For students new to Holly’s writing program.

This class is an introduction to writing a strong, well-structured paragraph.

We start with the basic building block of a paragraph—the sentence.  Students learn/review what makes a sentence complete.  Then each week they learn new techniques for expanding a boring sentence using modifying adjectives, adjective clauses, powerful action verbs, adverbs, and adverb clauses.  They also learn how to fix common mistakes like sentence fragments and run-on sentences.  

These lessons teach useful, practical grammar skills; and, from the very first week, students get to practice those grammar skills in paragraphs they write.  I have found that grammar is best taught in the context of writing, and this class allows students to immediately practice what they learn.  

The class includes eight weeks’ worth of videos and materials.  Each week students receive instruction on different ways to expand and improve their sentence structure, and then write a paragraph that incorporates those techniques.  

Students learn the basics of taking notes from fun, kid-friendly articles about fascinating animals.  They learn to write a topic sentence, supporting details, and concluding sentences, using just their notes.  

Students receive a 60+ page student workbook (as a pdf to print at home) with practice materials that correspond to each lesson.

Student papers are turned into Holly by email for editing and feedback.