Level: Form III (7th–9th grades)
Subject(s): English
Description:
In this class with Mrs. Hartenburg that incorporates both report-style and descriptive writing, students will learn the structure and style of various essay formats and will produce original essays including integrated quotations, MLA in-text citations, and a properly formatted “Works Cited” page. An intensive overview of style elements will assist students in developing vivid vocabulary and sophisticated sentence variety. Throughout the course, students will gain an awareness of sentence structure and grammar that goes hand-in-hand with their growing ability to amplify and manipulate the parts of a sentence. Students will also write short fiction and poems of various forms.
In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another two to three hours each week completing assignments at home.
Note: This course may be offered on rotation every other year and will NOT be offered in 2025–26.
Materials:
Families purchase the following required supplies: (Except for text/workbooks, linked brands for items are suggestions.)
Grammar Option 1:
- Easy Grammar Plus: Student Book ISBN: 9780936981147
- Easy Grammar Plus Student Test Booklet ISBN: 9780936981536
- Easy Grammar Plus: Teacher Edition (with answer key) ISBN: 9780936981130 (You can buy in a set with the 2 other required Easy Grammar books to save!)
Grammar Option 2:
- Jensen’s Punctuation ISBN: 9780890519943 (if Easy Grammar Plus was previously completed)
Families also need to supply:
- Previous BHSC Writing students should plan to reuse their dedicated 3-ring notebook binder. New students will be issued a binder and dividers on the first day of class.
- Composition notebook
- Pens, black ink, 2 or more
- Pencils, 3 or more, pre-sharpened and ready to use
- Colored pencils, erasable, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and brown
- Erasers
- Dictionary & Thesaurus—for home use. Consider apps such as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus.
- Recommended/Optional: Reinforcing stickers for strengthening/repairing holes in notebook paper and handouts
Students must also have a public library card and access to the library as they may be required to secure and read library books and research articles.
Finally, students will need to be able to type, print, and email assignments using a sharable word processing program compatible with Microsoft Word.
