Writing & Grammar
BJU Press middle- and high-school writing and grammar product line systematically reviews and applies English grammar conventions to the real world. The practice of writing—using grammar to craft clear and effective communication—is essential for helping students to understand, analyze, and craft an argument. Students also need to develop effective research and study skills that will enable them to manage large assignments and to find relevant and useful information. We have given teachers the tools to help their students craft effective written and oral communication that engages with and contributes to culture. To accomplish our vision for students, we have laid out a series of goals for our program, activities, and teaching strategies.
Vision
To equip students to apply writing and grammar skills to craft effective written and oral communication that engages with and contributes to culture.
Goals
- To ensure mastery of English grammar and mechanics
- To develop mastery of study, reference, and research skills, effectively using print and digital sources
- To model the connection of mentor texts to grammar instruction and writing activities
- To give opportunities for students to use the writing process with genre-specific strategies to craft communication for real-world contexts
- To guide students to hone collaboration, listening, speaking, and viewing skills
- To expand technology and media literacy through written, oral, and visual communication
- To lead students to draft writing that is truthful, virtuous, and empathetic
Program Approach for Writing & Grammar
Mastery of English Grammar & Mechanics
Standard English conventions in grammar form the basis for clear and effective communication. However, learning grammar rules in isolation only helps students to memorize rules rather than applying or understanding why those rules matter. To encourage students to master English conventions, BJU Press middle- and high-school writing and grammar courses teach grammar at the point of application as well as in independent practice and review. As the students progress through each grade level, they will
- Practice analyzing grammatical structures of sentences.
- Write and evaluate their writing for standard usage.
- Participate in lessons and workshops to review and apply the grammar, usage, and mechanics of standard English.
- Follow a scaffolded review of standard conventions, gradually building complexity.
To reach these goals, grammar chapters in Writing & Grammar 7, 8, and 9 include several Practice, Use, and Review the Skill pages in the lessons. Teachers can use these pages for in-class or independent practice, or they can use them on review days. Grammar workshop pages in middle school courses give students a chance to see how grammatical concepts and rules affect writing. Additionally, each BJU Press teacher edition includes suggestions for teacher modeling so that teachers can show students how to work through activities. Handbooks, available in the back of the Writing & Grammar 7 and 8 student worktexts, review common errors and problems the students will need to review.
Connecting Mentor Texts to Grammar Instruction and Writing Activities
Mentor texts give students a starting point for analyzing the grammatical structures of sentences. In each BJU Press student edition, students will find mentor texts and writing activities that promote understanding not only of the function and value of grammar but also how to structure written pieces. Student activities afford students the opportunity to analyze each mentor text to learn from it. Teachers can use these texts to prompt analysis of how sentence structure and word choice influence communication, and how the writers of the mentor texts might have changed what they meant or said by using the language differently. From these mentor text activities, teachers can direct students to analyze how they use standard grammar conventions in their own writing and communication. Students will also learn writing strategies, how to diversify word choice, persuasive techniques, and more.
Using the Writing Process in Real-World Contexts
BJU Press Writing & Grammar programs lead students through the five stages of the writing process:
- Planning
- Drafting
- Revising
- Proofreading
- Publishing
These stages effectively walk students through the process of creating written works of varying lengths and genres. Every writing project follows the writing process, giving students instructions and important questions to ask at each point. Writing projects are age- and grade-appropriate and relevant to the students’ lives and interests. For example, the capstone project for Writing & Grammar 8 is a multigenre project. Students may choose their topic and the types of writing they will do, in collaboration with a group of other students. The students choose a significant person to write about, craft a timeline and biographical essay, create four original genre pieces (informative, narrative, argumentative/persuasive essays or poetry) based on significant events in the timeline, prepare a works-cited page, and conclude with a personal reflection on what they learned or experienced from the project.
Drafting Writing That Is Truthful, Virtuous, Logical, and Empathetic
By teaching students how to be good writers, teachers are also encouraging them to be good communicators. Good writing is clear, accurate, and considerate of its audience. As a building block for clear writing, grammar conventions give students a foundation for writing without confusing errors. Students can use grammar tools to improve their communication. Research and study skills support young writers in developing truthful and virtuous writing by teaching them to find, understand, restate, and properly cite information sources to build or defend an argument. These skills give authenticity and merit to their writing. Ultimately, most writing is designed for the benefit of the reader, not the writer. To that end, we equip teachers to help their students better understand the needs of their audience. Throughout each course writing instructions, teaching notes, and writing checklists will regularly remind students to consider their audience and the appropriateness of their word choice and usage.
Mastery of Study, Reference, and Research Skills
In addition to mastering grammar conventions, students need to know where to look for useful information, how to categorize and organize it, and they need to understand it well enough that they can reuse it in their own words. Study skills enable students to understand how they learn and process information so that they are better equipped to use that information later . Student researchers need to be able to process and categorize the information they encounter. In addition to learning effective research skills, students will also need to master effective study skills. The BJU Press Writing & Grammar program teaches study and research skills regularly in each course, including how to recognize credible sources and how to ask good questions that lead to a better understanding. The handbooks in Writing & Grammar 7 and 8 and the Study Hacks feature in Writing & Grammar 9 offer detailed reviews of relevant study skills, such as how to schedule study time, suggestions for memory work, and strategies to improve reading comprehension.
Improvement in Collaboration, Listening, Speaking, and Viewing
Teaching strategies throughout the program direct teachers to lead in a variety of collaborative projects and assignments. Many projects include oral presentations that require both speaking and listening as students present and peers evaluate presentations. Teachers can lead visual analyses of infographics and full-page visuals that inform students about the topics for that chapter. Projects that include oral presentations also help students learn how to develop and give PowerPoint presentations on a topic of interest to them. As they engage in writing projects and practice their research skills, students will expand their digital and media literacy. Writing projects and presentations often require students to work with word processors or presentation software to develop an effective presentation. In these presentations, they will improve collaborative skills in group projects and through peer reviews of their writing.
Materials
Student Edition (eTextbooks available)
Consumable student worktexts provide important practice exercises and opportunities for active application to each student’s own writing. Our texts encourage students to write regularly and in diverse genres. The main chapters offer a written model and an associated lesson for students to use in studying the model. As students develop their skills, they gain confidence in their skills and prepare for future real-life writing opportunities.
Teacher Edition
Teacher editions provide instructors with the support they need to teach writing and grammar effectively. Lessons include margin notes for lesson content and planning use, pretests for assessing student knowledge, suggested lesson objectives, ESL strategies, cross-curricular links, biblical-worldview discussions, and many other tools. These tools help teachers develop their students’ knowledge, critical-thinking skills, and biblical worldview.
Assessments and Assessments Answer Keys
Assessments and assessments answer keys include summative assessments for grammar concepts. Each assessment aligns with stated objectives available in the teacher edition.
Scope & Sequence
Biblical Worldview Shaping
- Verity—Defending the proposition that good writing is truthful writing
- Clarity—Choosing words that facilitate clarity
- Charity—Evaluating style of writing and its effect on the reader
- Sincerity—Proposing strategies for writing with authenticity
- Dexterity—Analyzing strategies used to improve writing
Critical Thinking
Generating Ideas
- Brainstorming
- Using journalistic questions
- Contributing ideas to partner, group, and class discussions
- Participating in collaborative activities
- Using a writer’s notebook
Gathering information
- Analyzing visual texts
- Analyzing model and mentor texts for writing craft
- Conducting an interview
- Developing research skills—Formulating research questions; Locating resources in the library: using sections of the library, the Dewey Decimal System, call numbers, the library catalog, and reference sources; finding articles in a periodical; and using the parts of a book to find information; Using keywords to search the internet; Distinguishing primary and secondary sources; Choosing relevant and reliable sources; Taking notes from a textbased research source; Writing a paraphrase without plagiarism; Incorporating quotations into writing; Writing a bibliography for print and digital sources
Using the writing process
- Planning—Using graphic organizers; Writing a thesis; Writing a topic outline; Planning the elements of a narrative; Crafting interview questions
- Drafting—Writing with audience and purpose in mind; Creating an introduction that generates interest; Crafting a conclusion that summarizes your topic or your opinion
- Revising—Collaborating with teachers to improve writing; Using a rubric to self-evaluate; Using a revising checklist; Giving and receiving feedback in a peer conference
- Proofreading—Using a proofreading checklist; Using spell-check and grammar-check; Using proofreading marks to correct capitalization errors
- Publishing—Creating an effective title; Making a polished final copy; Adding formatting and illustrations to an essay; Publishing in both digital and print formats; Publishing for peers and for an audience outside the classroom
- Reflecting—Reflecting on narrative, informative, and argumentative writing processes
Presenting knowledge
- Delivering oral and multimedia presentations based on writing assignments
- Speaking effectively before an audience: practicing, maintaining eye contact, expressing words clearly and confidently with an appropriate volume and pace, and using effective body language
Media & Digital Literacy
Developing media and digital literacy
- Analyzing advertisements for tone and purpose
- Evaluating advertisements for truthfulness
- Conducting research while safely using the internet
- Creating a digital slideshow, podcast, or digital display Be CyberSmart!
- Influence: Communicating with Images
- Leadership: The Power of Media Influence
- Discernment: Online Plagiarism
- Maturity: Standing for Biblical Truth in a Digital World
- Protection: Phishing
Grammar & Syntax
Parts of speech
- Noun—Using noun forms: common, proper, abstract, collective, compound, singular, plural, and possessive; Using nouns in a variety of functions
- Pronoun—Using pronoun types: personal, demonstrative, reflexive, intensive, interrogative, relative, and indefinite; Using pronouns in a variety of functions; Using pronouns in the proper case; Using courtesy order with personal pronouns
- Verb—Using verb types: stateof- being, helping, action, linking, main, complete, regular, and irregular; Using verb tenses; Using principal parts
- Adjective—Using articles, proper adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, and predicate adjectives; Using comparative and superlative adjectives
- Adverb—Using adverbs to modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; Using comparative and superlative adverbs
- Preposition
- Conjunction—Using coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions; Interjection—Using interjections in written dialogue
Syntactic awareness
- Using subjects and predicates: simple, complete, and compound
- Varying sentence length
- Writing with a variety of sentence types: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory
- Writing with a variety of sentence patterns: S-V, S-V-DO, S-V-IO-DO, S-LV-PN, and S-LV-PA
- Writing with simple, compound, and complex sentence structures
- Correcting sentence errors: fragments, comma splices, and fused sentences
- Correcting ambiguous pronoun reference
- Correcting incorrect shifts in pronoun number and person
- Using modifiers to add clarity to writing
- Expanding sentences with prepositional phrases and appositive phrases
- Avoiding misplaced modifiers
- Writing with independent and dependent clauses
Conventions (Mechanics & Usage)
Capitalization
- Capitalizing proper nouns: people and places, calendar items, titles, religious terms, and cultural terms
- Capitalizing confusing proper nouns based on context: nouns that show family relationships, geographic features, compass words, and titles of respect
Punctuation
- Choosing end punctuation for effect
- Using commas with items in a series, with dialogue tags, with nouns of direct address, with nonrestrictive appositives, in compound and complex sentences, after long introductory phrases, in letters, in dates, and in addresses
- Using colons to introduce lists
- Using semicolons in compound sentences
- Using dashes to emphasize an appositive and parentheses to minimize an appositive
- Using apostrophes in contractions and dates and with possessive nouns
- Using quotation marks with the titles of songs, stories, or poems
- Using punctuation to indicate changes in a quotation—Using brackets to make additions or changes to a quotation, Using ellipses to omit words in a quotation
- Punctuating dialogue with quotation marks, ellipses, and dashes
Abbreviations
- Using abbreviations for months, days, times, personal titles, addresses, and metric and customary measurement units
Italics
- Italicizing or underlining the title of a book, newspaper, or magazine
Spelling
- Following plural noun spelling patterns
- Spelling words with ie and ei
- Spelling words with added suffixes
- Spelling hints
Usage
- Ensuring subject-verb agreement in sentences with simple subjects, compound subjects joined by and, and compound subjects joined by or
- Ensuring pronouns agree with their antecedents in number and gender
- Using often-confused verbs (sit/set, lie/ lay, rise/raise, imply/infer, and can/may)
- Using contractions
- Avoiding double negatives
- Using prefixes and suffixes
- Using homophones
- Using confusing modifiers (good, well, fewer, less, between, and among)
Writing Structure
Genre writing
- Narrative: personal narrative and historical fiction story
- Informative: definition paragraph, classification essay, process essay, and interview transcript
- Argumentative: opinion essay and advertisement
- Poetry: list poem
- Letters: personal note
Writing Craft
Paragraph development
- Developing topics with facts and examples
- Building an argument with reasons and evidence
- Introducing and using quotations to support opinions and ideas
- Using transitions—Using time-order and spatial words and phrases in a narrative, Using transitional words and phrases for clarity and emphasis and to show connections between ideas
Style
- Developing a writing voice
- Creating vivid images with sensory language
- Using precise words and vivid details
Genre conventions
- Maintaining a formal style
- Writing from a first-person point of view and a third-person point of view
- Using dialogue in a narrative
Collaborative writing
- Writing phrases, sentences, and paragraphs
- Paraphrasing a passage
Study Skills
- Busting common study myths
- Organizing study materials and study space
- Participating actively in class
- Creating a study plan
- Handling challenges with the STAR strategy
- Practicing retrieval
- Setting goals
- Preparing strategically for tests
- Learning the P2R reading strategy
- Using available resources to handle academic difficulty
- Using mnemonic devices
- Using visuals to aid recall
- Developing habits (exercise, nutrition, hydration, and sleep) that build brainpower
- Using reflection to grow and celebrate
Parts of Speech (and Verbals)
Noun; pronoun; verb (simple tense and perfect tenses); adjective; adverb; preposition; conjunction (coordinating, correlative, subordinating); interjection; verbals (participle, infinitive, gerund, verbal phrases with modifiers, functions as different parts of speech)
Sentence Structure
Sentence patterns (S-InV, S-TrV-DO, S-TrV-IO-DO, S-LV-PN, S-LV-PA); introduction to dependent clauses; sentence types (declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory); clause structure (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex); sentence errors (fragments, comma splices, fused sentences)
Mechanics
Capitalization; punctuation; spelling
Usage
Subject-verb agreement; pronoun-antecedent agreement; pronoun reference; troublesome words; misplaced modifier; dangling modifier
Writing Skills
Writing process (planning, drafting, revising, proofreading, publishing); paragraph development (fact, example, statistic, incident/anecdote, sensory detail, reason); paragraph organization (chronological, spatial, order of importance); paragraph unity; style (precise words, showing not telling, effective fragments, strong action verbs, adding details, rhythm, expanding sentences, tightening writing with appositives, combining sentences, figurative and fresh language); voice; point of view
Examples of Writing Projects
Argumentative writing, article writing, informative writing, narrative writing
Reference and Study Skills
Parts of a book (title page, copyright page, table of contents, list of illustrations, acknowledgements, introduction/preface, text, bibliography, appendix, glossary, index); scheduling study time; memory techniques; reading comprehension (definitions, restatements, examples, word parts); test-taking strategies (classroom tests, standardized tests)
Parts of Speech (and Verbals)
Review of all from Grade 7 plus the following new material: verb—progressive tense; indicative, imperative, and subjective)
Sentence Structure
Review of all from Grade 7 plus the following new material: adjective clause, adverb clause
Mechanics
Review of all from Grade 7 plus the following new material: punctuation—parentheses, brackets, dashes, ellipses
Usage
Review of all from Grade 7
Writing Skills
Review of all from Grade 7 plus the following new material: six traits of writing, proofreading symbols, writing different types of paragraphs (definition, process, descriptive, compare-and-contrast, argumentative), writing an anecdote, visual representation, writing poetry, writing a business letter, expanding and combining (with parallel structures, with adjectives, with adverbs, with prepositional phrases, with participial phrases, with infinitive phrases)
Examples of Writing Projects
Informative writing, narrative writing, argumentative writing, multigenre project
Study & Reference Skills
Study skills are incorporated into Student Handbook. Reference skills are incorporated into a comprehensive research chapter
Parts of Speech (and Verbals)
Review of all from Grade 8 plus the following new material: noun—collective; adverb—qualifier, relative; verbals—verbal phrases with objects
Sentence Structure
Review of all from Grade 8 plus the following new material: dependent clause—noun clause
Mechanics
Capitalization; punctuation; spelling
Usage
Review of all from Grade 8
Writing Skills
Review of all from Grade 8 plus the following new material: style—conciseness, smoothness; sentence variety—length and complexity, sentence patterns, sentence beginnings
Examples of Writing Projects
Description: brochure, creative writing, list poem, comparison/contrast presentation, writing about the future; Exposition: essay answer, historical research essay, informative article, research paper; Narration: narrative essay, oral history, memoir, film script; Persuasion: persuasive essay, opinion piece, book review; Personal Communication: letter to the “you” of the future, business letter, business email
Study and Reference Skills
Review of all from Grade 8 plus the new “Study Hacks” feature for each chapter: Learning how to learn, two tips for studying smarter, managing yourself, using available resources, creating a consistent study routine, getting organized, active learning in the classroom, taking notes, using active reading strategies, studying outside the classroom, making memories stick, spacing out your practice, preparing for tests, taking tests with confidence, setting SMART goals, utilizing memory techniques, establishing healthy routines, developing grit
Parts of Speech (and Verbals)
Review of all from Grade 9 plus the following new material: pronoun—reciprocal; adverb—conjunctive; verbals—perfect gerund, passive infinitive
Sentence Structure
Review of all from Grade 9 plus the following new material: sentence patterns—S-be-ADVL, S-TrV-DO-OC
Mechanics
Punctuation; appendix of capitalization rules
Usage
Review of all from Grade 9
Writing Skills
Review of all from Grade 9 plus the following new material: cumulative sentences; expanding with absolute phrases; sound devices; emphasis in writing; connotative language; sensory language
Examples of Writing Projects
Informative: five-paragraph essay, descriptive essay, explanatory essay, research essay, cause-and-effect essay; Narrative: narrative essay, eyewitness report; Argumentative: internet article, satirical article
Study & Reference Skills
Study Hacks build on study skills taught in Grade 9
Biblical Worldview Shaping
- Identity—Formulating a biblical understanding of personal identity
- Motive—Defending biblical motives for loving God and others
- Integrity—Proposing ways to live with integrity in a fallen world
- Judgment—Defending the use of the Scripture to make wise judgments
- Discipline—Analyzing how the Spirit empowers desiring and doing for God
Critical Thinking
Generating Ideas
- Brainstorming
- Contributing ideas to partner, group, and class discussions
- Participating in collaborative activities
- Using a writer’s journal
Gathering information
- Analyzing mentor texts for writing craft
- Conducting an interview
- Developing research skills—Formulating research questions; Locating sources in the library: types of sources, Dewey Decimal System, and Library of Congress System; Locating sources online: using the library catalog and periodical indexes and using keywords to search the internet; Using digital Bible study resources; Distinguishing primary and secondary sources; Evaluating traditional and digital sources for relevance and credibility; Interpreting a text through authorial intentionalism; Understanding common knowledge; Taking source notes and content notes; Writing paraphrases and summaries without plagiarism; Integrating research into writing; Representing sources fairly and accurately; Writing in-text citations in MLA format; Creating a works cited page with MLA formatting; Compiling audio and video material for a documentary
Practicing logic
- Distinguishing between fact and opinion
- Identifying bias and propaganda
- Recognizing and avoiding logical fallacies
- Distinguishing causation and correlation
- Using rhetorical appeals
- Using the writing process
- Planning—Using brainstorming methods to choose topics: asking questions, listing, and freewriting; Creating a life map for a narrative poem; Narrowing a topic; Crafting a thesis statement; Developing a direct or indirect thesis statement for a persuasive essay; Developing a message for an essay or story; Developing a plotline for a narrative; Writing a topic or sentence outline; Creating a life map; Planning the plot, setting, characters, conflict, and resolution in a narrative; Crafting interview questions; Performing a cost-benefit analysis for a problem-solution essay; Identifying counterarguments for a persuasive research paper
- Drafting—Writing with audience and purpose in mind; Crafting a thesis statement and topic sentences; Writing an engaging introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph that provides closure; Using writing strategies to improve first drafts: achieving emphasis, creating sentence energy, using parallel structures, varying beginnings of sentences, using subordination and coordination, expanding and reducing sentences, and using sentence logic; Crafting a satisfying ending for a narrative
- Revising—Collaborating with teachers to improve writing; Using a rubric to self-evaluate; Using a revising checklist to self-evaluate and evaluate the work of peers; Revising for ideas: clarity, interest, unity, and coherence; Revising for style: emphasis, precise words, conciseness, smoothness, and fresh words
- Proofreading—Proofreading for sentence structure, usage, and conventions; Using a proofreading checklist; Using proofreading strategies; Using proofreading marks to correct personal and peer writing; Using computer spell-check; Giving and receiving feedback from a peer review
- Publishing—Creating an effective title; Making a polished final copy; Adding formatting and illustrations to writing; Publishing in both digital and print formats; Publishing for peers and for an audience outside the classroom; Creating a writing portfolio
- Reflecting—Reflecting on narrative, informative, descriptive, and argumentative writing processes and presentations
- Using a recursive writing process
Presenting knowledge
- Developing a clear and engaging presentation
- Debating effectively with an engaging opening statement, contentions and warrants, strong notetaking and listening skills, effective cross-examination questions, and a strong closing statement
- Delivering oral and multimedia presentations based on writing assignments
- Speaking effectively before an audience: beginning and ending well, preparing clear notes, practicing the speech, and maintaining a clear and conversational tone
- Giving and receiving feedback for presentations
Media & Digital Literacy
Developing media and digital literacy
- Identifying bias in media outlets
- Identifying faulty causal reasoning in articles
- Identifying unethical advertising practices
- Evaluating targeted advertising
- Evaluating the persuasive power of advertising and the use of priming in an advertisement
- Evaluating persuasion in political campaigns
- Locating reliable websites
- Posting on a blog
- Safely publishing a personal blog
- Filming interviews, compiling B-roll, and recording a voice-over for a documentary
- Producing a documentary
- Creating a podcast episode
- Creating a storyboard
- Creating and editing an animated video
- Producing a video advertisement
Be CyberSmart!
- Discernment: Generative AI and Bias
- Maturity: Fair Use
- Protection: Sexting and Sexual Content
Grammar & Syntax
Parts of speech
- Noun—Using noun forms: common, proper, count, noncount, collective, compound, concrete, abstract, singular, plural, and possessive; Using nouns in a variety of functions
- Pronoun—Using pronoun types: personal, demonstrative, reflexive, intensive, interrogative, relative, indefinite, and reciprocal; Using independent possessives; Using pronouns in the proper case with appositives, comparisons, verbals, and who/whom; Using courtesy order with personal pronouns
- Verb—Using verb types: state-of-being, helping, action, linking, transitive, intransitive, complete, regular, and irregular; Using phrasal verbs; Using verb tenses with consistency and correct sequence: simple, progressive, and perfect; Using principal parts
- Adjective—Using determiners: indefinite and definite articles, possessives, possessive nouns and pronouns, possessive phrases, demonstratives, interrogatives, and indefinite determiners; Using proper adjectives, predicate adjectives, objective complements, and modifying nouns; Using positive, comparative, and superlative forms for regular and irregular adjectives; Using absolute comparative and superlative forms
- Adverb—Using qualifiers, conjunctive adverbs, relative adverbs, indefinite relative adverbs, interrogative adverbs, and adverbial nouns
- Preposition
- Conjunction—Using coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions
- Interjection
Syntactic awareness
- Using subjects and predicates: simple, complete, compound, and in inverted order
- Using complements: direct object, indirect object, predicate adjective, predicate noun, adverbial, and objective complement
- Using active and passive voice verbs
- Varying sentence length and complexity
- Writing with a variety of sentence patterns: S-InV, S-TrV-DO, S-TrV-IO-DO, S-LV-PN, S-LV-PA, S-be-Advl, and S-TrV-DO-OC
- Writing with a variety of sentence structures: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex
- Correcting compound sentence errors: fragments, comma splices, and fused sentences
- Correcting unclear pronoun reference
- Correcting ambiguous, remote, and confusing indefinite pronoun references
- Using specific antecedents rather than implied references or broad ideas
- Expanding and varying sentences with adjectives and adverbs, adjectival and adverbial prepositional phrases, appositives and appositive phrases, and absolute phrases
- Expanding sentences with verbals—Using participles: present, past, and perfect; Using gerunds: present, perfect, present passive, and perfect passive; Using infinitives: simple, passive, perfect passive, and progressive
- Positioning adjectives and adverbs correctly
- Correcting misplaced, two-way, and dangling modifiers
- Correcting confusing shifts in pronoun number and person
- Using clauses to connect ideas
- Using adjective (restrictive and nonrestrictive) clauses
- Using adverb and elliptical adverb clauses
- Using noun clauses
- Using verb moods
Conventions (Mechanics & Usage)
Capitalization
- Capitalizing personal names, religions, nationalities, place names, transportation, astronomical terms, businesses and organizations, cultural and historical terms, titles, fi rst words, and single letters
Punctuation
- Using appropriate end punctuation
- Using periods in outlines and with decimals
- Using commas in a series of equal elements, with coordinate adjectives, in a series of independent clauses, with nonrestrictive elements, in dates, and in parts of an address
- Using commas to set offintroductory elements, interjections, nouns of direct address, parenthetical expressions, phrases that show contrast, tag questions, and conjunctive adverbs
- Using commas to signal special constructions: transposed words and phrases and omitted words
- Using colons in a Bible reference, in expressions of time, before a series or an appositive at the end of a sentence, before a long or formal direct quotation, and between two independent clauses when the second clause explains the first
- Using semicolons to join equal elements that require a mark of punctuation stronger than a comma but weaker than a period
- Using hyphens with certain compound words, multiword numbers, fractions, multiword modifiers, prefixes added under special conditions, words with a common element, and omission of a connecting word
- Using dashes in place of parentheses, to separate an internal appositive series, to connect an introductory list to a summary statement, to give special emphasis to a phrase or clause, or to indicate an interruption in a sentence
- Using apostrophes with special plurals and to show omission and possession
- Using quotation marks—Using double quotation marks with direct quotations, dialogue, words used in a special sense, and the titles of short works; Using single quotation marks to indicate a quotation within a quotation; Using quotation marks with other punctuation
- Using parentheses—Using parentheses to enclose additional information and numbers or letters that identify divisions; Using parentheses with other punctuation
- Using ellipses to show omission in a quotation and to indicate pauses in dialogue
- Using brackets to indicate insertion or replacement in a quotation or an error in the original text
- Using appropriate punctuation for parts of a letter
Abbreviations
- Using abbreviations for personal names and titles, parts of an address, times and dates, and measurements
Italics
- Italicizing or underlining words and letters and numerals being discussed, large vehicles, titles of long works, the names of works of art, foreign words and phrases, and words or phrases that need special emphasis
Usage
- Ensuring subject-verb agreement in sentences—Ensuring subject-verb agreement in sentences with subjects that are singular, plural, compound, problem nouns, and indefinite pronouns; Ensuring subject-verb agreement in sentences with the verb be, predicate adjectives, relative pronouns, predicate nouns of a different number, intervening phrases, and inverted order
- Ensuring pronoun-antecedent agreement in sentences—Ensuring pronouns agree with their antecedents in number and gender; Ensuring pronouns agree with their antecedents in sentences with antecedents that are compound nouns, collective nouns, indefinite pronouns, or nouns modified by indefinite determiners
- Avoiding double negatives, double comparisons, and illogical comparisons
- Using confusing modifiers (good, well, bad, little, many, and badly)
- Avoiding double negatives, double comparisons, and illogical comparisons
Writing Structure
Genre writing
- Narrative: narrative essay, historical fiction short story, college application essay, humorous essay, and narrative video script
- Informative: reflection essay, biographical essay, travel blog post, devotional, cause-and-effect essay, interview transcript, documentary script, and problem-solution essay
- Argumentative: persuasive essay, critical response to literature, advertisement script, and persuasive research paper
- Poetry: free verse narrative poem and hymn
- Workplace writing: employment cover letter and written job interview answers
Paragraph structure
- Using organizational methods: chronological order, spatial order, order of importance, cause-and-effect order, and comparison-and-contrast order
Writing Craft
Paragraph development
- Unifying a paragraph around a central idea
- Developing topics with facts, examples, statistics, anecdotes, sensory details, reasons, and comparison/contrast
- Building an argument with reasons and evidence
- Using quotations to support opinions and ideas
- Writing well-developed supporting paragraphs that include topic sentences, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences
- Using transitions—Using transitional words and phrases to improve essay cohesion; Using transitions specific to a purpose
Style
- Writing sentences that sound smooth and natural
- Developing a distinct writing style and voice
- Using accurate and specific words, accurate phrasing, and appropriate connotation language to establish credibility
- Using figurative language to strengthen description
- Using verbals to unify ideas and improve writing style
- Writing with strong action verbs and nouns
- Using adjectives and adverbs to make writing beautiful
- Using specific and vivid words and phrases to add detail
- Avoiding cliches and metadiscourse
- Writing with a variety of punctuation
Genre conventions
- Maintaining a formal style for academic writing—Using tone strategically based on writing purpose; Maintaining objectivity in persuasive and informative writing
- Writing effective persuasion—Using sound arguments, persuasive techniques, and a call to action in persuasive writing; Summarizing an opposing side fairly and logically refuting its counterarguments
- Writing an effective narrative—Using humor to communicate a serious message; Using narrative techniques and features
- Writing effective poetry—Using poetic devices in a poem; Creating imagery for a poem; Converting abstract words into concrete images in a poem; Crafting the structure, rhyme scheme, and imagery of a hymn; Crafting a biblical allusion for a hymn
- Interpreting a passage of Scripture
- Demonstrating authenticity and humility in a college application essay
Collaborative writing
- Planning an essay
- Revising an essay
- Publishing an essay
Study Skills
- Building powerful habits for academic success
- Debunking study myths
- Developing executive functions
- Reducing cognitive load
- Ending procrastination and initiating tasks
- Learning to struggle productively
- Taking two-column notes
- Creating and using flashcards effectively
- Using apps to improve school performance
- Taking a break
- Using retrieval strategies
- Using SMART goals to develop good habits
- Transferring study skills to the workplace
- Thinking flexibly
- Working with your strengths and weaknesses
- Making connections to increase recall
- Unusual study strategies and the science behind them
- Preparing for final exams
Parts of Speech (and Verbals):
Review of all from Grade 11 plus the following new material: verbals-passive participle
Sentence Structure:
Review all from Grade 11 plus the following new material: absolute phrase
Mechanics:
Capitalization; punctuation; appendix of spelling rules
Usage:
Review all from Grade 11 plus the following new material: idiomatic use of prepositions
Writing Skills:
Review of all from Grade 11 plus the following new material: paragraph development-quotation, visual aid
Examples of Writing Projects:
Description: descriptive essay, comparison/contrast essay; Exposition: research report, response to a dramatic scene (literary analysis); Narration: dramatic scene, interior monologue; Persuasion: pursuasive essay; Poetry: sonnet; Multimedia: video report
Study & Reference Skills:
Review of all from Grade 11