Section One is designed to help you regain your confidence in your writing skills by practicing them and using your imagination with fun, loosely structured creative writing activities. It encourages you to use your unique voice, style, and creativity in a variety of writing styles and structures.

• Introduction to Section One: Building Confidence
  2m10s
• Before You Begin - Journal Assignment
  2m5s
• Pre-Lesson: Writing With A Purpose
  2m14s
• Pre-Lesson Handout: Writing With A Purpose
• Part One: Writing to Entertain Introduction
  1m32s
• Lesson #1: Cartoon Strip
  2m4s
• Activity #1
• Lesson #2: Horoscope (with alternate lesson idea)
  1m18s
• Activity #2
• Lesson #3: Anecdotes (Part 1)
  3m17s
• Activity #3
• Lesson #4: Anecdotes (Part 2)
  1m25s
• Activity #4
• Lesson #5: Poetry
  1m25s
• Activity #5
• Part Two: Writing to Inform Introduction
  1m38s
• Lesson #6: Recipe of "Me"
  2m
• Activity #6
• Lesson #7: Quick Messages and Notes
  1m16s
• Activity #7
• Lesson #8: Formal Letters
  1m13s
• Activity #8
• Part Three: Writing to Persuade Introduction
  1m48s
• Lesson #9: Personal Advertisement
  1m11s
• Activity #9
• Lesson #10: Magazine Advertisement
  2m5s
• Activity #10
• Section One: Building Confidence Wrap-Up
  1m4s

Section Two introduces the basic structure of sentences, sentence types, and basic grammatical techniques for varying sentence structure. The lessons in Section Two: Sentence Structure are designed to help you learn or review the basic parts of a sentence and sentence construction, using grammatical elements to improve your writing.

• Introduction to Section Two: Sentence Structure
  1m55s
• Part One: Sentence Types and Fragments
  1m15s
• Assignment #1-A
• Assignment #1-B
• Part Two: Clauses, Commas, and Conjunctions
  1m25s
• Assignment #2
• Part Three: Noun, Adjective, and Adverb Clauses
  1m22s
• Assignment #3
• Part Four: Appositives, Gerunds, and Punctuation
  1m5s
• Assignment #4
• Part Five: Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences
  1m17s
• Assignment #5
• Section Two: Sentence Structure Wrap-Up
  1m53s

When you follow a formula, putting paragraphs together is just as simple as writing sentences! In Part Three, you will learn or review the basic parts of a paragraph and paragraph construction, and use this knowledge to piece sentences together to construct a variety of well-written paragraph types.

• Introduction to Part Three: Paragraph Structure
  2m7s
• Part One: Paragraph Structure, Topic, and Main Idea
  1m28s
• Assignment #1
• Part Two: Topic Sentences
  1m47s
• Assignment #2
• Part Three: Supporting Details
  1m38s
• Assignment #3
• Part Four: Concluding Sentences
  1m18s
• Assignment #4
• Part Five: Sentence Combining & Varying Sentence Beginnings
  1m55s
• Assignment #5
• Part Six: Paragraph Types, Summarizing, & Paraphrasing
  1m42s
• Assignment #6
• Part Three: Paragraph Structure Wrap-Up
  1m41s

In Part Four, you are introduced to the basic terminology and essay structure that you will be working with for the duration of this program, and into The Essay Architect Writing Sytem. You will learn how to write titles, grabbers, topic sentences, thesis statements, challenges, using appropriate tone, author's purpose, and more.

• Introduction to Part Four: Learning the Basics
  2m13s
• Part One: Learning the Basics
  1m30s
• Lesson #1: Writing Effective Titles
• Lesson #2: Writing Grabbers
• Lesson #3: Writing Focus Statements
• Lesson #4: Writing Thesis Statements
• Lesson #5: Writing Topic Sentences
• Lesson #6: Writing Challenges
• Part Two: Crafting the Basics
  1m47s
• Lesson #7: Types of Essays & Author's Purpose
• Lesson #8: Reading an Essay Prompt
• Lesson #9: Using Appropriate Tone
• Lesson #10: Short Response and Essay Questions
• Part Four: Learning the Basics Wrap-Up
  1m27s

Now that you have more confidence in the basics of writing and have been introduced to the parts of an essay, it is time to take what you've learned to construct a basic essay. In Part Five, these lessons aim to get you to the next level of writing—the simple, formal, five-paragraph essay- by working and learning the process collaboratively or on your own, depending on how you are learning this system.

• For Educators - Group Essay: Notes and Agenda
• For Educators - Group Essay Handouts and Worksheets
• Introduction to Section Five: Essay Fundamentals
  1m43s
• Part One: Organizing Your Ideas
  1m49s
• Lesson #1-A Brainstorming Ideas
• Lesson #1-B Organizing Your Essay
• Part Two: Introductions and Conclusions
  1m52s
• Lesson #2: Introductions and Conclusions
• Part Three: Essay Evaluation & Peer Editing
  1m50s
• Lesson #3: Essay Evaluation and Peer Editing
• Section Five: Essay Fundamentals Wrap-Up
  1m33s

The process of polishing is like putting the icing on the cake. You have been provided with numerous resources that will help you repair and improve your essays through the use of bridges (transitions), improved word choice, more active verbs, more powerful details and examples, and more. Once you have completed the process of polishing your essay, you will have a well-written, well-structured final product that you can be proud of!

• Section Six: Polishing Your Essay
  2m15s
• Lesson: Show, Don't Tell
• Lesson: Identifying Idioms and Expressions
• Lesson: Using a Dictionary
• Lesson: Using a Thesaurus
• Resource #1: Essay Prompt Keyword List
• Resource #2: Using Transition Words
• Resource #3: Character Traits List
• Resource #4: Commonly Confused Words List
• Resource #5: Using Vivid Verbs
• Resource #6: Most Misspelled Words List
• Resource #7: Words that Enhance Writing
• Resource #8: Words to Avoid
• Resource #9: Identifying Tone and Mood