Asynchronous, Online Course

10-Day Online Writing Camp

FOR HIGH SCHOOL PREP AND BEYOND

Take those essays to new heights with your own, personal writing coach!

COURSE DESCRIPTION
 

Students will watch two, video-based writing courses (3.5 hours of video) and will have the chance to submit 10 writing assignments to Ms. Finnigan for coaching and feedback along the way. They will have 30 days to watch the videos and submit the assignments. In the first course, The 5-Day Essay, the student will join Ms. Finnigan at "basecamp" and learn (or review) the fundamentals of argumentative essay writing. The student will write a full, five-paragraph essay by the end. In the second course, 6 Steps to Textual Support, the student will set off "up the mountain," learning how to elegantly and effectively incorporate quotes from a text into an essay, a critical skill for high school and college. Students will also be introduced to the conventions of academic writing (MLA) and learn the basic rules that govern how to document sources, write a Works Cited list, and format a paper.

COURSE TIMING & RECOMMENDATIONS

Course Duration:

• Recommended 10 business days
• Maximum 30 days
• Start anytime

Amount of work:

• About 30 minutes per day for ten days including video time, quizzes, and writing assignment

Teacher-Student Interaction:

• Students will have the option to submit 10 assignments to Ms. Finnigan as they go through the camp
• Ms. Finnigan will respond within 24 business hours
• Students are advised to wait to hear from Ms. Finnigan before moving on to the next lesson, as they may have to make a few small revisions before moving ahead

Questions?

Email Ms. Finnigan at

contact@teachtothetext.com

Who is the camp for?

9th graders: Freshmen in high school (or rising freshmen) who need help making the transition from middle school to high school writing.

10th-11th graders: High school students who are not doing enough writing in school, who need to supplement their education with "college prep" writing instruction.

12th graders college students: A few college freshmen have found the camp helpful when their high school education did not prepare them well for college level writing.

6th - 7th graders: If your student has mastered the expository essay, this camp might be the next step. Students as young as 6th grade have taken the camp and found it helpful. (See testimonials.) However, I usually recommend that 6th and 7th graders simply go through the first half of the camp twice, for extra practice with the fundamentals, rather than proceeding through the whole course.

Homeschooling parents who would like to ditch the writing curriculum for a while and learn how to assign and grade their own students' essays. This is a great way to build more writing into your homeschool! If you're interested in this offering, I encourage you to contact me directly or, if you have some time, watch this video on my website for more information about how that works. The parent would go through this camp with her students and also take a separate course just for parents.

contact@teachtothetext.com

BENEFITS

1) Stop relying on "fluff"! Learn how to formulate ideas and thoughts and make a solid argument!

2) Learn how to avoid common mistakes that students make when it comes to:

writing a thesis statement

brainstorming

outlining

drafting

3) Build more critical thinking into your essays.

4) Become a better reader by learning how to slow down and analyze a text.

5) Quote and document your sources expertly to demonstrate more authority in your writing.

6) Present your papers with polish for a good first impression with your teachers.

Testimonials

"The 5 Day Essay course by Ms. Finnigan was very helpful to me as a homeschool mom. I am glad we took a week out of our normal curriculum to devote to working on writing skills, because this course was succinct (about 30 minutes per day) but at the same time, thorough. My students learned a lot in a short amount of time and were able to improve their essay skills as well as writing in general after completing this course. I consider this time well spent and would recommend the course for grades six and up. Ms. Finnigan communicates so clearly that I feel younger students would benefit as well as high schoolers."

Maria B., Illinois, Fall 2023

"Dear Ms. Finnigan, I hope that you had a wonderful summer! I have been at Franciscan University for a few weeks now, and I am having a wonderful time! I wanted to let you know that earlier this week, I had the first draft of my English paper displayed on the large classroom screen for peer editing (and extra credit!), and as I was reading through it, my English teacher kept pausing me to point out to my classmates all the things that she loved about the paper. She did have some minor edits, but she was very impressed by the draft. Anyway, it made my day, and I figured I'd let you know about it because I know that I can trace a lot of the techniques that I used in that paper back to what you taught me in your class! Thank you for preparing me for the writing I've been doing here at college! Sincerely, Rebecca"

Email received September 2022 

"Loved it. It was easy for my son, but it took him back to the basics. I really valued the well-thought out writing feedback Ms. Finnigan gave and her encouragement meant a lot to him!"

Parent, Spring 2024

"My daughter learned several techniques to keep her writing on track and more connected. Ms. Finnigan was approachable and so helpful during coaching."

Parent, Spring 2024

"This class was a good review of things that I had learned from you before at Kolbe Academy. I enjoyed watching the videos; you were very enthusiastic and fun in them. Also, the feedback on assignments was timely and helpful."

Student, Winter 2024

"I taught with Ellen Finnigan at Kolbe Academy for several years. She taught English Composition at the 9th an 10th grade levels, and I taught Literature and History at the 10-12th grade levels. Without question I knew that her students who took my classes were excellent, well-trained writers. Often these students were as well-prepared as any students I had taught at the college level in my previous positions. Ms. Finnigan does an excellent job of preparing young writers to master the arts of composition. Anyone who takes the time to study with her and follow well her instruction will become competent at the craft of writing. She has the gift of teaching composition well!"

Carl Hasler, 2024