In this ongoing class, students will learn one grammar concept per class and will learn to write a well-written paragraph. Students will write simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences in this class. This class meets once a week. The classes do not build upon each other so you can join the class anytime. 

***** Background Information on Mentor Paragraphs *****
This course uses a research-based strategy. Students will be presented with a well-written paragraph, which is known as a mentor paragraph. The mentor paragraph is used as a guide when students are learning how to write a great paragraph. Students analyze the mentor paragraph for grammar concepts, sentence structure, and sentence style. They use the mentor paragraph to create their own quality paragraph. 

***** Purpose *****
The purpose of a mentor paragraph is to teach students to write a good quality paragraph. As students progress in their writing, they will be expected to write great paragraphs on their own. Mentor paragraphs are a simple way for students to learn how to recognize a well-written paragraph and how to write their own good quality paragraph. 

***** Class Information *****
In this course, I will present students with a well-written paragraph, which is known as a mentor paragraph. The students will discuss what they notice about the paragraph. They will also learn about a grammar concept in the mentor paragraph. Then, students will revise the mentor paragraph to make it even better. At the end of each class, students will write their own quality paragraph by using the mentor paragraph as a guide. Below is a breakdown of each part in each lesson. 

***** Paragraph and Discussion *****
At the beginning of each class, I will show the mentor paragraph. The students will discuss what they notice. If students struggle to discuss the paragraph, I will use the following questions as a guide:
- What do you notice about the paragraph?
- What punctuation marks do you see?
- What can you tell me about the grammar concepts in this paragraph (verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc.)?
- What do you notice about this sentence structure and style used in this paragraph?

***** Grammar Skill Analysis *****
1.) Introduce Grammar Skill
We will look at the mentor paragraph. I will introduce the grammar skill that we will focus on in our class. We will define the grammar skill and review our knowledge of the grammar skill. 

2.) Highlight/Color
We will look at our mentor paragraph. Students will highlight or color the grammar skill in the mentor paragraph. They will also discuss how the grammar skill is used throughout the mentor paragraph. 

***** Revise the Mentor Paragraph *****
Students will brainstorm ways to revise the mentor paragraph. I will provide specific ways students can improve the mentor paragraph. Then, the group will do a group brainstorming session. They will brainstorm ideas. Then, I will provide a frame, where students will revise the mentor paragraph by using the frame. 

***** Imitate the Mentor Paragraph *****
Students will imitate the mentor paragraph. They will write their own paragraph that is similar to the mentor paragraph. Students will be using the same paragraph structure and style as the mentor paragraph when they write their own paragraph. As students write, they will share their paragraph with me. 

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This class is an ongoing class. You will pay a weekly subscription for this class. If you are unable to attend a week, you will need to unsubscribe before Sunday so you are not charged for the upcoming week. If you are unable to attend a class, I will share a lesson video with you so you can still complete your lesson.
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**** Fall 2024 Topics ****

Week of September 22, 2024: Infinitives
Week of September 29, 2024: Present Participles
Week of October 6, 2024: Past Participles
Week of October 13, 2024: Object Pronouns
Week of October 20, 2024: Subordinating Conjunctions
Week of October 27, 2024: Dependent Clauses
Week of November 3, 2024: Independent Clauses
Week of November 10, 2024: Appositives
Week of November 17, 2024: Relative Clauses

*** Week of November 24, 2024: NO CLASS ***

Week of December 1, 2024: Correlative Conjunctions