This course is required for all 9th-grade students.

Composition provides students with an opportunity to learn to write a variety of essays (narrative, descriptive, persuasive, argumentative, and research).  Students will have frequent opportunities to write for different audiences and purposes, using a process that includes: (1) prewriting, (2) outlining, (3) drafting, (4) peer sharing, (5) revising (content) and editing (grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage), and (6) producing a final product.  For peer sharing with each essay, students will have received training in providing constructive, substantive feedback, as well as role-playing as members of the author’s target audience. Selected readings provide models of effective writing techniques and opportunities to evaluate and discuss the writings of others.  In addition to providing instruction in writing clear, coherent, and organized text, this course will teach strategies for collecting, utilizing, and evaluating creditable research; students will learn strategies to find sources, as well as how to avoid plagiarism by properly citing sources. Students will develop a functional understanding of language and writing vocabulary through instruction on grammar, usage, and mechanics as relevant to student writing.  Though not every piece of writing has to be put into final form, those that are should follow accepted conventions of language, style, mechanics, and format. Electronic student devices are used to support writing instruction.