English Writing

English Writing Grades 2-12

Mill Creek Academy offers its premier writing program for grades 2-12.

• Our curriculum delivers writing content following State standards.
• The course is for highly motivated students who realize writing is a craft requiring a great deal of practice and attention.
• Students practice different modes of writing, refine reading comprehension skills, and implement new and relevant vocabulary.
• Students receive detailed paper commentary from the instructors, allowing them to visually see how they can revise their essays.
• With each revision draft, students learn how to write well.
• Curriculum changes each session at every grade level.

AP English Preparation Grades 11-12

The AP English Literature and Composition Exam tests proficiency in a full year of college Freshman English.

• This course simulates the challenge of an introductory course in college and includes a challenging workload throughout the session.
• A successful score on the AP Exam waives the first year of college English.
• Equally important, the AP English exam evaluates analytical and writing skills.
• Students strengthen academic prowess: extensive readings, discussions, and essays provide the experience they need to do well in this course at their school site.
• Expect students to work hard and find personal reward in their diligence.

Timed Writing Grades 7-11

Timed writing is an essential element of many placement and entrance exams required for college.

• Students who learn strategies for developing strong and concise content in a timed environment have an advantage going into these exams.
• This class focuses on the content, form, and style of successful writing.
• Students study work meeting conventions and standards for high school level writing.
• Participants also practice weekly timed writing, which they examine, share, and edit during class.
• The class addresses syntax, grammar, and format as well as conceptual depth, teaching students how to write a clear, strong, pertinent essay in 45 minutes or less.

Creative Writing – Finding Your Writer’s Voice Grades 5-12

All of our favorite books start with a writer’s imagination. This creative writing course gives your child an opportunity to explore their creativity in writing and bring remarkable characters to life.

• Students are given tools to help inspire creative ideas and learn to develop those ideas into a concrete plot.
• Students work on developing an aspect of their creative story, which includes the characterization, plot development, and resolutions.
• We allow students the room to explore their imagination with the hopes they may even create their own heroes, villains, quirky sidekicks, and creative plot lines.
• In the process, students begin to explore their own writer’s voice, finding confidence in their story-telling.
• We focus on making writing come alive with lessons on plots, dialogue, setting, and tone.
• At the end of the session, each student has written a creative story and composed a written piece of poetry.
• The high school creative writing course includes an added element of publishing to enhance student’s understanding of the creative writing process.

Confidence in Poetry Grades 7-8

Poetry is often a subject area most students fear due to the brevity in words that comes with poetry writing. However, students do not realize poetry is the foundation for building analytical skills.

• Students learn that poetry allows a writer and reader to engage over a series of thoughts and together, define meaning that is beyond the text.
• Students write and read poetry from different writers, genres, and styles – exploring major poetic terms.
• Through nightly journal writing and in-class peer review critiques, students have many opportunities to respond critically to famous works of poetry as well as their self-composed poems.
• Students work on an element of oral presentation in a creative manner, whereby students will select a poem of their own choice and create a video recording of their reading, interpretation, and response to the poem.
• This course removes the anxiety associated with poetry and students realize that poetry is no longer intimidating, but rather inviting and engaging.

The Analysis of Harry Potter Grades 7-8

Calling all Harry Potter fans! This course gathers the most revered fans of J.K. Rowling’s novel series.

• Students who have read or plan to read the entire series, find themselves on a journey into the underlying themes, character analysis, and discussions on the Harry Potter series.
• Embedded in this masterpiece of writing are connections to historical contexts, Latin roots, and analytical musings that will challenge a young reader’s mind.
• Guided by a Harry Potter faculty member, students explore deeper thematic levels of meaning developed throughout the series, as well as J.K. Rowling’s allusions to classical literature and vocabulary.

Word Wizardry Grades 7-8

Word Wizardry is designed for Junior High students (grades 7-8).

• The course focuses on celebrating the language skills of reading, understanding and using words with an emphasis on building vocabulary.
• Strategies are introduced to make learning vocabulary exciting!
• By teaching the use of mnemonic devices, implementing vocabulary word games, and creating sentences using vocabulary words; the students will see that vocabulary development is not only important, but also fun!
• Please note that the curriculum changes each session.