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- Course name
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High School Simplified Writing 2: Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay (HS 9-4) with Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA
- Summary
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Get the writing edge and go beyond the five-paragraph essay to mastering the secrets of advanced essay writing, including different essay types, advanced brainstorming techniques, using parallelism, cohesive writing, bookending, and more. These must-have essay skills apply to all high school and college courses. Take the 9-3 course with this course to gain a full semester’s credit for writing.
Instructor Access (optional grading support) is available for Unlimited Access or Single Access.
See the sidebar to the left for signup information! Scroll down to read the biography of each instructor.
How to get the most out of the Simplified Writing 2: Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay course with Professor Erin M. Brown (AKA Erin Brown Conroy/E.B. Conroy)
Read the course details below.
Prepare a notebook for notetaking and homework. Students -- be sure to take notes during class!
Students, here's how to begin the course:
LIVE CLASS Students - Come to the first live Class session on the scheduled date and time.
Unlimited Access / Recorded Students - Click on the "Recording" and watching Professor Brown’s lecture for Class One.
Review any supplemental materials (videos or readings) for the class.
Complete any Quiz(zes) and/or homework assignments posted. The computer will automatically grade the Quiz.
*Note* If taking the course in Recorded format, the Quiz will reset if someone else in the family takes it, so make sure the grade is recorded by a parent.
To review, watch the recording and/or go over the PowerPoint again.
Repeat until all eight (8) classes are complete.
Once the course is completed to the parent's satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end of this page (to be filled in for your records). Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping.
Total Classes: 8
Prerequisite: Required, Writing Essentials 1: Essential Punctuation and Grammar I (HS 9-1); High School Simplified Writing 1: Strong Foundational Writing Skills (HS 9-2); High School Writing Essentials 2: Excellent Paragraphs & Essay Writing (HS 9-3). This is the fourth and final course in the series of four (4) courses.
Because courses in the program are sequential and build one upon another, for your student’s success, it is required that your student take the 9-1, 9-2, and 9-3 courses before enrolling in this course. Students are held accountable for all content taught in the previous courses. If your student cannot take the previous courses LIVE, then at a minimum, watch the recordings on Unlimited Access before taking this course. An alternative to the prerequisite is a passing assessment from the Aquinas Writing Advantage Assessment service. Please contact homeschoolconnections@gmail.com for any questions on permissions.
Suggested grade level: 9th grade; however, 10-11th level students also enroll in this course, and all high school students are welcome.
Suggested credit: One-half (½) of a semester’s credit for Writing or English.
Combine with High School Writing Essentials 2: Excellent Paragraphs & Essay Writing (HS 9-3) for one (1) full semester credit. When combined with the 9-3 course, this course is worth one (1) full semester’s credit for writing.
Instructor: Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA
Course Description: The Five-Paragraph Essay has been the standard for essay writing for years — and in this course, your student will understand that there is so much more that is necessary to be a competent writer and go beyond the "typical form," to learning what makes an essay exceptional. Students will learn advanced essay writing concepts, craft essay assignments, and practice becoming comfortable with thinking quickly in creating, drafting, and polishing essays. Special attention will be paid to how to write essays that capture the reader's attention and create flow from beginning to end, with meaning.
Course Outline:
Class 1: Essay types and differences, and where you’ll write them, reading multi-step instructions carefully
Class 2: The traditional five-paragraph essay; a focus on supporting ideas with examples and evidence
Class 3: What makes an essay great: research an essay and brainstorming with the “then what?” question; taking your thoughts “to the end of the line” (with in-class practice)
Class 4: What makes an essay great: writing an essay and examples and analysis of form, parallelism, and rhythm
Class 5: What makes an essay great: transitional tricks, answering the reader’s questions, making cohesive decisions, and bookending
Class 6: What makes an essay great: storytelling and creative elements
Class 7: What makes an essay great: quality research and analyzing three essays
Class 8: Revising and editing your essays
Course materials: Simplified Writing 101: Top Secrets for College Success, by Erin Brown Conroy: Buy the hard copy of the book here: http://amzn.to/2FMCose OR, buy the Kindle version of the book here (Download the FREE Kindle app to easily read on your computer, tablet, or mobile device): www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B7AB90W/catholictreas-20
Microsoft Word or the ability to convert a document to a Word-compatible document is required. If you do not own Microsoft Word, you can use a system such as Google Docs that converts to Word documents FREE. It is highly recommended that students purchase/own Microsoft Word for all high school courses.
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 four (4) hours per week for homework outside of class time, depending on the student’s ability; homework includes reading, writing, and responding to feedback.
©2016-2024 Homeschool Connections and Erin M. Brown, aka EB Conroy/Erin Brown Conroy. All rights reserved.
This course is designed by Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA.
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.
Technical Help: If you experience technical difficulty with watching the recorded classes or have a question about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.ZOOM Technical Support:
FOR TECHNICAL ISSUES, please contact Zoom at US: +1.888.799.9666 ext 2.
Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com. - Course name
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High School Simplified Writing 2: Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay (HS 9-4) with Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA
- Instructors
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Reilly Starrett, Donna Graziose
- Editors
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Aubrey Heki, Sharon Hamric-Weis, Bonnie Donlon, Michael Stoumbos, Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA, Grace Maimone
- Semester
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Recorded
- Category
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Writing ➤ 9 Series: Essential & Simplified Writing
- Grade level
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High School
- Course type
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Recorded, free with subscription
- Start time
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May 8th, 2024 at 12:00 AM ET
- Relative due dates
Reilly Starrett
Teacher of ESL and Test Preparations
Your AWA Instructor for Middle School Writing and Instructor Access
About Mr. Starrett
Mr. Reilly Starrett is a proud graduate of a Catholic K-12 education and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Philosophy and a minor in Anthropology from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.
He has traveled to Chinandega, Nicaragua, with Amigos for Christ, an organization similar to Habitat for Humanity, and when not building houses or digging ditches, played with the local children, learned Spanish, and taught English informally. During college, Mr. Starrett volunteered in Kathmandu, Nepal, and after finishing college, taught in the Denver Public School system (United States).
Today, Mr. Starrett lives in Yokohama, Japan, and teaches English Conversation and Essay Writing to students of all ages, preschool through adult. He also helps English as a Second Language (ESL) students improve their English proficiency in writing, reading, listening, and speaking and guides students in their English proficiency test preparation for assessments such as the TOEIC, Eiken, and IELTS.
When not teaching, Mr. Starrett loves hiking and camping in national parks, taking road trips, reading classical literature, and spending time with his wife and daughter (most of all).
Mr. Reilly teaches as a LIVE course instructor for the 7/8 Series and team-teaching grader for the 7/8 Series and 9 Series Writing courses.
Donna Graziose
Donna Graziose, MA, MS, is a teacher with experience teaching across all levels -- elementary through college -- and a professional book editor for the Simplified Writing series of books and Word Mastery Skill Building workbooks. For many years, she has been working as an academic librarian for universities in New York teaching writing, literature, research methods, and art history. Donna has also enjoyed teaching local homeschoolers for over 10 years in writing, literature, and history.
Donna, a homeschooling mom of seven children, is greatful for the homeschooling lifestyle where she can focus her children's education of faith and family.
Here at Homeschool Connections' Aquinas Writing Advantage program, Donna is an Instructor Access (IA) grading services instructor for the 9 Series High School Foundational writing courses and the Advanced Punctuation and Grammar course.