- Thumbnail
-
- Course name
-
Essay Test Mastery for College-Bound Students (COLL-1) with Maureen Ryan
- Category
-
Writing ➤ Advanced College Prep Writing & Professional Writing (COLL and X Series)
- Grade
-
High School
- Semester
-
Recorded
- Summary
-
Headed to college? Take this must-have course to master the skills of essay
writing for tests in a timed setting -- and be completely prepared for college-level essay tests.Instructor Access (optional grading support) for Unlimited Access families is available for this course for $124.
See the sidebar to the left for signup information.
Be sure to click “Open Course” (top left), then click the “Instructor Access” button (located under the course photo).
Scroll down to read the biography of each Instructor Access instructor.
Video Instructor: Maureen Ryan
Course Description: Master in-class essay tests with this how-to course with practical, prescriptive, clear direction on how to decipher a prompt, think and process the instructions clearly, quickly brainstorm an answer, and write an essay in a linear format with few errors -- to “show the teacher what you know” with style. Mrs. Ryan will teach you essay writing secrets based on Professor Erin Brown’s 20 years of college-level teaching and college writing course curriculum development at three universities. Come prepared to write -- and to enjoy writing!
Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.
©2021-2026 Homeschool Connections and Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA (aka author EB Conroy/Erin Brown Conroy). All rights reserved. This course is designed by Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA (aka author EB Conroy/Erin Brown Conroy).
This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment) and in violation of US and International copyright laws.
You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.
Class 1: The Timed Essay Writing Process: The Goal of an Essay, Types of Essays, and What’s So Special About Timed Essays?
Class 2: Analyzing and Using the Prompt: The Set-Up, Question, and Action
Class 3: Analyzing and Using the Prompt: Using Keywords and “Diamond Words”
Class 4: The Writing Process: Brainstorming with “The Big 10” When You Have to Work Fast (How to Brainstorm Quality Content)
Class 5: The Writing Process: Arranging and Ordering Content for Clarity and Power
Class 6: Writing Essays about Course Content (texts, readings, class materials, and experiences) Tips on Studying and Remembering Content for Essay Questions
Class 7: Writing Essays About (and With) New Ideas: Synthesis
Class 8: Writing Essays for College Entrance Exams: The Dynamic Narrative Essay; Must-Do Essay Tips for Success
All materials are provided FREE by the instructor. Students must have the ability to turn in assignments in Microsoft Word format (either through purchasing Word or using Google Docs or another format, then downloading the document into Word format before uploading it into the grading system).
- Course name
-
Essay Test Mastery for College-Bound Students (COLL-1) with Maureen Ryan
- Instructor
-
Maureen Ryan
- Semester
-
Recorded
- Category
-
Writing ➤ Advanced College Prep Writing & Professional Writing (COLL and X Series)
- Grade levels
-
High School
- Editors
-
Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA, Aubrey Heki, Sharon Hamric-Weis, Bonnie Donlon, Donna Graziose, Sara Keefe, MA, Geralyn Rea, ME
- Start time
-
April 3rd, 2024 at 12:00 AM ET
- Course type
-
Recorded, free with subscription
- Relative due dates
- Enhanced quiz security
- Enhanced assignment security
10-1 and 10-2 Vocabulary and Writing
12-1 and 12-2 Advanced Rhetoric and Writing
X-21 Story Writing: How to Write a Children’s Book– Picture Books, Readers, Chapter Books, and Middle-Grade Stories
X-22 Story Writing: Journaling to Become a Better Writer and Storyteller
Special notes
Instructor Access (optional grading support) for Unlimited Access families is available for this course for $124!
See the sidebar to the left for signup information!
Total classes
Duration
Prerequisites
Required: High School Essential Writing 1-4 (HS 9-1, 9-2, 9-3, & 9-4).
This is an advanced course. Prior to taking this course, students must have mastered the key writing foundations (mechanics, grammar, punctuation) and advanced writing skills (sentence structure, paragraphs, word usage) specifically taught in the Aquinas Writing Advantage (AWA) courses 9-1 through 9-4. Students may take the prerequisites in Unlimited Access recording or LIVE.
As an alternative to the prerequisite, students may have a passing assessment from the Aquinas Writing Advantage Assessment service. Please contact homeschoolconnections@gmail.com for any questions on permissions.
Suggested grade level
Outline
Course Outline:
Materials
Homework
LIVE and Instructor Access students will have weekly writing assignments with grading and direct feedback from the instructor (parents will grade Recorded students’ work). Expect an estimated two (2) to five (5) hours per week for homework (including both brainstorming and writing time) outside of class time, depending on the student’s ability; homework includes reading, writing, and responding to feedback.
Maureen Ryan
maureen.ryanhsc@gmail.com
About Maureen Ryan
Maureen Ryan, BA, is a professional writer with more than twenty-five years of experience writing articles and creating content for a wide variety of news outlets, magazines, websites, and book publishers. She has taught writing across grade levels in classrooms and online for more than twelve years. Mrs. Ryan has a Bachelor of Arts in English and studied interactive learning at Teachers College, Columbia University.
As the executive editor for Scholastic.com, she helped refine the educational publisher’s interactive teaching tools and web-based lesson plans for grades PreK-12 and relaunched the site’s online writing tutorials hosted by award-winning authors. In addition to writing and mentoring, Mrs. Ryan has homeschooled her three children for more than 12 years. Having graduated her oldest, she continues to teach her younger two.
“I feel extremely blessed,” says Mrs. Ryan, “to be able to combine my love for teaching and writing with an opportunity to serve homeschool families.”
Mrs. Ryan is the Instructor Access one-on-one mentor/grader for the 6/7 Series Foundational courses (6/7-1, 6/7-2, 6/73, and 6/7-4); the 12-1 and 12-2 Advanced Rhetoric and Writing; the 11-9 course, Business Writing 1: Professional Writing Essentials; and the COLL-1 Essay Test Mastery course.
She teaches the following courses live: