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Overview
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ACES writing enrichment courses will emphasize critical thinking, writing and communication skills that are required to compose strong persuasive SAT and ACT timed writing essays as well as high school and college research papers. Beginning classes develop abilities to recognize different writing patterns and styles, understanding who their audience is and creating a main controlling idea with relevant supporting evidence. The latter courses will place great importance on the persuasive essay, timed writings, research techniques, and learning how to write a college level MLA style paper. Students will develop their own personal style to facilitate confidence in writing and developing strong coherent ideas. Every course will include a review of grammar rules, pre-writing methods and editing procedures.
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Course Descriptions
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The last number of the course number, indicates the recommended grade level
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[toggle title=”E103: Intro to English Writing & Literature”]
This beginner class will introduce students to early reading and writing concepts. The literary concepts will include reading comprehension, plot, character and setting analysis, and comprehension and structure of literature including fiction and non-fiction. The writing aspect will concentrate on pre-writing skills, grammar, handwriting, sentence building activities and the structure of a paragraph. Emphasis will be placed on storytelling, and an introduction to the personal narrative. Students will learn to build early confidence in reading and writing to aid in later writing endeavors.
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[toggle title=”E104: Basic Formats of Composition”]
This composition course will introduce students to the variety of types of essays. The presentation of the personal narrative, compare/contrast, informational, critique/review and the persuasive essay will be discussed in terms of writing for a specific audience and goal. Students will review the organization of a paragraph as well as be introduced to parts of an essay such as the intro, body and conclusion with emphasis on how to write an appropriate main controlling idea. Different writing structures will be introduced for conveying information such as chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, and posing and answering a question. Students will build confidence with emphasis on trying to find their own personal style. Review of grammar rules and practice in writing flow and style including transitions and learning the different research material available such as almanacs, newspapers, and magazines to use as evidence to bolster the main thesis will be undertaken. Students will also read an ample amount of essay examples with a concentration in both current and historical literature.
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[toggle title=”E105: The Five-Paragraph Essay”]
This course will emphasize writing a clear, coherent, more in depth and focused multi-paragraph essay. A review of the parts of an essay will be addressed as well as practice in drafting, outlining and editing/revision. Students will hone their techniques in establishing an engaging and appropriate introduction including a strong thesis statement, a supporting body with relevant evidence, and a strong conclusion that ties the essay all together. A review of grammar rules, flow, style and using appropriate transitions will be addressed. This class will introduce the timed portion of the SAT prompt and how to quickly pre-write and outline in order to write a clear and focused essay. Reading will relate to SAT essay examples as well as current and past historical literary formats. Research strategies will also be included to bolster and practice using evidence to further strengthen and mature the students writing and critical thinking abilities.
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[toggle title=”W106: Intermediate English Writing and Literature”]
This class is geared toward developing critical thinking skills through weekly guided readings of classic literature and current and past events in order to continue to draft and write a cohesive and mature essay. A review of writing formats such as the personal essay, compare/contrast, informational, critique/review as well as an introduction to the persuasive essay that mirrors the format required by the SAT and the academic research paper required in school. Students will hone their techniques of pre-writing, outlining/drafting, in terms of how to write an argumentative paper. Review of the multi-paragraph essay will be addressed with an emphasis on how to develop a strong and effective thesis statement with supportive empirical data through gaining more understanding of available resources and research practices. The timed portion of the SAT will be practiced and students will be taught how to come up with a quick outline and thesis through prompting. Review of appropriate grammar, sentence structure, style and flow and transitions will also be discussed.
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[toggle title=”W107: The Argumentative Essay I”]
This course emphasizes the persuasive essay and all of its components. Students will both learn to write an academic paper as well as work on timed writing skills to prepare for the SAT. Review of parts of an essay will include pre-writing, grammar, as well as the intro, body and conclusion. Emphasis will be placed on learning all of the parts of an argumentative essay including the thesis or claim as well as the different techniques of appeal which include cause and effect, anecdotes, logic (logos), and emotion and fear(pathos). Heavy emphasis will be placed on how to conduct research and incorporate it into a research paper. Students will be introduced to how to annotate within the essay as well as writing a bibliography.
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[toggle title=”W108: Perfecting Grammar, Style, and Flow”]
This course will provide students with a solid foundation in grammar, style and mechanics they need in order to develop a thorough understanding of syntax, readily identify parts of speech, and avoid common grammatical mistakes. The grammar section of this course is specifically geared toward concepts frequently tested on the multiple-choice writing section on both the SAT and ACT. The style section focuses on developing student’s skills in writing SAT style argumentative essays which include how to write a strong thesis statement with supporting evidence. By learning these concepts, the students will be able to improve the overall quality of their writing by breaking down the components of the essay and then learning how to tie them together coherently especially under a timed constraint.
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[toggle title=”W109: The Argumentative Essay II”]
This class will continue to hone in on the argumentative essay with an emphasis on pre-collegiate skills and expectations as well as practice the timed portion of the SAT. Students will write an academic research-based paper that will include a proper thesis, an engaging Introduction, a coherent and flowing body and a conclusion that ties the entire paper together. Students will also use proper annotation, strong research based evidence and submit a bibliography. In conjunction with this students will also concentrate their efforts on the timed writing portion of the SAT. They will be introduced to sample essays and prompts and learn how to quickly pre-write an outline in order to concentrate on the body of the essay.
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[toggle title=”W110: Advanced SAT Writing”]
This course will concentrate on the timed writing portion of the SAT. A review of the expectations of the writing will be addressed. Students will learn how to quickly formulate a thesis and pre-write an outline in order to concentrate on the body of the essay. A heavy emphasis on current and past historical narratives and readings will be utilized. This will give students a solid basis to use relevant evidence that moves outside of personal examples in order to gain maturity in their writing and showcase critical thinking skills. Students will work on transitions and flow as well as review pertinent grammar rules and vocabulary that will push them into writing a more academic essay. Relaxation and meditative tips will also be given to help students with the pressure of a timed situation.
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