This is an essential writing course for all high school students, to solidify the use of upper-level punctuation and grammar—including mastering commas, tense, colons, semicolons, dashes, ellipses, and more. With the foundations this course gives, you can keep your student from struggling – giving them the skills to master punctuation and grammar details that may be holding your student back. Sentence constructions move from simple to complex, to prepare your student for upper high school and college courses. Take the 9-2 course with this course and gain a full semester’s credit for writing.

Class 1: Mastering commas in a series and commas with conjunctions using complex sentences
Class 2: Mastering commas and clauses and tough constructions, including multiple ideas, connectors, and transitions
Class 3: Mastering tense, competing punctuation, quotations, dashes, and ellipses
Class 4: Sticky-pair sentence construction (if-then, not only-but also) and tough grammar in upper-level constructions
Class 5: Mastering colons and semicolons with leading sentence constructions
Class 6: Mastering tricky punctuation details, end punctuation, and the most common grammar challenges

Total Number of Classes: 6

Prerequisite: None

Suggested Grade Level: 9th grade; however, all high school students are welcome

Duration: 55 minutes

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

Combine with High School Simplified Writing 1: Strong Foundational Writing Skills (HS 9-2) for one (1) full semester’s credit. When combined with the 9-2 course, this course is worth one (1) full semester’s credit for writing.

Course Materials: Simplified Writing 101: Top Secrets for College Success, by Erin Brown Conroy. Buy the hard copy of the book here: http://amzn.to/2FMCose OR, buy the Kindle version of the book here (Download the FREE Kindle app to easily read on your computer, tablet, or mobile device): www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B7AB90W/catholictreas-20

Microsoft 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: Weekly quizzes are graded automatically by the computer for immediate feedback. Estimated two (2) to four (4) 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).

In this foundational course, you can gain the skills that make writing strong and clear, lacking nothing—to articulate ideas well in writing for all of high-school level work. The most important foundations of high school writing are introduced and discussed, and students learn the keys to perfecting strong sentences and paragraphs; learn nine basic forms of rhetoric; focus on linear academic writing for a purpose; practice transitions and connectives, parallelism, paraphrasing, and summary; review punctuation as it influences excellence in writing (comma, semicolon, colon, and dash use); learn how to recognize and correct common grammar struggles; understand the characteristics of an effective introduction, body, and conclusion; learn prewriting, drafting, and editing skills; and practice sculpting a piece of writing with direction, receiving specific feedback from the instructor.

Class 1: Audience, purpose, and word choice
Class 2: Perfecting strong sentence and paragraph construction
Class 3: Nine forms of rhetoric (and what they have to do with great writing)
Class 4: Linear writing for a purpose; more how-to’s for crafting strong sentences and paragraphs
Class 5: How to use transitions, connectives, and parallelism to make writing cohesive
Class 6: Punctuation and excellent writing: the comma, colon, semicolon, and dash; conquering common punctuation struggles
Class 7: Key components of an essay/paper; the introduction, body, conclusion, hook, and thesis; prewriting for success
Class 8: Drafting for success; editing and polishing your writing

Total Number of Classes: 8

Prerequisite: Required: Registered for Writing Essentials 1: Essential Punctuation and Grammar I (HS 9-1). Because courses in the program are sequential, for your student’s success, it is required that your student take the 9-1 course before enrolling in this course. Students will be held accountable for all of the punctuation and grammar taught in the previous course. 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: 9th grade; however, all high school students are welcome.

Duration: 55 minutes

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

Combine with High School Writing Essentials 1: Essential Punctuation & Grammar I (HS 9-1) for one (1) full semester’s credit. When combined with the 9-1 course, this course is worth one (1) full semester’s credit for writing.

Course Materials: Simplified Writing 101: Top Secrets for College Success, by Erin Brown Conroy: Buy the hard copy of the book here:  http://amzn.to/2FMCose OR, buy the Kindle version of the book here (Download the FREE Kindle app to easily read on your computer, tablet, or mobile device): www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B7AB90W/catholictreas-20 Microsoft 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: Students will have weekly writing assignments with grading and direct feedback from the instructor. Expect an estimated two (2) to four (4) hours per week for homework outside of class time, depending on the student’s ability; homework includes reading, writing, and responding to feedback.

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).

In this course (the first of two successive courses), your student will learn over 350 upper-level vocabulary words related to writing that are needed for high school advanced writing, Advanced Placement (AP) English Language and Composition courses, the ACT and SAT, advanced writing courses, and all of college writing—and an introduction to the concepts associated with the terms.  Because vocabulary is the number one indicator of success on college entrance testing, if you want your student to not only score well on testing but also be able to be prepared for college writing and vocabulary, this course is for you. Coursework will be focused on the critical thinking and writing practice needed for your future success, and each week, you’ll learn tips and how-to’s for learning the words with comprehension and memory, giving you comprehension methods that can be used in any course.

Class 1: Writing for a Purpose and Audience
Class 2: Worldview, Critical Thinking, & Passive/Active Voice
Class 3: Writing Effective Sentences; Diction & Syntax
Class 4: Writing Effective Paragraphs: Structure; Linear Writing; Active writing; Transitions and Connectives
Class 5: Punctuation and its Effect on Writing
Class 6: Grammar, Usage, & Mechanics for Clarity
Class 7: Types of Writing
Class 8: Point of View, Tone, & Voice
Class 9: Style
Class 10: Techniques & Devices of Organization for Coherence
Class 11: More Techniques & Devices of Organization
Class 12: Composing Methods
Class 13: Characteristics of an Effective Argument
Class 14: Research Methods

Total Number of Classes: 14

Prerequisite: Required: High School Essential Writing 1: Punctuation and Grammar I (HS 9-1) and High School Simplified Writing 1: Strong Foundational Writing Skills (HS 9-2).

Recommended: High School Essential Writing 2: Excellent Paragraph and Essay Writing (HS 9-3) and High School Simplified Writing 2: Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay (HS 9-4).Prerequisites can also be taken as a recorded course through Unlimited Access. Alternative prerequisite: a passing Punctuation & Grammar Assessment (only) from the Aquinas Writing Advantage Assessment service.

Suggested Grade Level: 10th grade or high school students who meet the prerequisite requirements

Duration: 55 minutes

Suggested Credit: One (1) full semester Vocabulary & Writing, Writing, or English

Course Materials: Required Book: EB Conroy’s Simplified Vocabulary Guide may be ordered at http://bookstore.authorhouse.com/Products/SKU-000430970/EB-Conroys-Simplified-Vocabulary-Guide.aspx or http://amzn.to/2FKGXDC. Microsoft 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: Students are expected to study for tests on the vocabulary words, for identification and use. Students will take weekly in-system quizzes (graded automatically) and complete weekly writing assignments that make their writing stronger and use the new vocabulary (graded by the instructor).

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).

Give your teen the advanced skills to make writing strong and clear. In this course, your student will learn how to use foundational college writing skills—including in-depth use of the nine basic forms of rhetoric (rhetorical modes); identifying and using major rhetorical strategies and figures of speech; and pre-writing, drafting, and editing a comparison and contrast paper. Students will also use advanced writing methods for a paper’s hook, thesis, introduction, body, conclusion, and key rewriting skills with specific, individual feedback from the instructor. Vocabulary related to upper-level writing will be introduced and integrated into the learning. Specific class time will be used to show how to edit and revise upper-level work. This course content is prerequisite for many colleges for college-bound students.

Class 1: The academic paper; advanced academic writing with strong thesis statement construction, hooks, and introductions
Class 2: Rhetorical Mode 1, Narration; rhetorical strategies and figures of speech (tropes, aposiopesis, apostrophe, chiasmus, epithet)
Class 3: Rhetorical Mode 2, Comparison and Contrast; creating a thesis and hook for your academic paper
Class 4: Rhetorical Mode 3, Illustration and Exemplification; rhetorical strategies and figures of speech (litotes, zeugma, euphemism, idiom)
Class 5: Rhetorical Mode 4, Description; drafting your academic paper’s outline
Class 6: Rhetorical Mode 5, Process Analysis; rhetorical strategies and figures of speech (hyperbole, metonymy, metaphor, mixed metaphor, extended metaphor); prewriting for academic papers
Class 7: Rhetorical Mode 6, Definition; rhetorical strategies and figures of speech (bathos, caricature, deus ex machina, epiphany); your paper’s rough draft
Class 8: Rhetorical Mode 7, Cause and Effect; advanced methods of draft revision 1
Class 9: Rhetorical Mode 8, Division and Classification; advanced methods of draft revision 2; formatting advanced academic works — and introduction to style guides
Class 10: Rhetorical Mode 9, Argumentation; integrating rhetorical strategies into upper-level writing

Total Number of Classes: 10

Prerequisite: Required: High School Essential Writing 1-4 (HS 9-1, 9-2, 9-3, & 9-4).

Because this is an advanced course that assumes your student has key writing foundations and the advanced writing how-to’s in place that are specifically taught at Aquinas Writing Advantage (AWA), 9-1 through 9-4 writing courses are required prerequisites.

Recommended: High School Vocabulary and Writing 1 & 2 (HS 10-1 & 10-2).

Students may take the prerequisites in Unlimited Access recording or LIVE.  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: 10th to 12th grade, as long as the student has the required prerequisites.

Duration: 55 minutes

Suggested Credit: One (1) full semester’s credit for Advanced Writing or English

Course Materials: Simplified Writing 101: Top Secrets for College Success, by Erin Brown Conroy:

Buy the hard copy of the book here: http://amzn.to/2FMCose

OR, buy the Kindle version of the book here (Download the FREE Kindle app to easily read on your computer, tablet, or mobile device): https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B7AB90W/catholictreas-20

Microsoft 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: Students will have weekly writing assignments with grading and direct feedback from the instructor. Estimate four (4) to five (5) hours per week for homework (outside of class time); this includes reading, writing, and responding to instructor feedback.

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).

Would you like to be completely prepared for college writing? When you take this college prep course, you’ll learn advanced research and writing techniques for argumentative research writing, how to craft an advanced research paper, and understanding style guides (APA, CMS/Turabian, MLA, AP) — and become comfortable with the writing skills you’ll use in college-level writing. A bibliography and research paper will be written during the course, and students will learn how to cite sources, use advanced methods of outlining, and master revising, editing, and final draft completion for upper-level academic papers.

Class 1: What is research writing? Terms and methods
Class 2: Advanced research methods; using libraries and the Internet
Class 3: Style guides and citations — how-to skills
Class 4: Creating a bibliography
Class 5: Creating your outline and thesis — advanced methods
Class 6: Prewriting styles and completeness
Class 7: Advanced outlining with “rough cut proofs”
Class 8: The rough draft — complete how-to’s
Class 9: Revising and editing for excellence
Class 10: Mastering final drafts

Total Number of Classes: 10

Prerequisite:  Students are required to have registered for Advanced Rhetoric & Writing 1: Rhetoric, Figures of Speech, Essays, & Papers (HS 12-1). 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: 10th to 12th grade, as long as the student has the required prerequisites.

Duration: 55 minutes

Suggested Credit: One (1) full semester’s credit for Advanced Writing or English

Course Materials:

Simplified Writing 101: Top Secrets for College Success, by Erin Brown Conroy:

Buy the hard copy of the book here: http://amzn.to/2FMCose

Or, buy the Kindle version of the book here: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B7AB90W/catholictreas-20 (Download the free Kindle app for free to easily read on your computer, tablet, or mobile device.)

Microsoft 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: Students will have weekly writing assignments and direct feedback from the instructor, with an estimated four (4) to five (5) hours per week for homework (outside of class time) that includes researching, reading, writing, and responding to feedback.

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).