Pre-Recorded Essay Writing Workshops taught by Anna-Maria Lane, certified and experienced middle school and high school English teacher

To enroll in essay writing workshops, please fill out the Enrollment Form. Essay writing workshops may be added on to your student’s Grammar and Usage Workshop course or may be purchased as stand-alone workshops. Receive one free independent-study essay workshop with enrollment in one full level of Grammar and Usage Workshop – Independent Study, one free instructor-graded essay workshop with enrollment in one full level of Grammar and Usage Workshop – Self-Paced, or two free instructor-graded essay workshops with enrollment in one full level of Grammar and Usage Workshop – Instructor-Paced.

General Workshop Information

For independent study workshops, parents will be sent a file with the video lessons and handouts. A checklist and rubric are included to help students and parents evaluate the writing assignment.

For instructor-graded workshops, students turn in assignments on Google Classroom and receive feedback (no letter grade issued unless the student is taking the workshop as an add-on to the comprehensive grammar and usage course). The instructor is available to answer questions through the private comments section of the Google Classroom assignments. Students are offered feedback and revision suggestions on a rough draft and are given final feedback on a final draft. Some workshops also contain writing exercises that students will complete before completing the main assignment. Students work at their own pace or at a pace determined by a parent. No due dates are given. (The instructor will not monitor pacing unless this workshop is being completed as an add-on to the instructor-paced grammar and usage workshop.)

Essay Workshop Descriptions

Workshops are à la carte. They are listed below in the order in which I recommend most beginning or intermediate writers complete them. Advanced writers may prefer to skip around or to skip some workshops entirely.

Descriptive Paragraph and Essay – Available by August 1st, 2025

In this five-session, pre-recorded video workshop, students will read strong examples of descriptive writing (by other students and by professional authors), will learn descriptive writing techniques, will write a descriptive paragraph, and will transform that paragraph into a descriptive essay. This workshop is great for students who want to learn how to create vivid, powerful imagery that brings their writing to life, students who need to learn or review basic paragraph structure, and/or students who are ready to learn how to write a well-organized essay. This workshop is geared toward the 7th-9th grade level but would also be a good fit for younger advanced writers or older students who need to review paragraph and essay structure or who would like to make their writing more descriptive. For this workshop, students will need the book Breakfast on Mars and 37 Other Delectable Essays: Your Favorite Authors Take a Stab at the Dreaded Essay Assignment edited by Rebecca Stern and Brad Wolfe. This book can be found on Amazon for $8.69 and can be often found at the library.

Click Here for Descriptive Paragraph and Essay Student Writing Samples

Descriptive Paragraph and Essay Independent Study – $20

Descriptive Paragraph and Essay Instructor-Graded – $40

Personal Narrative Essay – Available by October 1st, 2025

In this six-session, pre-recorded video workshop, students will read strong examples of narrative writing (by other students and by professional authors), will learn and practice the elements of strong narrative writing, and will write a personal narrative essay about a memory. This workshop is geared toward the 7th-10th grade level but would also be a good fit for younger advanced writers or older students who want to review narrative techniques! For this workshop, students will need the book Breakfast on Mars and 37 Other Delectable Essays: Your Favorite Authors Take a Stab at the Dreaded Essay Assignment edited by Rebecca Stern and Brad Wolfe. This book can be found on Amazon for $8.69 and can be often found at the library.

Click Here for Personal Narrative Student Writing Samples

Independent Study – $20

Instructor-Graded – $40

Creative Informative Essay – Available by November 1st, 2025

In this six-session, pre-recorded video workshop, students will read strong examples of creative, informative writing (by other students and by professional authors), will learn basic essay organization (including how to write a thesis statement), and will learn descriptive writing techniques. This workshop is geared toward the 7th-10th grade level but would also be a good fit for younger advanced writers or older students who want to review essay-writing skills. For this workshop, students will need the book Breakfast on Mars and 37 Other Delectable Essays: Your Favorite Authors Take a Stab at the Dreaded Essay Assignment edited by Rebecca Stern and Brad Wolfe. This book can be found on Amazon for $8.69 and can be often found at the library.

Click Here for Creative Informative Essay Student Writing Samples

Independent Study – $20

Instructor-Graded – $40

Research Skills and Guided Research Paper – Available by December 1st, 2025

In this nine-session, pre-recorded video workshop, students will learn basic research skills, such as how to avoid plagiarism, how to take notes and organize notes, how to paraphrase, how to summarize, how to properly use quotations, and how to cite sources. Students will write a guided research paper on the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. This workshop is geared toward the 8th-10th grade level but would also be a good fit for younger advanced writers or older students who want to review research skills.

Click Here for Guided Research Paper Student Writing Sample

Independent Study – $30

Instructor-Graded – $40

Argumentative Essay (with research) – Available by September 1st, 2025

In this twelve-session, pre-recorded video workshop, students will read strong examples of argumentative writing, will learn rhetorical techniques, and will review the research skills learned in the Research Skills and Guided Research Paper workshop (or elsewhere) as they work toward crafting a researched argumentative essay over a topic about which they are passionate. Students who enroll in this workshop should have already taken the Research Skills and Guided Research Paper workshop or should have other prior experience with research skills. This workshop is geared toward the 8th-11th grade level but would also be a good fit for younger advanced writers or older students who want to review rhetorical techniques and research skills.

Click Here for Argumentative Essay Student Writing Samples

Independent Study – $30

Instructor-Graded – $50

New workshops are added periodically. If you would like to stay updated about live, online writing and grammar workshops for 6th-12th graders, please sign up for the Grammar and Writing Workshop email list to receive occasional emails about new workshops.