Why This Class

As a parent, you want your student to know they have a voice that matters—but only they can do the work of finding and refining that perspective. With writing as their vehicle, this course is designed to help your student discover and improve their voice.

Students in this course read a variety of stories and informational texts while also completing exercises that boost their sentence structure, style, vocabulary, and organizational skills. As students continue their daily practice in writing, mentors guide them to break down and describe more complex and sophisticated ideas than what they have done before. Students apply their rapidly-improving skills to real-world genre projects including a report on current events, rewriting endings to classic stories, and writing formal essays. By the end of this course, students have increased clarity about their strengths and weaknesses in reading skills and writing and an expanded toolbox to enhance both. They are more confident than ever in using the written word to describe their experiences.

Overarching Questions

How can I use facts, definitions, concrete details, quotes, or other information to develop my topic?

What is folklore and how have I seen it used to enrich my life or culture?

How can I use narrative writing to create a folktale?

How can I use my research, experience, and writing to create cohesion and come to a conclusion for readers?

What words, phrases, and clauses can I use to establish authority with and convey new information to my audience?