Help your middle school student continue to master the critical writing skills learned in the Simplified Writing 1 (7/8-1) course — and put your knowledge and skills into practice with specific feedback and coaching to help your writing improve. Learn the most powerful paragraph structure (“PEAS”), and work through the writing process for academic writing. Brainstorm and craft the outline of an essay and a short paper while learning how to write seven types of “hooks”; master the five parts of an advanced thesis statement; and learn more ways to connect sentences in an introduction. You’ll understand how to smoothly create an essay or paper from start to finish; the most important steps of revising and editing; and how to connect sentences in an essay or paper with linear, focused writing. This course is excellent preparation for high school writing and gives students a jump-start on writing for high school.

Class 1: Writing structure and skill: practicing the introduction, hook, and thesis
Class 2: Writing structure and skill: practicing outlines and the conclusion/concluding statements
Class 3: Writing an essay: rough drafts
Class 4: Writing a paper: five types of papers & practicing the introduction, hook, and thesis
Class 5: Writing a paper: practicing outlines and concluding statements; revising an essay
Class 6: Writing a paper: rough drafts; editing an essay
Class 7: Revising a Paper
Class 8: Editing and formatting final papers

Total Number of Classes: 8

Prerequisite: Registration in Simplified Writing for Middle School 2: Introduction to Essays & Papers I (MS 7/8-2). If your student is unable to take the previous courses LIVE, then at a minimum, he or she can watch the recordings on Unlimited Access before taking this course. An alternative to the prerequisite: a passing assessment from the Aquinas Writing Advantage Assessment service. Please contact [email protected] for any questions on permissions.

Suggested Grade Level:  8th or accelerated 7th grade

Duration: 55 minutes

Suggested Credit: One-half (½) of a semester’s credit for Writing or English

Course Materials: Course materials are included free. Microsoft Word or the ability to convert a document to a Word-compatible document is required, as all assignments are submitted in Word. If you do not own Microsoft Word, you can use a system such as Google Docs that converts to Word documents FREE.

Homework: Weekly writing assignments, with grading and direct feedback from the instructor. Estimated three (3) to five (5) hours per week for homework outside of class time, depending on the student’s ability.

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).

It’s time to help your student dive into longer essays and advanced writing concepts! In this course, your student will take the skills learned in the Simplified Writing 1 and 2 courses (7/8-1 and 7/8-2) to write short essays, receiving specific feedback and coaching regarding how your student’s writing can improve. Your student will go through the start-to-finish process of creating an academic essay, with specific instruction regarding the use of strong rhetoric, diction, and syntax (words and order). While previous classes taught the “how and why” of writing skills (with first-time introductions to ideas), this course gives your student critical practice – under the tutelage of a teacher and professional writer – to prepare for high school writing and beyond.

Class 1: Types of essays – an introduction to rhetoric and choosing an essay topic
Class 2: Narrowing topics (from last class); brainstorming content for your topic and creating the thesis statement
Class 3: Analyzing and improving thesis statements (from last class); creating outlines
Class 4: Analyzing and improving outlines (from last class); creating introductions
Class 5: Creating rough drafts
Class 6: Revising the essay
Class 7: Editing the essay
Class 8: Formatting for the academic essay; an introduction to style guides

Total Number of Classes: 8

Prerequisite: Registration in Simplified Writing for Middle School 2: Introduction to Essays & Papers I (MS 7/8-2). If your student is unable to take the previous courses LIVE, then at a minimum, he or she can watch the recordings on Unlimited Access before taking this course. An alternative to the prerequisite: a passing assessment from the Aquinas Writing Advantage Assessment service. Please contact [email protected] for any questions on permissions.

Suggested Grade Level: 8th or accelerated 7th grade

Duration: 55 minutes

Suggested Credit: One-half (½) of a semester’s credit for Writing or English

Follow with 7/8-4 for one (1) full semester’s credit for writing.

Course Materials: Course materials are included free. Microsoft Word or the ability to convert a document to a Word-compatible document is required, as all assignments are submitted in Word. If you do not own Microsoft Word, you can use a system such as Google Docs that converts to Word documents FREE.

Homework: Weekly writing assignments, with grading and direct feedback from the instructor. Estimated three (3) to five (5) hours per week for homework outside of class time, depending on the student’s ability.

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).

Did you know there is more than one way to write “right”? To be successful in high school and college, students must write in many different styles and tones, with different approaches. This critical writing course is the “launching point” for your student to be fully prepared for high school writing — introducing your student to the many different rhetorical forms of non-fiction and fiction writing. You’ll learn about descriptive writing, reviews, how-to articles and instructions, news articles and journalistic reporting, types of business writing, speeches, creative/expressive story writing (songs, plays, and other forms of story), and the kinds of writing found in the bible (epistles/letters, genealogical writing, historical narratives, laws and statutory writing, parables, poetry, and proverbial writing). Special emphasis is placed on knowing the characteristics of each kind of writing — and how to identify the different types of writing. Your student will also practice writing within most of the forms, using all of the skills learned to this point in the Essentials and Simplified Writing courses for middle school students. Students completing the 6/7 and 7/8 Series courses (including this course) are fully prepared for high school writing!

Class 1: Types of Writing Overview, Purpose and Audience, Nonfiction and Fiction Writing
Class 2: How-to Writing and Instructional Writing
Class 3: An introduction to Journalism and News Reporting
Class 4: Expressive Writing – Forms of Story and Expression
Class 5: Descriptive Writing
Class 6: Business Writing
Class 7: Writing Reviews and Speeches
Class 8: Forms of Writing in the Bible

Total Number of Classes: 8

Prerequisite: Registration in Simplified Writing for Middle School 3: Writing the Excellent Essay (MS 7/8-3). If your student is unable to take the previous courses LIVE, then at a minimum, he or she can watch the recordings on Unlimited Access before taking this course. An alternative to the prerequisite: a passing assessment from the Aquinas Writing Advantage Assessment service. Please contact [email protected] for any questions on permissions.

Suggested Grade Level: 8th or accelerated 7th grade

Duration: 55 minutes

Suggested Credit: One-half (½) of a semester’s credit for Writing or English

Precede with 7/8-3 for a full semester’s credit for writing.

Course Materials: Course materials are included free. Microsoft Word or the ability to convert a document to a Word-compatible document is required, as all assignments are submitted in Word. If you do not own Microsoft Word, you can use a system such as Google Docs that converts to Word documents FREE.

Homework: Weekly writing assignments, with grading and direct feedback from the instructor. Estimated three (3) to five (5) hours per week for homework outside of class time, depending on the student’s ability.

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).