The Kenexcellence Mark Twain prep program focuses on the essay writing portion of the creative writing test. Since our program is only on weekends from September to January (16 weekend sessions and 4 winter break sessions), we will only accept students with an ELA from 4th grade level of 3+. Time is limited, so we will not be doing extensive practice on the multiple choice section that deals with grammar and reading comprehension. Students who are not comfortable with grammar and reading comprehension on the program's starting date are too behind. Mark Twain only grades the essay when a certain benchmark for the multiple choice is reached.
In the first week, students will watch around 30 minutes of selected scenes for each related movie. If parents are curious in what the students are learning, they are welcome to attend the first week. By the second week, we will advise your child if he/she should put creative writing as his/her first or second choice. Instructors will be checking their grammar and structure in essay composition. Every week will have a different aim.
Through 10 years of research on previous exams, we discovered that topics are generally the same. They include, "wish," "survival," "time travel," "amusement park," etc... We believe analyzing movies is the best way to learn about details, which is what Mark Twain is looking for in creative writing. Therefore, we pick movies based on these categories for students to watch. For example, 2015 movies that have strong similarities to the usual topics include The Revenant (survival in the cold wild), The Martian (survival in space), The and Everest and Himalayas (survival in extreme cold), In the Heart of the Sea (survival on deserted island), Goosebumps (encounter with supernatural elements), Krampus (encounter with supernatural elements), Jurassic World (encounter with prehistoric life), and Tomorrowland (encounter with sci-fi elements). R-rated movies such as The Revenant will need parental consent to view.
On the actual exams, essay responses are required to be written in first person point of view. Therefore, in our program, the teacher will describe a scenario and students will be required to write a detailed, logical sequence of their expected reactions, incorporating their five senses. For example, for our study of In the Heart of the Sea, students will have to write how they will survive on a deserted island after being given a brief introduction by the teacher. Students will be exposed to numerous situations to help them adapt to variations.
Our program will be hosted at Hudson Yards in 2017-2018. We will have a program for the math and computer, art, vocal music, science, media (my program is broadcasting focused), and drama exams as well.
30 сен 2024
