Grades 7 to 8 - Staking a Claim

In their transition to high school, seventh and eighth graders develop their ability to express themselves logically, clearly, and with effective use of detail. Practicing expressive skills such as connecting observation to emotion, avoiding clichés, and using strong verbs strengthens students’ ability to convey their unique perspective and “hook” the reader. Focusing on a single topic or theme, students are able to establish an argument and use evidence to back up what they claim. They also learn to identify and eliminate common technical errors such as inconsistent verb tense, sentence fragments, and run-on sentences. The WEX Method™ helps students discover the power of their own voices and trains them to assess their writing carefully and critically so that errors are minimized.

Introductory Module:

• Getting Started

Core Skill Modules:

• Focus (topic development)
• Showing
• Sentence Mechanics and Usage II
• Dialogue and Evidence I
• Dialogue and Evidence II
• Setting and Context I
• Setting and Context II
• Logical Structure I
• Logical Structure I

Core Genre Modules:

• Personal Essay
• Short Story
• Response to Literature
• Persuasive Essay

Additional Skill Modules:

• Strong Verbs
• Sensory Detail
• Character Development
• Verb Tense
• Subject Verb Agreement II
• Punctuating and Formatting Quotations
• Dialogue and Evidence III
• Varying Sentence Style
• Minimizing Cliché
• Playing with Voice