Why This Class

As your student prepares for high school, you want them to feel confident in their critical thinking and writing skills. This course helps by guiding your student through a series of fun analysis exercises and essay projects.

Students in this course focus on writing thesis-driven five-paragraph essays. They start by exploring Aristotle’s concepts of logos, ethos, and pathos. Then, students conduct research, develop opinions, and compose an essay on a topic of their choice. From there, they think critically about the development of a character from their favorite book and analyze how the events of the story impacted that character. Then, they compose a second research essay on a topic of their choice and focus on the importance of distinguishing between credible and non-credible sources.

The course concludes with a final portfolio presentation that lets students reflect on the growth they’ve experienced throughout the semester. They now know how to appeal to logic, emotion, and reason through writing—and they’re ready to take those skills to high school.

Overarching Questions

What matters to me? 

What can I learn from stories?

How do I construct effective sentences, paragraphs, and essays?

How can I distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources of information?

How have I grown as a writer?