Center for Creative Learning
Andrew Holyfield
Hi everyone! My name is Andrew. I graduated Summa Cum Laude at UC Riverside in 2016, with a B.A. in Creative Writing. While there, I completed the Honors Program, published a thesis, was an editor for both the campus Research Journal and Honors Program literary journal, joined the Writing Program as a Teaching Assistant, and completed three MFA courses, all with a 4.0 GPA.
Tutoring started for me in the campus Writing Program, in which I tutored eighteen students per week. Around that same time, my younger brother, diagnosed with Aspergers, started college. I tutored him during his four-year journey to receive his Paraprofessional Certificate.
Nerdy as it sounds, I love Grammar and read often (in-between Netflix binges). Until my time at UC Riverside, I abhorred reading and preferred the trusty summaries from Spark Notes. I know English and writing can be both challenging and boring, but perhaps all a struggling student needs a little help and positive reinforcement. If that sounds like you or your kid, I'd love to help.
I’m a published songwriter with 20+ years experience in the music industry.
From Sentences to Essays
Homework: Yes! Homework is REQUIRED in this class. Writers need to write to become better writers!
Ages: 10-12
Requirements: Students must be willing to participate in both collaborative work and in sharing their own writing. This class requires discussion, board work, worksheets in grammar & collaboration. While most students come out of their shells after the initial weeks, it is important that each writer brings a level of commitment to this course.
This is designed to help writers create strong and grammatically correct sentences, paragraphs with strong topic sentences, cohesive content and conclusions, effective transitions to new or expanded ideas, and strong conclusions to their essays.
We will focus on grammar and syntax from the sentence through the paragraph, reviewing parts of speech, how to recognize them, their functions and how they work together to form complete thoughts. We will study the four sentence structures, their components and the importance of sentence variety. We will also be learning about the editing process and how to strengthen one's writing with meticulous revision in four simple steps: line edits, structural changes, addition/omission, and proofreading. As we progress through the year, we will take the concept of the sentence and discuss how this translates into the paragraph and how essays are structured.
Writing only gets better when we practice writing! In this class, writing is required outside of the classroom.
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Andrew Holyfield