First Quarter (W009A) Writing as a Process Peer Comments and Constructive Criticism Paragraph Organization and Development Persuasive Writing and Controversial Ideas From Paragraph to Essay Research Papers Second Quarter (W009B) Process Writing Description and Vivid Language Variety of Sentence Structure Considering Your Audience The Personal Essay Third Quarter (W009C) Introduction to Writing about Literature Plot, Character, and Setting Figurative Language and Imagery Tension and Conflict The Compare and Contrast Essay This three-quarter sequence in elementary expository writing is aimed at students in the 4th-6th grades. Students meet, via computer, once a week in the EPGY virtual classroom where they talk by microphone and share a whiteboard. The first two courses explore issues in paragraph organization and development, essay structure, and various rhetorical modes: personal narrative, description, process writing, and argumentation. The third quarter is an introductory course in writing about literature. Students write about plot structure, setting, character development, and conflict and tension in short stories. Admission and placement in the elementary writing sequence depends on a review of student writing samples.

Lectures

Two sample lecture screens from the Elementary Writing course.

The course is divided into several lessons, where new concepts are introduced through lectures presented as graphics accompanied by digitized sound. During or after each lecture, students are given questions and short weekly assignments that complement and extend the concepts covered in the lecture. These assignments are turned in each week to the course instructor.

Virtual Classroom Sessions

Students meet with instructors both as a group and individually to receive further writing instruction. Virtual Classroom sessions form an integral part of the course by allowing synchronous discussion of questions and ideas. Students and instructors view a common whiteboard display and speak to each other using Internet video and audio feeds. The virtual classroom format allows instructors and classmates to do extensive peer critique and revision of student essays.

In a virtual classroom session, displayed material often forms the basis of lively discussion.