I am excited that we have had the opportunity to review the High School Essay Intensive from Institute for Excellence in Writing. Especially since we are fast approaching Mr. B taking the ACT test with it’s new optional essay section. Did I say that out loud? I must have blinked because I’m sure that we shouldn’t be ready for that yet! Although when I look UP to him I am reminded that the years have flown by.
We have always enjoyed the products that we have reviewed from Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) in the past so I felt confident this review would also be a good fit. (Previously we have reviewed: Teacher/Student Writing Package Level A with Fix It Grammar 1 & 2, Poetry Memorization, and Phonetic Zoo.)
High School Essay Intensive
The High School Essay Intensive includes:
- 5 DVDs with a run time of 6.5 hrs
- Student Handouts
- Portable Walls for the Essayist
Each of the five DVDs feature a separate part.
Part 1A: General Strategies for Essay Writing: Length and Structure
- Initial Exercise
- A Hurt and Rescue Operation
- What is an essay?
- Two Questions Writers Need to Ask
- Translating Assignment Length to Paragraphs
- Types of Paragraph
- The TRIAC Paragraph Model
- Essay Models
Part 1B: General Strategies for Essay Writing: Invention and Style
- Canons of Rhetoric
- Invention
- Practicing Common Topics of Invention
- Practice with TRIAC Outline
- Style
- Sentence Patterns
- Literary Devices: Schemes and Tropes
- Practice with Sentence Openers and Figures of Speech
Part 2: Understanding and Preparing for the New ACT® Essay
- ACT General Guidelines
- The Assignment
- Strategies for Planning
- Strategies for Writing
- Strategies for Proofing
Part 3: Understanding and Preparing for the Redesigned SAT® Essay
- General Guidelines
- The Assignment
- Annotating
- Handy Annotation System
- Annotating Practice
- Strategies for Planning
- Strategies for Writing
- Using Effective Vocabulary
- Strategies for Proofing
Part 4: Strategies for the Personal Essay
- General Guidelines
- Sample Essay Prompts
- Strategies for Planning: Pop out from the Crowd
- Strategies for Writing, Editing, and Proofreading
- A Not-So-Secret Secret
- Final Practice
- Concluding Comments
- Last Bits of Advice for Life
The Student Handouts
Copyright for these handouts states that for home use the purchaser may copy the booklet for use by mltiple children within his or her immediate family. However for small groups and co-op classes, each participating family is required to purchase a booklet which is a minimal cost of $10. Classroom teachers need to purchase student material for each student.
The Portable Walls for the Essayist
The tri-fold portable walls are a great resource! The front page defines the types of essays; Argumentative, Cause & Effect, Clarification, Compare-Contrast, Definition etc.
The first page on the inside goes through the basic essay model which includes Intro Ideas and Attention Getters, Topic Considerations, Conclusion Help and Solid Endings.
The middle page goes through the essay writing process and the TRIAC (Topic, Restriction, Illustration, Analysis and Clincher) while the next page goes through Strategies for Times Essays.
The two back side pages go into further detail about Specific Models and Transitional Words and Phrases. There is also a list of Prepositions to help the essayist use a variety of prepositions in his/her writing.
What Did We Think About the High School Essay Intensive?
“Mr Pudewa is good about keeping my interest and I learned a lot from him. He clarifies well and he often adds humor which makes it more fun,” Mr. B
As with the other IEW writing course we reviewed, I like that the process of writing is broken down so that it seems far less intimidating! It takes a task that to some seems quite overwhelming and turns it into a fun and doable class.
Connect with IEW on these Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excellenceinwriting
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/iewtv
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iew @IEW
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/iewriting/
I encourage you to read the reviews from other members of the Homeschool Review Crew!
Jennifer
