Could your child use a boost?
Are you hoping to help your child catch up, keep up, reinforce areas of weakness, or pursue areas of interest before the next school year?
Is your student facing college entrance exams?
Are you intimidated by Shakespeare, compare/contrast essays, or MLA research papers?
Could you use an experienced coach?
I am available to evaluate, instruct, and encourage your students in multiple subjects and skills. My specialities are writing and test preparation, with proven results and testimonies. I generally emphasize academic writing, though I also enjoy teaching fiction writing (short stories and novels) and poetry. I am experienced in teaching and remediating reading, spelling, grammar, literature, and more. I have taught all subjects at elementary levels, and most core subjects at higher levels.
Please help me spread the word that I have openings for group classes and private tutoring in the Frisco/Little Elm, Texas, area this summer. I am organizing class sessions around expressed interest.
During the school year, I teach English, journalism, history, and more at a small Christian homeschool/day school hybrid, Grace Covenant Academy of Frisco.
I am also available to tutor and teach classes on a limited basis during the school year, too, so keep me in mind.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Monday, May 4, 2009
4th - 6th Writing, May 1
The year is wrapping up quickly, and we are spending the next two weeks on our last assignment of this course.
Lesson:
First, I collected the students' finished five-paragraph essays or alternate assignments; as agreed, some students had written compare/contrast paragraphs, which was also fine.
Feeling that we needed more review of pronoun problems, I stressed again the need to be clear about pronoun antecedents, and the need to avoid "you" statements except in personal or informal communication such as letters, emails, or blogs.
After drawing our five-paragraph flowchart on the board, I talked the class through the important parts of the essay's structure. Then we read aloud several of the essays, looking for the key components, especially the thesis statement.
Though most had a bit of trouble getting the format exactly right, which is to be expected at first, the students overall did surprisingly well. In fact, the class did as well as I might have expected from a junior high class encountering this type of essay for the first time. I was quite pleased.
Assignment:
We will finish the year with another five-paragraph essay for those who are able. If that is too difficult, feel free to contact me for an alternate assignment, which is also perfectly acceptable.
Students may choose their own topics for this final essay.
Students are to prepare and bring a rough draft of their paper for this coming class.
We will go over them in class in small groups. Then students will have to final week to revise and edit before our last class day.
Lesson:
First, I collected the students' finished five-paragraph essays or alternate assignments; as agreed, some students had written compare/contrast paragraphs, which was also fine.
Feeling that we needed more review of pronoun problems, I stressed again the need to be clear about pronoun antecedents, and the need to avoid "you" statements except in personal or informal communication such as letters, emails, or blogs.
After drawing our five-paragraph flowchart on the board, I talked the class through the important parts of the essay's structure. Then we read aloud several of the essays, looking for the key components, especially the thesis statement.
Though most had a bit of trouble getting the format exactly right, which is to be expected at first, the students overall did surprisingly well. In fact, the class did as well as I might have expected from a junior high class encountering this type of essay for the first time. I was quite pleased.
Assignment:
We will finish the year with another five-paragraph essay for those who are able. If that is too difficult, feel free to contact me for an alternate assignment, which is also perfectly acceptable.
Students may choose their own topics for this final essay.
Students are to prepare and bring a rough draft of their paper for this coming class.
We will go over them in class in small groups. Then students will have to final week to revise and edit before our last class day.
7th - 8th Writing, May 1
(Oops! I forgot to hit the publish button on this post! Sorry this is late.)
We are in the final stages of our final project.
Lesson:
Using handouts I provided, we discussed in detail how to write the rough draft, including the use of parenthetical citation in MLA format.
We also briefly covered how to prepare the title page and the works cited page. To aid with that, we played with citationmachine.net as a resource for formatting sources.
Assignment:
Students are to bring as much as they have of their research project drafts, including:
source cards
note cards
title page
outline
research paper
works cited page
We will spend the class period in preliminary read-arounds, checking for completeness and correctness, helping one another over any rough spots or snags.
Additionally, we will schedule an extra optional session for early next week, to give us enough time to dig in (over pizza) and polish all the research papers.
The final project due on May 15.
We are in the final stages of our final project.
Lesson:
Using handouts I provided, we discussed in detail how to write the rough draft, including the use of parenthetical citation in MLA format.
We also briefly covered how to prepare the title page and the works cited page. To aid with that, we played with citationmachine.net as a resource for formatting sources.
Assignment:
Students are to bring as much as they have of their research project drafts, including:
source cards
note cards
title page
outline
research paper
works cited page
We will spend the class period in preliminary read-arounds, checking for completeness and correctness, helping one another over any rough spots or snags.
Additionally, we will schedule an extra optional session for early next week, to give us enough time to dig in (over pizza) and polish all the research papers.
The final project due on May 15.
9th - 12th Writing, May 1
(Oops! I forgot to hit the publish button on this post! Sorry this is late.)
Lesson:
We are in the final stages of our final project.
Using handouts I provided, we reviewed writing the rough draft, including the use of parenthetical citation in MLA format. Next, we briefly covered how to prepare the title page and the works cited page. To aid with that, we played with citationmachine.net as a resource for formatting sources.
Assignment:
Students are to bring their complete research project drafts, including:
source cards
note cards
title page
outline
research paper
works cited page
We will spend the class period in read-arounds and helpful suggestions.
If that is sufficient, students will complete any needed revisions on their own the following week, with the final project due on May 15.
If desired or needed, we will schedule an extra optional session early that week, though this class is well on track without it so far.
Lesson:
We are in the final stages of our final project.
Using handouts I provided, we reviewed writing the rough draft, including the use of parenthetical citation in MLA format. Next, we briefly covered how to prepare the title page and the works cited page. To aid with that, we played with citationmachine.net as a resource for formatting sources.
Assignment:
Students are to bring their complete research project drafts, including:
source cards
note cards
title page
outline
research paper
works cited page
We will spend the class period in read-arounds and helpful suggestions.
If that is sufficient, students will complete any needed revisions on their own the following week, with the final project due on May 15.
If desired or needed, we will schedule an extra optional session early that week, though this class is well on track without it so far.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
4th - 6th Writing, April 24
(This is a quick post for now; I will edit with more detail later.)
Lesson:
We went over more detail about the structure and format for a standard five-paragraph essay. The students have several pages of notes for this.
Assignment:
Students are to write a five-paragraph expository essay. This can be an expansion of their earlier essays on friendship or on some other abstract concept. It can also be a more tangible topic of their choice. The format is the main thing in this lesson.
If this assignment is too great a stretch for some students, please contact me for an alternate assignment.
Lesson:
We went over more detail about the structure and format for a standard five-paragraph essay. The students have several pages of notes for this.
Assignment:
Students are to write a five-paragraph expository essay. This can be an expansion of their earlier essays on friendship or on some other abstract concept. It can also be a more tangible topic of their choice. The format is the main thing in this lesson.
If this assignment is too great a stretch for some students, please contact me for an alternate assignment.
7th - 8th Writing, April 24
(This is a quick post for now; I will edit with more detail later.)
Lesson:
This week, we covered how to prepare an outline for a research paper. I provided handouts with examples.
Assignment:
Students are to prepare an outline with thesis statement.
Lesson:
This week, we covered how to prepare an outline for a research paper. I provided handouts with examples.
Assignment:
Students are to prepare an outline with thesis statement.
9th-12th Writing, April 24
(This is a quick post for now; I will edit with more detail later.)
Lesson:
Class was small, with some students camping. In view of how few weeks were left, I went ahead with the lesson anyway. I have handouts available for those who missed.
I covered how to approach writing the rough draft, including how to cite sources within MLA format.
Assignment:
Students are to begin writing their rough drafts. We will have another week for this also.
Lesson:
Class was small, with some students camping. In view of how few weeks were left, I went ahead with the lesson anyway. I have handouts available for those who missed.
I covered how to approach writing the rough draft, including how to cite sources within MLA format.
Assignment:
Students are to begin writing their rough drafts. We will have another week for this also.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)