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How to Improve Your Writing

Syllabus

This free Online Course Developed by: Melissa Fry, M.Ed. English. To obtain college level instructional support for this course contact Melissa Fry melissa.fry@kctcs.edu.  

Content:

 

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of  How to Improve Your Writing, students will be able to:

  • Identify importance of accurate, concise, and high quality writing for school, work and in everyday life.

  • Create vivid and meaningful descriptions and narratives

  • Utilize creativity to bring writing alive for their readers

  • Devise an effective voice and awareness for their audience

  • Formulate concise thesis statements, introductions, and conclusions

  • Effectively and accurately revise and edit writing

  • Utilize library and electronic research to devise a well-supported informational essay

  • Correctly utilize the APA style for presentation and reference documentation 

Online Course Reference Materials

  • Bar Charts Incorporated.  Quick Study: English Composition & Style/English Grammar/ Essays & Term Papers.  Bar Charts, Incorporated. Florida, 1999.  

  • Lannon, John M.  The Writing Process

  • Dictionary / Thesaurus

Email/Electronic evaluation of Course Writing Assignments

All writing will be evaluated if submitted by email,  for content and mechanics.  Please make sure every assignment has been edited for proper grammar, spelling and/or punctuation before submitting it.  Students are strongly encouraged to rewrite/ rework any assignments in order to improve their work prior to submitting them for electronic based assessment. Email your written assignments to: Melissa Fry at melissa.fry@kctcs.edu. 

Course Outline by Sessions and Assignments

SESSION #1              

  • Writing what you know
  • Auto-bio poems
  • Introduction to course/set up working portfolio (binder)
  • Real world benefits of writing
  • Grammar
  • Assignment: Preliminary essay “My Experience as a Writer” and  Complete Assignment #1 Common Sentence Errors (Sentence Fragments/Run-on Sentences), Read pp. 427-429, Complete A-1, p. 429 Read pp. 431, Complete A-3, p. 432.            

UP

SESSION #2              

  • Journal            
  • Spelling mini-lesson
  • Usage mini lesson
  • How poetry can make you a better writer
  • Assignment: Assignment # 2 Comma Splices Read pp. 430-431, Complete A-2, p. 431 and Poetry rough draft

UP

SESSION #3              

  • Journal
  • Descriptive writing
  • Assignment: Complete Assignment #3 Coherent Sentences (Subject/Verb/Pronoun/Noun Agreement/ Eliminating Sentence Shifts) Read pp. 432-433, Complete A-4, p. 434, Read pp. 435-436, Complete A-6, pp. 436-437 and Description rough draft

UP

SESSION #4              

  • Journal
  • Responding to writing in a group
  • Peer editing (Poetry and descriptive rough drafts)
  • Narrative and Expressive Writing
  • Assignments:  Complete Assignment #4 Faulty Pronoun Case    Read pp. 434-435, Complete A-5, p. 435, Complete 2nd draft of Poetry and Descriptive writing and Expressive Rough Draft

UP 

SESSION # 5

  • Journal
  • Revising
  • Editing Expressive Essay
  • Assignments: Complete Assignment #5 Effective Punctuation Read pp. 437-440, Complete A-7, p. 440 Semicolons/Colons, Complete 2nd Draft of Expressive Essay

UP

SESSION # 6             

  • Journal
  • Steps in the Writing Process
  • Introduction, body, and conclusion
  • Assignment: Complete Assignment #6 Commas Read pp. 440-444, Complete A-8, p. 444/ A-9, p. 445

UP

SESSION # 7             

  • Journal
  • Paragraph Construction
  • Assignment: Assignment #7, Apostrophe/Quotation Marks Read pp. 445-448, Complete A-10, p. 448 and Review Chapter 7 (Paragraphs) and Complete App 7-1, pp. 103-104/ App 7-3, p. 105

UP

SESSION # 8             

  • Journal
  • Body Organization
  • Assignment: Complete Assignment #7

UP

SESSION # 9            

  • Journal
  • Assignment: Complete Assignment #8 Ellipses, Italics, Parentheses, Brackets, Dashes Read pp. 448-450, Complete A-11, p. 450.

UP

SESSION # 10       

  • Journal
  • Research and Documentation
  • Assignment: Complete Assignment #9 Effective Mechanics (Abbreviations, Hyphens, Capitalization, Numbers, Spelling) Read pp. 450-453, Complete A-12, p. 454, Pre-writing for Informative Essay (Brainstorming, webbing, free-writing), Find possible sources written in correct APA format

UP

SESSION # 11

  • Journal
  • Research and Documentation
  • Assignment: Complete Assignment #9, Pre-writing for Informative Essay (Brainstorming, webbing, free-writing), Find possible sources written in correct APA format

UP

SESSION # 12       

  • Journal
  • Editing and Proof reading
  • Assignment: Informative Essay rough draft

UP

SESSION # 13                   

  • Journal
  • Peer Editing (Informative Essay) 
  • Review of content covered to this point
  • Explanation of Presentation Portfolio
  • Assignment: Compile Presentation Portfolio (Final drafts of poem, description, expressive essay. Informative essay, with letter to reviewer and two paragraphs about each piece explaining what the piece is about and what writing skills the piece demonstrates) and check Working Portfolio

UP

SESSION # 14                   

  • Compile Presentation Portfolio
  • Complete final exam

UP

SESSION # 15

  • Compile Presentation Portfolio
  • Complete final exam

UP

SESSION # 16                   

  • Writer’s Circle
  • Email Working Portfolio and Presentation Portfolio

 

 

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