Yucai Chinese School Syllabus

High School English Writing 2017-2018

Week # / Date / Skills Taught in Class / Assignment
Fall 1 / 9/9/2017 / Note-taking, outlines, writing from notes / Jigsaw Puzzles paragraph
2 / 9/16 / Writing from notes, -ly adverbs / Chameleon paragraph
3 / 9/23 / Story Sequence, quality adjectives / Stone Soup, para. 1 & 2
4 / 9/30 / Story Seq., strong verbs, quotation marks / Stone Soup, para. 3
5 / 10/7 / Story Sequence, five-senses words / St. George & Dragon
6 / 10/14 / Summarizing a ref., who-which clause / 1-paragraph report
7 / 10/21 / Research report, fused outlines, clausals / 1st body paragraph
8 / 10/28 / Research report, MLA in-text citations, sentence opener #2 / 2nd body paragraph
9 / 11/4 / Research report, MLA Works Cited, sentence opener #3 / 3rd body paragraph
10 / 11/11 / Research report, intro & conclusion, sentence opener #6 / Intro & conclusion
11 / 11/18 / Writing from pictures, comma usage, sentence opener #5 / 3-paragraph description
12 / 12/2 / Writing from pictures, comma usage, sentence opener #4 / 3-paragraph description
13 / 12/9 / Writing from pictures: editorial cartoon / 2-paragraph analysis
14 / 12/16 / Review games and activities / None
15 / 1/6/2018 / Narrative Essay, writing from your brain / 3 body paragraphs
16 / 1/13 / Narrative Essay, intros & conclusions / Intro & conclusion
Spring 1 / 1/20/2018 / Ways to organize your essay / 3-paragraph essay
2 / 1/27 / Ways to organize your essay / 3-paragraph essay
3 / 2/3 / Quickly outlining your essay / 2-paragraph essay
4 / 2/10 / Cause/effect organization / 1 paragraph
5 / 2/17 / Problem/solution organization / 1 paragraph
6 / 2/24 / Chronological organization / 1 paragraph
7 / 3/3 / TRIAC method / 1 paragraph
8 / 3/10 / Compare/Contrast essay / 2-paragraph essay
9 / 3/17 / Writing from a prompt, ACT/SAT prompts / 3 body paragraphs
10 / 3/24 / Writing from a prompt, intro/conclusion / Intro/conclusion
11 / 4/14 / More writing from a prompt, practice ACT / 3 body paragraphs
12 / 4/21 / More writing from a prompt, practice ACT / Intro/conclusion
13 / 4/28 / Timed essays: in-class writing / In-class essay
14 / 5/5 / Timed essays: in-class writing / In-class essay
15 / 5/12 / Timed essays: in-class writing / In-class essay
16 / 5/19 / Make your essay stand out from the crowd / None

Lessons and assignments are subject to change. In order to be graded by the instructor, assignments must be submitted in class the week after they are given and must be typed, double-spaced, with the appropriate markings and checklist attached. This course uses the Institute for Excellence in writing methods. Techniques are introduced one at a time and practiced in all papers after they are introduced, allowing students to gain plenty of practice. The first half of the year teaches specific writing techniques; the second half of the year focuses specifically on writing essays, especially for the writing portion of college entrance exams like the ACT and SAT.