This course aims to transform high school students into amazing writers. Led by a seasoned English high school teacher, it focuses heavily on the writing process and the skills required to do college-level writing.
College Writing Prep
We begin with free writing and journaling to help the student work on his/her writing “muscle” and develop a writing flow. These early sessions are aimed mostly at unlocking the writer within. Assignments will be designed to stretch the student and get him/her used to producing a lot of writing. In addition to a lot of writing, we will also read the work of a few great writers and break down their work in order to understand what makes it great.
We then turn our attention to the structuring process for creating well-organized writing. Depending on the student’s goals and needs, this may focus specifically on the skills required to produce a solid research paper in any discipline, including crafting a thesis, building an outline, structured drafting, and editing. Or, we may dive more deeply into essay writing, argumentative writing, or any number of other forms. The goal during this period will be to help the student organize his/her thoughts and build a solid scaffolding for well-organized writing.
The final stage will focus on editing and rewriting, perhaps the most important part of the writing craft, yet a skill that is often overlooked in traditional writing instruction. Here we will help the student go deeper into the work, critiquing their own writing, and building a healthy habit of drafting and re-drafting their work.
Coaching & Guidance
Unlike more traditional courses, this college writing prep course is designed as a series of coaching sessions where the teacher helps the student discover his/her own voice as a writer and build the habits and skills to be a successful college-level writer. It is an excellent prep for college. The Cicero teachers who lead this course are all master writers with bachelor and master degrees in the humanities from leading U.S. universities.
