For Grades 5-7
Live Online – Tuesday 11:00-11:55 am
Knights, vikings, kings, and other famous figures of the Middle Ages come to life as students learn to write with structure and style.
In this class, students will practice IEW-style writing (based on Andrew Pudewa’s Institute for Excellence in Writing program) using medieval history-based writing lessons. This is a great class for students who have some IEW experience, and want to continue reviewing and practicing writing from a source and using key word outlines, dress ups, and openers. The text sources in this class are medieval history-based, so students will learn some history and vocabulary while focusing on becoming skilled and confident independent writers.
Please note: Although the student book contains some religious material, this class is secular, and any Biblical references are incidental rather than the focus of the writing. You may need to assure some charter schools that this is a secular class in order to have them approve the class and student books.
For Grades 4-7
Live Online – Monday 1:30-2:25 pm
Students love the creative writing units in my popular IEW writing classes, and they keep asking for more! This class is for students who love to write stories and want to keep learning. We will begin by introducing and reviewing the IEW story sequence chart, and write three-paragraph stories based on that easy to follow “recipe” for short stories.
We will start with familiar fables and fairytales, and then get creative with borrowing a plot and creating our own versions of these fanciful tales. We will also have fun with the ever-popular IEW three-picture story model (always a student favorite in my IEW classes).
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Here’s what parents are saying about this class:
My daughter took Mrs. Dodson’s creative writing class this year and she loved it! This was our first time having Mrs. Dodson as a teacher, and I was so impressed with her. The class was engaging, well thought out, and she graded the homework so quickly with encouraging, yet constructive words. My daughter grew immensely in her ability to write this year due to Mrs. Dodson’s help and encouragement. She now wants to be a writer when she grows up! Thank you, Mrs. Dodson! –Michelle B.
Our daughter has been taking virtual classes with Ms. Holly for two years now. Watching her grow in both her confidence level and enjoyment of writing has been amazing! She looks forward to class and often feels so inspired by the class time that she gets right to work on her own story assignment. We are so grateful to have found these virtual classes that fit into our homeschool schedule and provide inspirational, supportive, direct instruction to our child. —Sarah G. (Glass)
For Grades 5-9
Live Online – Wednesday 12:3–1:25 pm
This is my most rigorous writing class. It is not based on IEW. We will quickly move into multiple paragraph essays of different genres, to help students become proficient in the more advanced writing they are expected to do in high school and college.
In this class, we will begin by reviewing the basics of sentence structure, including simple sentences, complex sentences, and compound sentences, and how to avoid run-on sentences and sentence fragments.
Next we will move on to the basics of writing a strong body paragraph that includes a topic sentence, supporting details with evidence/explanations, and a concluding sentence. Once we’ve mastered the body paragraph, we will move onto essays that include powerful introductory and concluding paragraphs. We will expand on this basic essay structure as we delve into different types of essays: expository, narrative, argumentative, persuasive, descriptive, and literary analysis.
All of these skills will be taught with direct instruction, modeling, and practice, in a step by step sequence that makes essay writing approachable and attainable.
This is writing boot camp to prepare students for more rigorous writing in middle school, high school, and beyond. Students will have weekly homework of one to three paragraphs per week, and will be expected to write rough drafts, revise, edit, and turn in final copies of their work.
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