English 2 will draw heavily upon the students’ knowledge of basic grammar in order to mature their writing. To prepare for this, students must be able to master the eight parts of speech as well as their functions in a sentence.

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The first step in writing is establishing the "comfort zone." Students need to feel at ease conveying their thoughts onto paper. If critique comes too intensely in this early writing process, students may doubt their abilities and feel discouraged. Therefore, these compositions are:

• Designed to be enjoyable, allowing the student to be creative and expressive

• Usually three paragraphs long, typewritten, and double-spaced

• A prime opportunity for the teacher to highlight strengths, offer encouragement and suggestions, and impart a sense of accomplishment

• A prime opportunity for the student to employ the rules of correct grammar, capitalization, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure they learn in class

Next we will strengthen their vocabulary. Vocabulary is like weight training. To build a strong muscle (vocabulary), one gradually increases both the weight (the difficulty of the words) and the repetitions (how many times the words are used) while keeping a consistent practice schedule (a list of twelve words a week). This weekly vocabulary program features:

• Charts to be filled out on each list, involving definitions and synonyms

• The students’ own original, descriptive sentences using their new words

• Spelling tests administered by the parent-teacher