Description:

The PenPoint writing board is a home for students who love to write, who love to read writing, and who love to share writing with others. Writing is often a solitary act, but writers also need a community in which to grow. Mirroring the design of famous writing salons/groups like The Bloomsbury Group, The Algonquin Round Table, and The Inklings, this course fosters a Compass community that will encourage individual writers, promote literary collaboration and provide challenging feedback to boost creativity and artistic development.

First semester will focus on building a personal and creative writing portfolio to strengthen students' passions for genres and forms they are comfortable with as well as trying writing that is new to them. Using writing workshops to capitalize on what they already know and to encourage experimentation in unfamiliar areas, students can expect to grow as writers, editors and leaders in the homeschool community.

Students will use their own work and the works of professional authors to understand what makes good writing, to improve technique, to experiment with new forms/genre and to understand the drafting, editing and publishing process. They will explore publishing options through online platforms and hardbound journals.

Note:This is an online class with some meetings in a virtual classroom providing live, synchronous collaboration.

Topics in this Series: Creative Writing (Semester 1), Publishing (Semester 2) Students continuing from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Prerequisites: Advanced reading, writing, and analytical skills.

Workload: Students should expect to spend 2-3 hours per week outside of class on investigation, writing, or editing for this class. Assignments: Writing and editing assignments will be delegated by the student board. Assessments: In lieu of a teacher-provided assessments, writers will receive peer feedback on their own work, and the finished product will be a printed anthology for their portfolio.

Lab/Supply Fee: None

What to Bring: Students should bring laptops to class to work collaboratively and real-time on shared documents and the class portal.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a component (partial) credit in English for purposes of a high school transcript.