This eight-week course will introduce middle school writers to exposition -- writing that is meant to inform or explain. Through the lesson content, students will review concepts like paragraphing and the writing process in general. We will also address the idea of audience and discuss the confusing issue of beginning sentences with conjunctions. In addition to a diagnostic assignment to begin the course, students will compose two expository papers in three drafts each, with the guidance and instruction of their personal writing coach.

Note: The assignments and lesson content of this course significantly overlap Middle School Writing 1. We therefore do not recommend this course for students who have completed Middle School Writing 1.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Students who complete the course will be able to…

• write effective expository papers.

• respond to coach feedback on their writing through revising and proofreading.

• understand and apply concepts like paragraphing, and audience awareness to their writing.

• identify and avoid wordiness.

• engage the writing process by employing the following five steps in composing every paper: prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, publishing.

• improve their expository writing across a wide range of broad evaluative areas, including content, style and form.