Miss Lorraine 101
Private Tutoring and Small Classes
since 1994
"Come to the edge," he said.
They said, "We are afraid."
"Come to the edge," he said.
They came. 
He pushed them . . . and they flew.
Guillaume Apollinaire
Class Descriptions
Creative Writing -- Jumpstart
This class is for students, typically junior high school level, who want or need to improve their writing skills. If you have a child who is more apt to stare at a blank piece of paper for twenty minutes than write something on it – this is the class you want. The objective of this class is to encourage students to write freely, to have fun with it, and to play with ideas as they discover their own voice in a light-hearted, non-threatening environment.For students who already enjoy creative writing, this class is an opportunity to share their work with peers, receive personal feedback, and take on new challenges as the class explores a variety of writing styles, themes, and genres. Students will learn:* The elements of vivid description* How to hook their audience* How to construct memorable characters* How to build suspense * How to write natural dialogue Students will be writing in class and encouraged (but not required) to orally share what they have written. Students are also encouraged to write at home. I suggest four ten-minute long free-writes a week about anything that comes to mind. Students are welcome to share their original works with the class and may submit them to me for personal feedback, along with their other work. It should be remembered that the purpose of this class is to encourage the hesitant writer. While I will make note of spelling, capitalization, and grammatical errors, and may suggest ways in which a student can improve their technical writing skills, I will not do so to the point where it detracts from the enthusiasm of putting forth ideas on paper. This class is best suited to junior high school students. * Class size is limited to eight students
* Class meets for one 2-hour session per week
* Cost is $10.00 per student per week, paid monthly in advance
Note: In my experience, each group tends to take on a character of its own. I try to accommodate particular interests that arise within any given group – to allow their interests and enthusiasm to help shape the direction of the class. One such class was not so thrilled with poetry – but enamored of fantasy fiction. So, along with the skills listed above, we have studied the elements of a good “fight” scene, various ways to depict transitions through portals, and how to introduce a flashback or a daydream. They decided that they’d like to put together a collection of their favorite original works in the form of an anthology, and I’ve been given permission to post it here on the website – Click here: Write Now! | ||||||
Click on links for class descriptions, and rates.
Beginning American Sign Language
Class consists of vocabulary building and basic sentence structure. Practicing at home will be required to keep up with this course. Weekly tests are given. Both children and adults are welcome. Finger dexterity and willingness to practice and study at home are the criterion for this class. * Class size is limited to eight students
* Class meets for one 2-hour per week, for 8 weeks. (Home-school students consideringthis class for foreign language high school credit should see below.)* Class is $10.00 per student per week, paid monthly in advance* Required text: A Basic Course in A.S.L.Note: ASL fulfills foreign language requirements for high school credit.. I offer an extended 26-week class for home-school students considering this option. Grades wil be provided. This course builds on the skills developed in the Jumpstart class. It introduces more sophisticated and subtle writing techniques, through the examination of a variety of short works. Authors include Poe, Shelley, Shakespeare, Thurber, Jackson, Maugham, Steinbeck, Frost, and others. Film clips are also used for quick illustration. I recommend this for freshman year high school students and up. Students will learn to first identify, and then to imitate, the techniques and styles illustrated by these authors, including phrasing, alliteration, meter, imagery, tone, foreshadowing, and symbolism. SAT level vocabulary is an integral part of this course. Fifteen words are introduced each week to be included in free-writes, followed by vocabulary tests. One other writing assignment is given weekly. Students share their work with the class and personal feedback is given, as well as grades.* Class size is limited to four students.* Class meets for one 2-hour session per week.* Cost is $15.00 per student per week, paid monthly in advanceIn this class a student's knowledge of tone and style as developed through creative writing becomes a real asset. Developing a "hook" in creative writing for a broad audience is now modified for a specific audience--the college admissions board. This audience reads a thousand essays in a few short months, each responding to the same essay question. Standing out, without being outlandish, is the goal. Students will learn to refine their creative writing skills into clever observations, analogies, and comparisons. The essay questions are drawn from actual college admission and scholarship applications, as well as the SAT prep book. Essays will be started in class and often need to be finished at home. Students will be editing and revising their work based on feedback. This class is graded.
* Class size is limited to four students
* Class meets for one 2-hour session per week* Cost is $15.00 per student per week, paid monthly in advanceCreative Writing -- First Steps
This class is for students, typically grades 3-6, who know how to write a complete sentence. They should have knowledge of basic punctuation and capitalization, and be familiar with nouns, verbs and adjectives. This is not to say they have mastered these concepts - just that they are familiar with them. It is especially recommended for young students who "hate" writing or find it boring. The goal of this class is to show the students that writing can be fun. The purpose is to move them from simple sentences to more complex sentences through the inclusion of adjectives and adverbs, and to gently reinforce the idea that things like spelling and punctuation matter - if they want their ideas to be understood. This is the first step in creative writing: transforming a sentence that "tells" the reader something, into a sentence that "shows" the reader something. To keep class lively and fun,I use sentence starters involving giraffes in bikinis, dandelions that are allergic to pollen, and chipmunks that roar like lions. I appeal to the student's sense of humor in order to spark the imagination. Due to the age targeted, I am tempted to subtitle this class "Let the Silliness Begin".
There is typically one handout, and a creative assignment to be completed each week for homework. If, by the end of the eight-week class, the students are excitedly sharing what they've written with friends and family -- I've done my job.
* Class size is limited to six students
* Class meets for 1-1/2 hours per week
* Cost is $7.50 per student per week, paid monthly in advance
This class will delve into academic essay writing through an examination of op-ed pieces, speeches, and television advertising.
Advertising uses the same basic appeals to pitch their products as some essayists use to pitch their opinions and ideas. Through a brief study of television advertising, students quickly learn to identify shallow and superficial appeals to status, social acceptance, sympathy, pity, fear, elitism, and celebrity endorsement -- as opposed to sound reasoning.
The goal is for students to develop critical thinking skills as they begin actively looking for emotional appeals, fallacious arguments, bias, and omissions in what they see, read, hear and, ultimately, in what they write themselves.
Students will write essays that inform, assert, compare and contrast, persuade, argue, and entertain. This class is graded.
* Class size is limited to four students* Class meets for one 2-hour session per week* Cost is $15.00 per student per week, paid monthly in advanceAcademic Essays and Critical Thinking
Working the Personal Essay
A Study in Creative Writing
SAT Prep
Test, assess, fill in the gaps, repeat...
The key to the SAT's is being prepared, and aside from having a well-rounded knowledge of English and Mathematics, that means understanding the scoring system and being comfortable with the time constraints. Students need to have a plan of attack and to implement it without undue stress. Becoming familar with the test is essential, especially for homeschoolers, who seldom sit with 30 other students and perform with a the clock ticking. This class is designed to accomplish that goal. Classic Literature & Literary Analysis
This course is specifical designed to prepare a student for college level literature courses, in which they will be expected to analyze increasingly complex and subtle works of literature. Students will learn the requisite vocabulary and literary elements used to discuss literature at the college level, including: - author's pertinent biographical information - historical relevance of the novel - forms of naration - arch types, and character development - theme, symbolism, irony, foreshadowing - climax, anti-climax, denoument - setting, tone, voice and registerThis class requires 25-50 pages of reading per week, as well as, outlining, writing, and rewriting an analysis for each classic read. It is designed with the college bound student in mind - whether or not they have a specific love of literature. ..... Still constucting ----More to come
Conversational Sign
This class continues to build vocabulary, while focusing on fluency and receptive skills. Students will practice these skills through class participation, storytelling and song interpretation. Both written and practical test will be given weekly. Grades will be provided.* Class size is limited to eight students (Prerequisite: Completion of 26-week Beginning American Sign Language course.)* Class meets for one 2-hour session per week. for 26 weeks* Cost is $10.00 per student per week, paid monthly in advance* Class is limited to students who have completed 24 weeks of Beginning American Sign Language. Private Tutoring
Any of the classes listed can be tutored privately, ($15.00 per hour) or semi-privately ($12.50 per hour) at my home in Dartmouth. Tutoring is available in Mathematics including Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry. Rates are adjusted (to accomodate for prep time) for students with specific needs that fall outside the parameters of the courses listed above.
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New Classes
American Sign Launguage
Beginner Class
all ages
10 Week class starts Feb.18th
Thursdays, 12:00 - 1:30
See class descriptions Special class - special rate $70.00
(paid in two installments)
Sorry class is full
Class Openings:
Creative Writing -- First Steps
ages 8-11
Thursdays, 10:00 -- 11:30 p.m.
2 seats open
Sorry: Tuesday's class now full
Creative Writing - Jumpstart
ages 12 and up
Thursdays 2:00 - 4:00
2 seats open
Oak Knoll Nature Center, Attleboro (link)
If you have questions or want to reserve a seat email:
Book Reports, Research Papers, and Essays
This class is divided into three segments, each lasting about 3 months. Student will learn the basics of each writing task. This class is geared toward junior high school students. Book Reports – This section introduces the basic elements in a book report. Students will need to read two books at home, and will be taking notes as they read. Their reports will include pertinent information on the author, publisher, copyright, historical background of the time period, genre, narration point of view, an assessment of the main characters, a brief summary of plot, the climax, and student recommendation. (This course is adapted from my Classical Literature and Literary Analysis course for high school, college bound students).
Research Papers – In this section, students will select a subject that interests them, and learn to discern the most important information as they research, how to take notes, and how to arrange the information in a logical order. The basics of bibliographies, and footnote citations will be introduced. The end product will be a typed 3-5 page research paper, properly formatted, with footnotes, and bibliography.
Essays – This section will introduce the opinion essay. Subjects will be introduced with two sides presented (an example might be socialization: home-school vs. public school, growing up in the city vs. in the countryside, which makes a better pet: dog vs. cat), or students may make suggestions to present a subject they are passionate about (with parental approval). Students will learn to organize their thoughts and present their opinions in a logical order.
* Class size is limited to eight students
* Class meets for 1and 1/2 -hours per week
* Cost is $10.00 per student per week (paid monthly in advance)
* Classes are filled first come – first serve.
For those who have inquired about continuing classes online, I have the webcam up and running. For anyone else interested in this format - please drop me an email. Thanks, Lorraine
