In this one-semester composition course, students develop written communication skills. To achieve that goal, students practice description, word choice, sentence variety, imagery and many other techniques as they are used in sketches, essays, stories, speeches and poems. Writing assignments vary from paragraph descriptions to a full research paper on a student-selected topic. Many types of writing are practiced, including film reviews, poetry, character sketches and incident essays. By building their writing skills, students are better able to express their ideas for school assignments, in the workplace, and in personal messages. Who knows, some students may even write the first chapters of a novel!

Course materials: No required text

Standards met: All benchmarks in the Writing Strand of the Minnesota Language Arts standards are addressed.

Credit: 0.5 credit

Honors Opportunity: Yes

Prerequisites: 10th grade Language Arts course