Preparing to write an essay is a critical step that many young writers skip over. They are eager to get their ideas on paper, but once they have started, they find they ramble or run out of things to say quickly.  This course will help writers get organized before the writing process to make the final steps a breeze!

Class 1: Introduction, Topic, and Begin Research-  learners will discuss the process of writing an essay and using reliable resources, choose a topic, and begin researching with the teacher's guidance. 

Class 2: Reading and Forming Thesis-  learners will continue to read and research their topic, taking notes as they go, and learn steps to creating a provable thesis from their research/reading.

Class 3: Continue Reading and Note-Taking- learners will finish gathering their information and take notes on their information, guided through different note-taking techniques by the teacher

Class 4: Final Notes and Citations- learners will take their final notes and focus on how to include in-text citations and prepare a "Works Cited" page. (MLA9 style citations will be used)

Class 5: Compile Outline: learners will complete the final process of preparation by compiling their outline (template provided)

There will be a lot of discussion between learners and teacher, as well as peer-to-peer. 

By the end of the course, learners should have a clear idea of what their essay would look like written out.  They will understand the importance of the preparation step of the writing process.

Please note that learners will not write an essay in this course. This is only covering the preparation process of thinking of a topic, gathering information, forming a thesis, citing resources, and making an outline.  If the learner would like to write an essay and share it with the teacher after the course, they are welcome to do so.