Intro to Composition: The Essay - Guide Only

Want to write great essays?

Designed for grades 6–9.
To be completed in 30 weeks.

Lessons 1–5
An exploration of tools necessary to compose an essay

Lessons 6–10
An exploration of the Descriptive Essay

Lessons 11–15
An exploration of the Literary Essay

Students will actively engage in the work of transforming a cluster of abstract thought into a big idea. This course teaches them to coherently communicate that idea within a focused structure while drawing the reader into their thoughts. Activities will emphasize content, process/strategy, mechanical conventions, and style. The workbook, Thinking in Threes, will reinforce mechanics and strategies introduced. This first year course will focus on composing the descriptive and literary essay. We have chosen illustrated books, compact gems with a meaningful message, to enable the writer to practice the essay skills being introduced.

The purpose of this guide is to enable you to discover and delight in the process of writing essays. Over the course of the 30 weeks you will learn how to communicate your idea to an audience in the form of an essay. Each week, you will spend about three to five hours exploring the process of moving from an idea to a coherent communication of that idea.

This catalog item is for the Student Notebook (guide/workbook) only.

ISBN: 978-1-937200-44-2

The following books are required to complete the unit:

Thinking in Threes by Brian Backman

The Tin Forest by Helen Ward

Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting

Letting swift River Go by Jane Yolen