6/7-1
Middle School
Writing Essentials 1:
Punctuation & Grammar I
Suggested Grade Level: 6th or 7th grade
Help your middle school student gain confidence and master must-have skills for writing with this excellent foundational punctuation and grammar course — using specific helps, tips, and how-to’s to make your student’s critical writing skills strong.
Your Course Description
This is an essential writing course for all middle school students — to help master the foundations of punctuation and grammar with tips, tricks, and expertise that helps your student know how to correctly use punctuation and grammar. This foundational course can help your student get rid of struggles with commas, semicolons, colons, and more — tackling the most challenging ideas within punctuation and grammar for middle school students — to become confident and comfortable using punctuation and grammar well, in all writing. Sign up for the companion course that follows this course, Writing Essentials 2: Excellent Sentence & Paragraph Writing I (MS 6/7-2), for a full semester of middle school writing.
Your Course Outline
Class 1: Solid commas in a series and commas with conjunctions
Class 2: Solid commas within clauses and tough constructions
Class 3: Solid tense, competing punctuation, and quotations
Class 4: Sticky-pair sentence construction (if-then, not only-but also) and tough grammar
Class 5: Using colons and semicolons correctly
Class 6: Introducing tricky punctuation details and end punctuation
Your Course Details
Total Number of Classes: 6
Prerequisite: No class prerequisite
Suggested Grade Level: 7th or accelerated 6th grade
Duration: 50 minutes
Suggested Credit: One-half (½) of a semester’s credit for Writing or English
Follow with MS 6/7-2 for a full semester credit. To make a full and complete year of middle school writing, sign up for the 6/7-3 and 6/7-4 courses that follow.
Course Materials: Course materials are included free as PDF files. 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.
Homework: This course has weekly quizzes, with an estimated one (1) to three (3) hours per week for homework outside of class time (depending on the student’s skill level upon entering the course). Quizzes are graded automatically by the computer for instant feedback.
How this course fits with your Middle School Writing courses...
Your Instructors
Live, Interactive Courses
During the week, multiple course sections, times, and instructors are offered for this course. Sign up for the time and the instructor that best meets your needs. Click here to see the days and instructors for the LIVE course offerings — and to sign up for a LIVE course.
Recorded, Independent-Learning Course
When you sign up for Unlimited Access and take this recorded course, your instructor is the designer and Director of Aquinas Writing Advantage, Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA (aka author EB Conroy/Erin Brown Conroy).
Three Sign Up Options (Choose One)
1. Live, Interactive Course
Students attend a LIVE class in a virtual classroom on a specific day, at a specific time. After class (during the week), the student independently completes the coursework and weekly quizzes; the quizzes are graded automatically by the computer for instant feedback. Your instructor is available for communication outside of class via email, to help answer questions. Homework time outside of class is estimated to be two to three hours per week.
2. Unlimited Access: Recorded, Independent-Learning Course
When you take the Recorded course, you will independently view the recorded video lesson and complete the coursework in the learning management system. The homework’s weekly quizzes are graded automatically by the computer for instant feedback. With in-system grading provided, parents do not need to grade any work. There is an estimated two to three hours of homework/coursework per week outside of watching the weekly video lecture.
When you get “Unlimited Access,” you get 24/7 access to ALL of the writing courses — AND access to 400+ middle and high school courses, in all subject areas, for only $34.97 a month.
3. Unlimited Access with Instructor Access Grading Services
Instructor Access is an optional service, for an additional fee, that accompanies Unlimited Access. When you sign up for one-on-one tutoring with Instructor Access, in addition to the weekly quizzes that are graded automatically by the computer for instant feedback, your student will receive multiple additional worksheets each week for extra practice. The Instructor Access instructor will grade the worksheets submitted, and there is an estimated three to four hours per week for homework for your student outside of watching the video lecture. If you’d like Instructor Access, once you sign up for Unlimited Access, you’ll receive email instructions on how to sign up.
Specific Course FAQs
Is this course required? Can I skip this course?
This is a prerequisite course for all other middle school writing courses. If your student is in 8th grade, because the content in this program is sequential, it is requested that he or she takes the prerequisite course(s) or watches the videos of this course (and all 6/7 series courses) in Unlimited Access before entering the 7/8 Series courses. We want your student to be successful, and not missing prerequisite content will help your student succeed.
Can I start the 6/7-1 course in January?
The LIVE 6/7-1 and 6/7-2 courses are held in the Fall Semester only. If you are beginning in January (or any other time of year), simply take the recorded course in Unlimited Access (with or without Instructor Access grading services).