Online Writing Curriculum for Middle School Students

The Language Arts curriculum in Time4Learning covers everything from phonics and grammar to spelling, writing, and literature. For parents and students that desire more personalized middle school level writing instruction, Time4Writing offers eight-week courses. Each middle school writing course includes online writing instruction and quizzes and gives students access to one-on-one feedback from a certified writing teacher.

Homeschoolers can use Time4Writing as their core writing curriculum or as a supplement to other programs they are using. School students will find it helpful to either fill in specific writing gaps or to challenge themselves with more advanced writing opportunities.

At the middle school level, Time4Writing offers targeted instruction in areas such as grammar and mechanics, paragraph writing, and essay writing. Courses are available in all levels, whether your middle schooler is ready for beginning, intermediate, or advanced instruction. See below for the full course catalog and overviews.

Basic Level Middle School Writing Courses

Understanding grammar and usage is the core of any foundational writing program. This is the first of a two-course series in writing mechanics. This first course focuses on basic fundamentals such as sentences versus fragments, subjects and predicates, subject-verb agreement, and capitalization. By the end of this course students will have reinforced the grammar rules they learned at the elementary level, and will be prepared for even more grammar and mechanics understanding in the follow-up course, “Middle School Writing Enhancement.”

In this unit, students are introduced to the common types of sentence errors that writers make, as well as how to avoid these errors in their own writing.
In this unit, students learn about plural and possessive nouns and how to properly use them in sentences.
In this unit, students study both the simple and complete subject forms in a sentence.
In this unit, students study both the simple and complete predicate forms in a sentence.
In this unit, students begin identifying the singular and plural uses of subjects and verbs and how to make them agree within a sentence.
In this unit, students learn how to master even the trickiest types of subject-verb agreement.
In this unit, students find out how to capitalize words both on their own and within the context of sentences.
Taking all that they’ve learned in previous units, student demonstrate mastery of capitalization, subject-verb agreement, and sentence writing. They will also practice proofreading to spot errors in those areas of their own writing.

Intermediate Level Middle School Writing Courses

Once middle school students have completed the beginner level “Basic Writing Mechanics” course, they are ready for more technical grammar and mechanics study. This intermediate level course delves into subjects such as comma and semicolon placement, words that are often confused, capitalization, and compound sentences. By the end of the course, students should have mastered the fundamentals of strong grammar and mechanics and how to spot errors in their own writing.

In this unit, students will review what makes a complete sentence and take a closer look at declarative and interrogative sentences.
In this unit, students learn about exclamatory and imperative sentences and the appropriate punctuation for each.
In this unit, students study about verb tenses and how to properly identify and use each in sentence writing.
In this unit, students examine even more verb forms such as progressive and perfect verbs as well as how to edit sentences for tense problems.
In this unit, students begin to understand how to correctly use adverbs and adjectives to liven up their writing.
In this unit, students learn how to use conjunctions, commas, and/or semicolons to combine sentences.
In this unit, students find out all the uses for commas including listing items in a series, setting off words and phrases, and direct addresses.
In this unit, students will take what they’ve learned in previous lessons to practice editing writing for spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors.

Paragraphs are what give most every kind of writing its structure. In this course, students learn how to deliver their message clearly and concisely using a well-structured paragraph. They will cover topic sentences, closing sentences, and how to use details to enhance their writing. They will also explore different types of paragraphs such as narrative, descriptive, and expository.

In this unit, students will review sentence writing and are introduced to using a topic sentence to express the main idea of a paragraph.
In this unit, students learn about using details to develop and support the main idea of a paragraph.
In this unit, students study about closing sentences and how they restate the main idea of the paragraph. They will practice writing a full paragraph.
In this unit, students learn how to use lists in a paragraph and how to order steps chronologically when writing.
In this unit, students begin to understand how to tell a story with a paragraph.
In this unit, students are introduced to using descriptive language in paragraph writing to help the reader see and feel what the writer is sharing.
In this unit, students will take what they’ve learned in previous lessons and apply it to writing a narrative essay.
In this unit, students will use their proofreading skills to review and edit both expository and narrative paragraphs they have written.

Once students have studied proper grammar, sentence structure, and paragraph writing, they are ready to combine those skills into writing a formal essay. Students learn to communicate even more complex ideas in clear and concise writing. They will gain practice in creating both narrative and expository essays, allowing them to hone their skills as young writers and prepare for writing at the high school level.

In this unit, students learn how to convey information by writing an expository paragraph.
In this unit, students learn how to tell a story by writing a narrative paragraph.
In this unit, students will use an outline or graphic organizer to plan out and then write a narrative essay about an event in their lives.
In this unit, students study how descriptive language can enhance a narrative essay and make the reader more engaged.
In this unit, students begin to understand how dialogue advances the story in a narrative essay.
In this unit, students are asked to write a five-paragraph expository essay.
In this unit, students will explore how research using a variety of sources is used when writing an expository essay.
In this unit, students will take what they’ve learned in previous lessons and apply it to writing both a narrative and expository essay.

Advanced Level Middle School Writing Courses

Middle school level writers who have met the challenge of Time4Writing’s “Middle School Essay Writing” course may be ready to push their writing skills to the next stage. This course uses the foundation of other grammar, paragraph, and essay courses to let students explore how different types of writing are appropriate for different mediums. Students will understand that they can have one style of writing for formal academic exercises such as standardized tests, and a very different style when communicating with friends and family. They will also be introduced to choosing a style of writing based on what they are trying to accomplish.

In this unit, students will review the elements of a narrative essay and practice writing using setting and chronological order.
In this unit, students will review the elements of an expository essay and practice writing using logical, relevant facts.
In this unit, students learn how to use descriptive language and varying sentence structure to write either an expository or a narrative essay.
In this unit, students go back to the roots of good grammar to write an essay about their favorite hobby.
In this unit, students examine how to use logic and reason to persuade an audience on the topic of their choice.
In this unit, students are introduced to the 5 Ws and 1 H strategy of information-gathering when writing a news article.
In this unit, students will explore the medium of internet writing and will create their own homepage.
In this unit, students will use dialogue and stage directions to write a two-scene script.
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Add a Time4Writing Course

Time4Learning.com combines 3,000+ multimedia lessons, printable worksheets and graded activities in a student-paced environment that brings concepts to life. By adding Time4Writing courses, parents give their students access to weekly online lessons and a certified writing instructor whose personalized feedback will build their writing skills.

I just wanted to let you know that I loved all the feedback that you gave Daniel during this course! The course was a great fit for Daniel. I love the course and have recommended your website and programs to other parents. I feel the strong points of your program are the very short, targeted lessons, the specific feedback given within 24 hours, and the opportunity to extend the eight-week timeframe if needed. We are planning to start Middle School Essay Writing on Monday. — Parent of a Middle School Paragraphs student

I believe that this course has improved my essay writing skills. I can now effectively organize my thoughts and insert dialogue into any type of essay. I have also acquired the ability to write an essay faster. The teacher is great, and every time I make a mistake, she explains what I did wrong. I recommend this course to anyone who wants to become a better writer. — Student taking the Middle School Essay course

After you have completed your Time4Learning registration, head to your Parent Dashboard to add on the Elementary Time4Writing Course of your choice.

Other Available Courses

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Elementary School Writing Courses
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