Growing Brave Writers

Essay training made simple

Finally, a program written for teens, to teens!

Delivered in our private, easy-to-use online classroom space!

Help for High School: Year One is a self-directed academic writing program.

This year-long program teaches rhetorical thinking and the essay formats most commonly assigned in high school and college.

Included in this program:

• Nine month-long modules of writing instruction
• Exercises that build critical thinking and argumentative writing skills
• Semester projects featuring two key essay formats
  • Narrative Essay 
  • Informative Essay
• Instruction in examining multiple perspectives and conducting research
• Lessons on how to incorporate various rhetorical techniques
• Samples and models for feedback are included

Modules are released once a month, beginning with Module One, available on August 15, 2026. 

Help for High School: Year One teaches teens how to think, argue, and create their own powerful writing style at the same time.

Your teen will build the following skills:

• developing a command of language
• adapting writing for particular audiences
• utilizing persuasive techniques in arguments
• creating a supported argument
• fostering a rhetorical imagination
• comparing and contrasting viewpoints
• discovering the role of narrative writing in academic formats
  
• conducting research using credible sources
  
• understanding viewpoint, bias, perspective, and facts
• creating in-line citations and works cited
• editing and revising for clarity and impact

This program is great for kids who are no longer struggling with writing. If your student has not written a report or finds it difficult to freewrite, start with the Building Confidence program. Learning those skills first will make Help for High School a much more successful experience.

Available in our custom-designed classroom. Students access each module in our online classroom where they move through the material at their own pace, independently. They can post writing in the classroom and comment on the posts of other students working through the program alongside them. 

Watch a quick walk-through of the Help for High School classroom space and how it works here.

There is no live instructor associated with the Help for High School classroom. Your teens move at their own pace and set deadlines that work for them!

Note: Help for High School: Year One is one part of the High School Writers Bundle. 

Here's an overview of what we will address in each month of this course.

You'll see nine months of material summarized below, but remember that this self-paced class is designed to be flexible. You can follow our suggested schedule or slow things down and/or reschedule tasks to fit your situation.

Module One: Writing Voice

To begin, you'll work on finding and molding your writing voice to serve varied writing situations and audiences.

Module Two: Find the Angles

Uncover the ways your identity and worldview impact how you perceive and interact with the world and how the perspective of others can influence what you read and write.

Module Three: Vivid Detail

Zoom in on particular experiences, memories, and scenes to engage and orient the reader using vivid detail and in-the-moment descriptions. 

Module Four:  Narrative Writing—Semester Project

You'll apply the skills practiced in earlier Modules to analyze narrative writing techniques and then draft, revise, and edit an original work. 

Module Five: Curious Research

Follow the spark of your curiosity as you research a complex topic. You'll use the strategies employed by professional fact-checkers as you widen the net to find credible sources and multiple perspectives on your topic.

Module Six: Level up Language

Utilize precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and rhetorical devices to engage readers and make ideas memorable. You'll practice these skills in argumentative writing.

Module Seven: Surprise!

You'll dive into the most overlooked yet most powerful literary device: the element of surprise in writing. You'll discover the impact of surprise as a way to engage a reader and subvert expectations. 

Module Eight: Hooks and Clinchers

Effectively introduce a topic to compel a reader to read more, and examine the role of the conclusion as a call to action, solution to a problem, or statement of relevance of the topic. 

Module Nine: Informative Writing—Semester Project

You'll apply the skills practiced in earlier Modules to analyze informational writing techniques and then draft, revise, and edit an original work. 

Help for High School: Year One contains some material from the former Help for High School manual, but has been revised and expanded into a year-long program with new content. 

Welcome to a Brand New Partnership Writing! 

You've told us you want more Partnership Writing projects for your 8-10-year-olds and that you love connecting them to Darts. We've listened!  

Partnership Writing One is designed for 8-year-olds (3rd grade), but the program offers maximum flexibility and can be easily adapted for children ages 5-12 to meet your family's needs. 

Team up with your young writers

Your child is a fluent speaker, bursting with stories and ideas they share with enthusiasm. You don't see that same energy show up in their writing. Partnership Writing helps you bridge the gap with your child. 

The most overlooked practice in writing is working with a partner. When you partner with your child, writing skills and confidence soar!

Partnership Writing brings writing voice and writing formats together while guiding you to navigate this exciting stage of writing development!

Included in the Partnership Writing One program:

• Tools to plan the projects
• Tools to track the skills your child gains
  
• Support for charter school, portfolio, and evaluation reports
• A sample schedule (routine) for how to incorporate these practices into your year
  
• Guidance on incorporating the Brave Writer Lifestyle and oral language practices 
• Suggestions for pairing projects with Dart Collection One novels

Projects for Collection One:

[Want to compare Collections? We've got them all listed in one easy document!]

Partnership Writing One is comprised of nine four-color PDF files—one for each project. They look great on tablets and iPads, or can be printed. The product is non-consumable and can be used for multiple children at once. Each project can be done more than one time with a fresh topic to practice the formats.

Some projects will draw on the original Partnership Writing, but with all-new features, layout, and guidance.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Partnership Writing One projects will be released, one per month, starting August 15. Each project PDF will be available for download in your Brave Writer account, where you will also find other support materials. We will email you a monthly reminder with additional guidance on implementation. 

Note: Partnership Writing Collection One is one part of the Emerging Writers Bundle One

Jumpstart your middle school writers

Want your Middle Schoolers to feel good about writing while also gaining important academic writing skills? 

Building Confidence offers a slew of engaging writing projects that introduce tweens to a variety of writing formats and prepare them for a life of self-expression and academic achievement.

Combine style with skill!

Your middle schoolers will:

• Indulge wild word play
• Design a dust jacket book review
• Report on a natural disaster
• Keep a diary as a historical figure
• Examine headlines for bias
• Learn the features of great fiction
• Discover the joy of writing poetry
• Write a semester length report and celebrate with a party
• ...and so much more!

Confidence and competence are around the corner!

Middle School is a great time to introduce academic writing skills.

You'll guide and coach your middlers in:

• summary
• reporting
• conducting research
• notetaking
• citing sources
• letter writing
• book reviewing
• interviewing

Included in the Building Confidence program:

• Guidance for poetry recitation, word play, nature study, art appreciation, music, and movies
• Twelve month-long writing projects: reports, interviews, letters, poetry, fiction, advertisements, diaries, literary elements, book reviews and more
• A tool to plan the projects
• A tool to track the skills your child gains
• A sample schedule (routine) for how to incorporate these practices into your year

This program can easily last more than one year and can be adapted for families with children between the ages of 10 and 15. If your student is in high school but not yet a confident writer, start here. These projects lay the foundation for the Help for High School program skills.

Building Confidence is 160 pages in a four-color PDF file. Looks great on tablets and iPads, or can be printed. The product is non-consumable and can be used for multiple children at once. Each activity can be done more than one time with a fresh topic to practice the formats.

Note: Building Confidence is one part of the Middle School Writers Bundle.