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Make Your Writing Sing and Zing -- OR, You Can't be Wrong if you Write

In this 5 week course,students will learn strategies to make their writing stronger, clearer and more effective.
Diane SULLIVAN
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:
(170)
Class

What's included

5 live meetings
3 hrs 45 mins in-class hours
Homework
1 hour per week. Students will be expected to practice the strategies in their own writing for the following class.

Class Experience

US Grade 3 - 6
Intermediate Level
Students will work with a draft of their own writing and learn four main strategies to make their writing stronger and more effective
They will read their writing and have conferences with me and with their peers. 
I will model the strategies for them first.
At the beginning of each class, starting with Lesson Two, students will share what they have done to practice the strategy, and discuss how it made their writing sound stronger and more professional. 
Lesson plan:
Week One: Questions to Ask While Writing: Students will learn basic questioning strategies that will help focus their writing on what's most interesting and important
Week Two:  Verbs, the Engines that Drive Writing: Students will learn various strategies to eliminate or replace weak verbs to make their writing stronger
Week Three:  Creating Sentence Variety: Students will learn sentence combining techniques, how to vary sentence beginnings, and how to create a variety of sentence lengths and styles.  
Week Four: Being Specific--Digging for Details: Students will focus on adding specific details to create images
Week Five: Sharing final pieces of writing. Peer and teacher feedback. Self -reflection
Learning Goals
Students will learn four basic strategies to make their writing stronger and more effective.
learning goal

Syllabus

5 Lessons
over 5 Weeks
Lesson 1:
Asking Good Questions
 How asking meaningful questions leads to adding details and excitement 
45 mins online live lesson
Lesson 2:
Verbs- the engines that drive your writing
 replacing weak verbs with vivid verbs 
45 mins online live lesson
Lesson 3:
Creating sentence variety
 varying sentence beginnings  and combining sentences 
45 mins online live lesson
Lesson 4:
Digging for details/ using figurative language
 ways to add specific details and  using sensory images and figurative language 
45 mins online live lesson

Other Details

Pre-Requisites
Should know the basics of narrative writing
Supply List
Students will need to come to the first class with a 1-2 page rough draft written in pencil ( or typed) of an original piece of writing in any genre except poetry. This should be written on one side of the paper, skipping lines. They will need a pen for editing.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined May, 2020
5.0
170reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Wisconsin Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
Master's Degree in Music or Theatre or Arts from University of Clear Lake- Houston
Bachelor's Degree in English from University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee
I have taught English for 40 years, and am a trained writing project trainer. 

Reviews

Live Group Course
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$15

weekly or $75 for 5 classes
1x per week, 5 weeks
45 min

Completed by 20 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 9-14
1-6 learners per class

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