musical theatre, and flexibility/contortion tricks. I’m a professional performing artist with a local contemporary circus company. For the last 7 years, I have worked as the Ballet Academy Program director at a competition-based dance studio. I also work as a contortionist and contortion and aerial coach.
I have a Doctorate, Master’s, and Bachelor’s degree in communication and a Bachelor’s in Chinese Language and Literature. Over the past 8 years, I’ve lived in Bolivia and China and spent several weeks working in Nigeria. I’ve been teaching communication, public speaking, and writing at the college level for 6 years. I research global development and peace studies through the lens of communication. My background includes working with a variety of non-profit groups around the world. I speak English, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish.
I believe in promoting personal growth, encouragement, and self-expression. My classes focus on student-specific “wins” and individualized learning. Learning should challenge and change us. I believe in blurring the lines between the world and the classroom and recognizing the student as a whole person.
I spend my days in academia, teaching and working with non-profits, and my nights teaching dance classes and performing with a contemporary circus company. My interests in communication and the performing arts and society bleed into one another frequently, and I believe it makes me a better teacher and learner in the world.
Follow my performing arts work on Instagram: @circusmerry or watch some of my demo reels and performances here: circusmerry.netReviews
Live Group Class
$50
for 4 classes1x per week, 4 weeks
55 min
Completed by 5 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 11-14
3-9 learners per class
