Mounds Park Academy

For MPA Students rising into 9th Grade

“Good writing is good thinking, and it takes pondering an idea.  If you don’t know what to write immediately, that’s normal and doesn’t mean you aren’t good at it.  All writing takes revision and thinking that takes time.” 

                      - Sara Mohn, MPA Upper School English Faculty

In this summer offering, students will learn habits, strategies, and skills aimed at setting them up to hit the ground running on day one of their English 9 class this fall. In a high-energy classroom, students will be asked to write responses to a variety of prompts. This course aims to utilize exercises and engagement with literature to develop analytical writing skills and mechanics. The structure and material were developed with input from members of the current Upper School English faculty at MPA.

Some specific skills include:

•       Reading with intention, annotating, and preparing to write      
• Outlining      
• Thesis development and refinement      
• Topic sentences and support of an argument      
• Finding and incorporating evidence      
• Introductions, conclusions, and transitions      
• Concision and precision      
• Revision–not just “fixing”      
• Grammatical work: passive voice, sentence structure, and fluency