Lukeion Writing Courses
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
--George Bernard Shaw
A giant handicap to all future success is the inability to express one's thoughts, opinions, and research well. This is why we not only offer plenty of writing instruction, we also require plenty of practice in classes that aren't typically writing-focused, like upper level Latin! Parents: just between you and ourselves, your kids really need a lot more experience with academic writing. So many students show up in high school classes without ever experiencing how to develop a proper outline, write a basic 5-part essay, how to use citation, how to begin and end a reasonable paragraph, or even how to write a basic thesis or conclusion! All of this is needed during high school. So much more is expected once a student starts college (especially if the program is even a little bit competitive!)
Good Writing is a core value at The Lukeion Project. Many of our semester courses feature a strong writing element for that reason because writing is thinking! Students are also given the framework necessary to develop the executive function to get that writing done on time. The following courses will strengthen writing skills in sequence. Ages are suggestions which may or may not apply to our gifted students but suggest a good ballpark for getting started. Don't skimp on writing instruction! Academic writing skills don't just develop organically. They need structure to grow.
For 12 and older: Skillful Scribbler & Master Mythologist
For 15 and older: Muse Series
For 16 and older:
Good Writing is a core value at The Lukeion Project. Many of our semester courses feature a strong writing element for that reason because writing is thinking! Students are also given the framework necessary to develop the executive function to get that writing done on time. The following courses will strengthen writing skills in sequence. Ages are suggestions which may or may not apply to our gifted students but suggest a good ballpark for getting started. Don't skimp on writing instruction! Academic writing skills don't just develop organically. They need structure to grow.
For 12 and older: Skillful Scribbler & Master Mythologist
For 15 and older: Muse Series
For 16 and older:
- Advanced Lit. Shakespeare's Greeks & Romans
- Advanced Lit. Tolkien (Why study Tolkien?)
- Advanced Classical Lit. (Myth and Epic)
- Classical History Series
- For 17 and older:
- College Composition - strongly recommended for anyone planning on going to college or planning to use writing in ANY way as an adult.
- College Research Writing - strongly recommended for anyone planning on going to college or planning to use writing as an adult. This skill will be much appreciated at the college level. We know because so many Lukeion alums write to tell us how happy they were that they already knew how to write a real paper on day 1 of college.
- AP English Lit.
- *AP Latin: writing an outstanding analytical essay is a central focus of this course in addition to excellence in Latin translation.
- College Composition - strongly recommended for anyone planning on going to college or planning to use writing in ANY way as an adult.
Skillful Scribbler (autumn course)
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Writing instruction during a student's elementary and early middle school years likely focused exclusively on creative writing projects leaving few students prepared to move into the demands of academic writing (5 part essays, outlines, citation, etc.). In this course, students will transition to high school level by mastering the essential basics of clear, precise academic writing.
The transition from elementary or middle school writing to high school writing can be a challenge. Younger students may lack experience and will not usually understand what is expected from them as an academic writer. High school students should be able to write well-constructed sentences, paragraphs, and papers in an academic tone. They should be able to write a strong thesis statement and they should know how to develop a logical and well organized outline. Students will be able to produce short well-organized academic papers. The Skillful Scribbler will take young writers confidently into the rigors of high school classes with the specialized writing skills. This course is especially beneficial to students who are more comfortable with creative writing than academic writing, or to students who want to better master the concepts of academic writing before hitting more challenging upper level high school classes. Thesis statements and academic tone will be emphasized along with organization. Students should have basic grammar and punctuation skills already mastered, though those will be addressed as needed. This class will not require any outside research. This is not a creative writing course. Recommended age 13+ (strongly recommended for grades 8 or 9 as students move into high school expectations). Autumn only
Scribble On - Independent Study - Spring semester only, independent This class is only for Skillful Scribbler (semester 1) graduates. There is no alternative program/course/curriculum out there that will prepare your child for academic writing like Skillful Scribbler. Students may not test out of the first semester. The Skillful Scribbler gives middle school /early high students an introduction to essential academic writing principals, but it’s just one semester. Keep your student's writing skills sharp for the rest of the year with our spring class, Scribble On. Students will have writing practice and feedback without being tied to a particular class time. Expect a @20 minute video each week. Students are given a writing assignment and a week to complete the task. Expect feedback and a library of short videos on specific skills. Scribble On will provide continuing practice of the academic skills learned in Scribbler, but will better accommodate your student’s hectic schedule. R. Baty Creative Scribbler - Spring semester only at 2:15 PM ET Students who would like to exercise their imagination and creative writing skills now have their chance! While most of us won't get to explore creative writing pathways too often as we mature, this class will be a great opportunity to learn the nuts and bolts of more creative genres. Creative writing helps develop not only a student’s creativity, imagination, and ability to think outside the box, but a love and feel for words and writing. Students will sharpen the precision of their word use as well as experimenting with language in new ways. This class also helps students learn to take and give criticism as they have the opportunity to workshop with their peers and receive feedback from their instructor. We will create short stories and poetry, and students will also be allowed to share writings that they may have been working on by themselves. Be prepared to share your work! R. Baty “Writing is the painting of the voice!” -Voltaire |
Special Summer College Application Essay-Writing Symposium
2023 session is June 5, 12, 19 at 11:30 am ET
This symposium is $69. Learn what college admissions committees really want to see in your application essay and then step through the process of writing that scary college application essay during 3 live sessions. Use up to 2 rounds of feedback will be available to help students develop a rough draft into a well-crafted essay ready for the admissions committee. Randee Baty
2023 session is June 5, 12, 19 at 11:30 am ET
This symposium is $69. Learn what college admissions committees really want to see in your application essay and then step through the process of writing that scary college application essay during 3 live sessions. Use up to 2 rounds of feedback will be available to help students develop a rough draft into a well-crafted essay ready for the admissions committee. Randee Baty
College Composition (autumn)
We’re particularly impressed by how you managed to coach [our son] to improve his writing. [He] has always been our problem child because of his ADHD brain and his writing has always been dreadfully scattered. You are the first instructor who has managed to convince him that outlines are a good idea. He’s always resisted them, so we were ecstatic when we saw that he was using them for your class. We were even more ecstatic to see the outlines and your instruction flow through to papers for other subjects." |
This course will help prepare students for the academic writing at the college and even the graduate level. Expect various types of formal academic paper assignments, such as narratives, compare and contrast, extended definitions, and more. The course will focus on skills such as elevating language to a more academic tone, recognizing the difference between active and passive voice, removing slang and clichés from writing, and adapting tone to one's audience, plus expressing one's statements effectively using a logical flow of thought. Students will practice crafting appropriate introductions, and conclusions. They will gain valuable experience in the development of ideas and organization of those ideas so that readers can best appreciate all their analysis and research! Writing assignments will be short, usually around three pages or less to practice specific skills such as writing a well-crafted thesis statement, topic sentences, academic tone, appropriate uses of the active vs. passive voice, persuasive tone, appropriate organizations and conclusions. Students must already be competent in grammar and should already have a variety of high school level academic writing projects completed in other courses.
College Composition is recommended for those working at the 11th and 12th grade level. Both College Composition and College Research Writing will help students understand the process and product of collegiate and writing at all levels. The courses are highly complementary but not prerequisite. Neither College Comp. nor College Research Writing are beginning courses! Students should already have completed a high school research assignment (or equivalent) before taking these courses. If a student has limited academic writing experience, we recommend students participate first in at least one of our courses that requires a research paper project developed during the semester or to have completed a research paper in some other college preparatory course elsewhere. All four of these semester courses introduce the basics of research paper writing on a topic that pertains to the subject at hand:
Instructor: Randee Baty |
College Research Writing (spring)
Parents and college-bound kids often focus on creating a transcript that will give the student every possible advantage during the college application process. While this is understandable, it is essential that today’s student look beyond the application process and into the more difficult challenges ahead: success at the nuts-and-bolts of good college skills such as time management, goal-setting, and tenacity (even in the face of disappointment and fatigue). The tools and, especially, the techniques of scholarly research plus how to write a research paper should top the list of must-have skills yet this form of composition is often overlooked in deference to more easily assigned (and more easily completed) creative writing projects during high school years. There's nothing wrong with creative writing, but 98% of college students will never be assigned a creative writing project. They will, however, be expect to write research papers.
Both the academic community (humanities, medicine, sciences, law) and the business world value one's ability to research a topic and produce a persuasive and authoritative paper or argument based on that research. Most first year college students are unprepared for this challenge. The dreaded research paper assignment or lab report strikes fear in the heart of most college students today. Many will spend several years floundering around before they begin to discover (through trial and error) what makes a really good research paper. More times than not, first and second year college students will spend far more hours than they would prefer in a college writing lab or working with a paid tutor trying to quickly master these skills in medias res.
The goal of College Research Writing class is to continue the basics learned in College Composition by introducing the student to a particular type of composition: research writing.
Topics include:
The ideal participant is working at the junior or senior level in high school and is college-bound. He or she already has composition experience (essays, reports, creative writing, or short--under 10 pages--research papers), meets deadlines, possesses good study skills, gives and accepts constructive criticism in a mature manner, and is adventurous enough to try new things.
Requirements:
There will be no accommodation or extensions for participants who fail to complete assignments on time, as assigned... just like college! If you get too busy to finish your projects, things go badly now and in the future.
Can participants devise a research paper topic or is one assigned?
This seminar simulates the requirements of the college classroom as closely as possible. We require students to write on a topic that is assigned on the first day of class for several important reasons:
Required texts:
We offer this course in the spring only, Tue at 3:30 PM ET
Instructor -- R. Baty
"There is no one else he would rather prep for college with:) Thanks for always doing such a great job!" - H. S., Lukeion mom
Both the academic community (humanities, medicine, sciences, law) and the business world value one's ability to research a topic and produce a persuasive and authoritative paper or argument based on that research. Most first year college students are unprepared for this challenge. The dreaded research paper assignment or lab report strikes fear in the heart of most college students today. Many will spend several years floundering around before they begin to discover (through trial and error) what makes a really good research paper. More times than not, first and second year college students will spend far more hours than they would prefer in a college writing lab or working with a paid tutor trying to quickly master these skills in medias res.
The goal of College Research Writing class is to continue the basics learned in College Composition by introducing the student to a particular type of composition: research writing.
Topics include:
- How to develop and refine a topic that is appropriate to the length and scope of an assignment
- Selection and use of appropriate scholarly sources plus how to cite them appropriately according to the style sheet assigned
- Academic style and tone
- How to take effective research notes/managing source materials throughout a project
- Developing an effective research timeline
- General use of style sheets (we will use the MLA8 for this course)
- Professor's expectations on college research projects (what will your professors want to see for a top score!)
- Project management and work flow
- Using a research library and online academic journal database
- Avoiding plagiarism like the plague
- Correct form for quotation and in-text citation
- Editing and revising techniques to refine your final product
- Understanding the weird creature known as professors
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (Sean Covey)
- The instructor will also share personal insights and advice about surviving and thriving in the college/university environment (insider tips!)
The ideal participant is working at the junior or senior level in high school and is college-bound. He or she already has composition experience (essays, reports, creative writing, or short--under 10 pages--research papers), meets deadlines, possesses good study skills, gives and accepts constructive criticism in a mature manner, and is adventurous enough to try new things.
Requirements:
- Visit a college or university research library to complete assignments
- Write two research papers on assigned topics
- Accept constructive criticism of his/her work as a learning opportunity
- Revise his/her work based on that constructive criticism
- Review and critique the work of others in the class
- Actively participate in the online sessions
There will be no accommodation or extensions for participants who fail to complete assignments on time, as assigned... just like college! If you get too busy to finish your projects, things go badly now and in the future.
Can participants devise a research paper topic or is one assigned?
This seminar simulates the requirements of the college classroom as closely as possible. We require students to write on a topic that is assigned on the first day of class for several important reasons:
- College students typically receive specific writing assignments from college professors for a specific topic with which a student may or may not be familiar when it is assigned.
- They don't get to write one paper and turn it in for several classes (this practice would be poorly received at best...cheating--and worthy of expulsion--at worst).
- Everyone receives the assignment at the same time; no student has an advantage or any extra time in the writing process, and no student is able to avoid the writing process by re-working a paper that's been completed for another class.
- One of the student's assignments is to do background research and refine a topic on an assigned subject, even one about which they have little knowledge. When students come with their topics already picked out, they miss this important learning experience.
- Professors teach subjects in which they are experts. For this reason, college students write papers on subjects in which their evaluators are experts. When the evaluator is not an expert in the subject matter, the paper evaluation becomes little more than an exercise in grading mechanics and writing style. Topics are assigned by the instructor.
Required texts:
- Covey, Sean. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. New York: Touchstone, 2014.
- We will be reading this book in its entirety. Parts of it will have a direct bearing on the research writing process, others will have more tangential application. Nevertheless, this book has long been recognized as great advice for students who want to be a success in college and in life.
- Harvey, Michael. The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2013.
- This little gem, now in its second edition, offers excellent writing advice for college writers in a very readable format. It focuses more on the writing aspect than it does the research aspect.
We offer this course in the spring only, Tue at 3:30 PM ET
Instructor -- R. Baty
"There is no one else he would rather prep for college with:) Thanks for always doing such a great job!" - H. S., Lukeion mom
AP English Literature (2-semesters)
Recommended ages: 16+. This college Board-approved AP course prepares students for AP English Lit. exam offered May (you must make your own arrangements with a local administrator to sit for the exam in May). We engage in a careful reading & critical analysis of imaginative literature. Explore how writers use language to provide meaning & pleasure for their readers. Students learn to consider a work’s structure, style and themes, as well as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism and tone. Writing intensive course. Expect summer readings. This is a two semester course, Tue 1 PM Instructor: Randee Baty
GO HERE For more information
See also:
Adv. Classical Lit. 1 & 2
Adv. Lit.: Shakespeare
Adv. Lit.: Tolkien
GO HERE For more information
See also:
Adv. Classical Lit. 1 & 2
Adv. Lit.: Shakespeare
Adv. Lit.: Tolkien