ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
Not all courses are offered every semester. Contact us for availability of classes in a given semester.
All courses are offered in-person and online.
Middle School Courses
The Narrative Essay (Grades 4-5)
In this course students will study and learn to apply the mechanics of grammar within a theme-based approach of journal writing, short story responses, and essay prompts, gaining confidence as writers as they learn strategies to apply to any writing task.
12-week course – 1.5-hour classes – Offered during Fall Semester
The Persuasive Essay (Grades 4-5, 6-7)
In this course students will study and learn to apply the mechanics of grammar within a theme-based approach of journal writing, short story responses, and essay prompts, gaining confidence as writers as they learn strategies to apply to any writing task.
12-week course – 1.5-hour classes – Offered during Spring Semester
Critical Reading and Writing – (Grades 5-6, 6-7)
Students will learn critical reading strategies to gain a deeper understanding of what they read. Analyzing and evaluating tone, defining main idea, making inferences, understanding context clues and identifying cause/effect. In addition, students will learn to apply the mechanics of grammar as they write responses to reading passages, constructing sentences for fluency, meaning, and style. Moving from paraphrasing and summarizing to essay writing, students will gain confidence as writers as they learn strategies to apply to any writing task.
12-week course – 1.5-hour classes – Offered during Fall & Spring Semesters
Writing Workshops (Grades 5-9)
Each class is guided by a theme and paired with a short piece of fiction. These pieces of fiction are launching points for writing, and students move from class discussion of the author’s stylistic choices, to imitation of those choices, to the creation of their own works. This course is a great fit for those students who already have some interest in / experience with writing. It is also a great opportunity for lovers of literature who want to turn their appreciation of writing into active engagement! Students will study and learn to apply the mechanics of grammar, and gain confidence as writers as they learn strategies to apply to any writing task.
6-week course – 2-hour classes – Offered during our Summer Session
High School Courses
Looking Toward a Mastery of English Grammar (Grades 8-10)
Give your child a jump-start on polishing and honing grammar skills now to improve language abilities, produce those A+ essays, and develop lifelong critical reading techniques. Do you know what a comma splice is or understand why it shouldn’t happen in standard written English? How about parallelism and its importance in writing? In elementary school, students learn the eight parts of speech and the elements of a sentence. For many, that is as far as the grammar study goes, and just knowing those elementary grammar rules is not enough as you progress through the grades and on into college. Effective communication in speech and writing—and possessing critical reading techniques—comes from understanding how the English language functions. College entrance exams such as ACT or SAT, and AP exams require a student to know and understand those tricky technical aspects of English Grammar—and much more. This 12-week course specifically focuses on technical grammar lessons and exercises, annotation instruction and several short writing exercises for practice.
6-week course – 2-hour classes – Offered during our Summer Session
Literary Essay (Grades 8-10)
Students will learn the ins and outs of the literary essay beginning with the mechanics of insightful writing— how to respond to a text, balance summary with response, make the most of quotation, transition between topics, etc. Students will read several short pieces as a group, discussing various elements of fiction, and formulating an argument around them. Students will write 2-3 pieces across the duration of the course applying what they learn to polish their skills. Revision and peer-feedback, as well as instructor feedback, are a weekly feature of this course. Students will learn to both understand and meaningfully engage with literature, and discover how literature can inform and shape our lives.
12-week course – 2-hour classes – Offered Fall & Spring Semesters
Crafting an Unforgettable College Essay
This course will teach students how to write a college application essay that will set them apart from other talented candidates. The essay is an opportunity to impress an admissions team that may be on the fence regarding your application. While much of the application review process is automated, the essay is an opportunity for students to be evaluated on their creativity and personal experiences. And, with the recent changes in SAT requirements, the college app essay will hold more weight.
6-week course – Offered during our Summer Session - Combination of group lessons private sessions
SAT Verbal Prep
This course is designed to optimize one’s performance on the verbal subsets of both the SAT. Students familiarize themselves with the ins and outs of the exam, situating lessons in reading strategies and grammar in the context of the SAT’s standardized question and answer formats. We also focus on time management skills through a series of timed practice drills. Exit exam is administered at the end of the course. Students receive progress report at the end of the session with recommended areas for additional study.
12-week course – 2-hour classes – Offered during our Spring & Summer Semesters
The Research Paper
Research papers pose a different challenge than other forms of writing students are tasked with in high school. This course breaks down this process—daunting as it can seem—into a series of discrete steps, from pre-writing through copy-editing. Students select a topic that is of academic interest, formulate a question concerning said topic, and then proceed to research the larger conversation that surrounds their question. Finally, they contribute their own voice to this larger discourse. This class is a great fit for those students entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year of high school. All subjects and interests, from history to poli-sci to social studies and beyond, are encouraged!
12-week course – 2-hour classes – Offered during Fall & Spring Semesters
Not all courses are offered every semester. Contact us for availability of classes in given semester.
Private Tutoring is also available.
Here's what our students and their parents are saying:
“In this class, the instructor helped me create my college essay which got me accepted into several colleges.
They take the time to go over ideas with each person, through groups and one on one sessions.
Most importantly, they're there to help you.
I was more than happy with the essay I came up with during the class and I couldn't ask for a better teacher”.
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“Also, he (Jack) raved about the essay writing tutor (and Jack is not inclined to raving). He said the essay tutor made his essay so much better and he learned a lot about the writing process and he's very happy with his college essay. Jack said the tutor was able to point out areas of improvement without actually doing any of the writing (obviously) or making Jack feel bad about his own writing. Jack gave him high reviews”.
~ Erin Palumbo
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"My son, Tanay, used to love writing short stories with illustrations during elementary school. His experience with some of the English teachers in middle school left him with a bad taste and he completely lost interest in writing. What is even worse, he lost his confidence, and things went downwards in English language. He couldn't even write 2 paragraphs at one point.
When we reached out to MathAltitude, I was a little hesitant as we didn't know Mr. Walsh. But things clicked between Tànay and Mr. Walsh and soon Tànay was back to writing and he found himself enjoying reading.
Mr. Walsh is a great educator. I say this because it is not easy to bring back that confidence in a kid who had completely lost interest in a subject and wanted to quit.
It was not just about the writing instruction, but the confidence that Mr.Walsh instilled in my son was amazing.
Tànay is working on writing his own book some time soon. He cherishes the time he spent with Mr. Walsh and is forever grateful for his help."
~Rashmi Rajegowda
