COLLEGE PREP WRITING LEVEL1

Syllabus for College Prep Writing Level I

Instructor: Beth

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32 sessions (2.5 hours each).  Class will meet once per week, beginning during the week of Sept. 6th and finishing the week of May 16th. (no class during the weeks of Nov. 22, Dec. 20, Dec. 27, Jan. 3, and April 11)

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College Prep Writing Level I

Purpose:  As students enter high school, they need to develop higher level skills in writing and critical thinking. This course is designed to teach students the essentials of high school writing. Class instruction will focus on clarity of thought, organization, concision, grammar and usage, and various writing forms, including descriptive writing, comparison/contrast essays, persuasive essays, personal narratives, multi-genre essays, research papers, and MLA formatting.
 

Vocabulary Book:  Merriam-Webster’s Vocabulary Builder

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Course Format:

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Grammar:  We will review high school level English grammar & usage, including verb & pronoun problems, modifier errors, parallelism, consistency of tense, sentence structure, and punctuation.

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Vocabulary: The vocabulary textbook is structured around improving language skills and vocabulary through knowledge of word roots, predominantly from Latin and Greek. Each unit covers 40 words. During the course of two semesters, students will study approximately 1,200 vocabulary words and 250 roots.

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Writing: To become proficient in writing at the high school level, we will study the fundamentals of clear reasoning and organization and practice several types of writing assignments. These writing tasks will include descriptive paragraphs, comparison/contrast essays, argument essays, personal narratives, research papers, and multi-genre essays. We will also cover the basics of MLA formatting for compositions.

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Homework: Homework will include writing assignments, the study of vocabulary with preparation for vocabulary quizzes, and the completion of grammar worksheets with preparation for grammar quizzes.

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