This year, Danielle Lee is offering the following online classes:
- Adventures in Writing: 4th-5th Grades
- American Writing: 6th-8th Grades
- Inspire Writing: 6th-8th Grades
- Critical Thinking: Ethics in Writing: 9th-12
- Part I (Fall Semester)
- Part II (Fall and Spring Semester)
Adventures in Writing: 4th-5th Grades
After rave reviews, this class is back! Step by step lessons teach students how to find, communicate, and develop strong ideas through a variety of techniques and genres, some of which include the short story, biography, mystery, news report, adventure, and more. Students are encouraged to gather ideas and information for their topics through interviewing, fact-finding, and note-taking. Throughout the year, your student will enjoy compiling these responses into a personalized portfolio. This course is a wonderful introduction to the basic writing process, so join us as we make writing an adventure!Semester Fee: $90/semester
Recommended Resources: Writer’s Express: A Handbook for Young Writers, Thinkers, and Learners (2000 edition) published by Great Source Education Group; ISBN-10: 0669471658; ISBN-13: 978-0669471656
Skillsbook:
Beginners (4th grade): Writer’s Express: Skills Book, Level 4 by Dave Kemper (1999 edition) ISBN-10: 0669471682; ISBN-13: 978-0669471687
Advanced (5th grade): Writer’s Express: Skills Book, Level 5 by Dave Kemper (2000 edition) ISBN-10: 0669471704; ISBN-13: 978-0669471700
Note: The Handbook is highly recommended because students are referred to specific pages in the text each week for additional reading. The Skills Books are supplemental resources, in case you do not already have a grammar and mechanics curriculum in place. Resources can be found online through sites like Amazon or Half.com. Otherwise, contact the publisher at Great Source Education Group: www.greatsource.com or 1-800-289-4490.
Sample for Adventures in Writing
American Writing: 6th-8th Grades
Inspire teen writers with fresh topics on the life and history of America. Whether “touring” American hotspots, comparing city life to country life, or exploring famous architectural sights, students learn to gather information and express their own ideas about our American heritage. In this class, students will experience a variety of writing forms and essays in order to develop and improve their individual writing styles. This includes learning to build and develop solid paragraphs that grow into strong essays, complete with an introduction, body, and conclusion. More advanced writers can also benefit as they are given options to explore outside resources that add interest through relevant, supporting details. Students progress at their own pace, so no matter how much previous writing experience the student has had, he or she will be evaluated on an individual basis. Each assignment develops basic research skills, and each response is critiqued in context based on grammar, mechanics, and content.Semester Fee: $115/semester
Text - Basics: The Student’s Guide to Writing and Research (by Danielle Lee) This text is included in the fee for the course. Students will receive a copy of the text in the mail upon registration. Note: One text will be mailed per student; students returning spring semester will not receive an additional textbook.
Note: Because this writing course revolves around American history and life, this instruction would be a wonderful complement to a study on American history or literature. As another idea, writing projects can be compiled into a creative poster project or portfolio for a homeschool exhibition or fair.
Sample for American Writing
Inspire Writing: 6th-8th Grades
(Formerly called "Powerhouse Writing")Capture the love of writing! In this course, students learn how to bring writing to life through assignments designed to energize and motivate. Through topics like extreme sports, incredible escapes, and conspiracy theories, students learn how to communicate and refine their writing styles. Throughout this course, they will learn to build their writing, starting with a solid paragraph that grows into a strong essay, complete with an introduction, body, and conclusion. Regardless of the student’s past experience with essays, this course will build the student’s confidence in developing and communicating his or her own ideas. Our various forms of writing include the descriptive, expository, and persuasive responses, along with the short story, journal entry, and editorial response. Assignments develop basic research skills. Each response is critiqued in context based on grammar, mechanics, and content.
Semester Fee: $115/semester
Text - Basics: The Student’s Guide to Writing and Research (by Danielle Lee) This text is included in the fee for the course. Students will receive a copy of the text in the mail upon registration. Note: One text will be mailed per student; students returning spring semester will not receive an additional textbook.
Sample for Inspire Writing
Critical Thinking: Ethics in Writing, Pt. 1 (Fall Semester):
9th-12th Grades
Challenge students to weigh tough questions through a course that relates critical thinking to real life. Students will learn to think critically: to understand the difference between fact and opinion; to consider other perspectives and bias; to evaluate ideas found in literature, movies, and the media; to compare current issues with historical events; to predict long-term consequences for ideas; to examine fallacies in logic; and to support ideas with reliable resources and logical arguments.
As writers, students will also learn to communicate their ideas in essays, drawing from supporting details, outside sources, and personal reflection. Taught from a Judeo-Christian worldview, this course will challenge students with tough ethical topics, such as bioethics, moral relativism and tolerance, the value of animal and human life, definitions of art, “revisionistic history,” censorship, and much more.
Like the other on-line classes, students will receive an e-mail each Monday with the week’s assignment, which they must complete by Friday. For this course, assignments must be sent as a Word attachment.
Course Fee: $115/semester
Required Texts: (Students are responsible to find copies for…)
- How to Be a Christian in a Brave New World, by Joni Eareckson Tada and Nigel M. de S. Cameron
ONE of the following books:
- The Crucible, by Arthur Miller
- The Giver, by Lois Lowry
- Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
- The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis
Critical Thinking: Ethics in Writing, Pt. 2 (Fall and Spring Semester):
9th-12th Grades
In this continuation from our first semester, we will focus primarily on ethics in the media, examining such texts as news reports, movies, and advertisements, as well as the corporations behind those messages and values. This course will teach students how to read for meaning and comprehension; how to ask questions; how to identify values and worldviews through symbolism, metaphor and allegory in the medium; and how to perform interpretive, but supported meanings. Students will learn useful techniques and terms, such as fact vs. opinion, absolute truth, direct vs. indirect claims, and persuasion vs. propaganda. The coursework focuses on reading, writing, research, and critical thinking activities, as well as application and creative presentation of ideas.
Course Fee: $115/semester
Required Texts: To be announced.
Sample for Critical Thinking: Ethics in Writing
To register for an online writing class, please see our
registration form.
Reminder: Fees must be paid in full by the first day of class. $20/student/semester is non-refundable with registration. No refunds will be given after the third week of class.