About the Book: J&B Green Program Coursebook Level 1: “Essay Writing 11”

Behind every great essay is an excellent outline. J&B’s Green Program Coursebook Level 1: “Essay Writing 11” is dedicated to the ins and outs of outlining: the fundamental building blocks of a strong essay. This coursebook offers young writers (grades 4-7) the chance to break down the essay writing process step-by-step, understand its most essential components, and create outlines that set them up for success in the wonderful world of essay writing. After completing “Essay Writing 11,” every aspiring writer becomes an essayist. 

“Essay Writing 11” is more than just a coursebook—it’s filled with bi-weekly lessons, engaging writing exercises, and interactive homework assignments that get students thinking about essay writing logically and creatively. Its conversational approach to the iconic “five-paragraph essay” is designed to prepare students to read, write, and think about essay writing with finesse and clarity. The coursebook includes two chapters that separate the outlining process into manageable, logical steps that allow students to lay the building blocks for their outlines, define key terms, apply them to concrete examples, and try it all out on their own! The coursebook doesn’t just hold students’ hands—it teaches them how to pick up a pen and paper and write for the rest of their lives.

The coursebook is J&B’s tour de force, covering everything from constructing theses, introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs, to incorporating topic sentences, analyses, and evidence into “macro” and “micro” outlines. As students learn how to add details or summative sentences to their outlines, they bring holistic knowledge, time management skills, and a strong work ethic to the challenging nature of essay writing. Students who complete “Essay Writing 11” are more than prepared to write five-paragraph essays; with J&B, they’ve graduated into mature writers.  

Chapters 

5-Paragraph Macro Outline: 1 month

Week 1a: 5-paragraph macro outline – What is it? 

Week 1b: Thesis I – What is a thesis? 

Week 2a: Thesis II – How to create your own thesis 

Week 2b: Introduction - How to structure your introduction 

Week 3a: Body - How to structure your body paragraphs 

Week 3b: Conclusion - How to structure your conclusion 

Week 4a: Capstone project – Create your own macro outline from scratch 

Week 4b: Evaluation and feedback 

5-Paragraph Micro Outline/Research: 3 months 

Week 1a: 5-paragraph micro outline – What is it? 

Week 1b: Introduction I - How to create a compelling thesis 

Week 2a: Research - How to conduct academic research (MLA ref) 

Week 2b: Introduction II - Hook and background 

Week 3a: Introduction III – Polishing 

Week 3b: Body Ia – Create topic sentence #1 

Week 4a: Body Ib – Support topic sentence #1 with detail & evidence 

Week 4b: Body Ic– Analyze Body #1 

Week 5a: Body IIa – Create topic sentence #2 

Week 5b: Body IIb – Support topic sentence #2 with detail & evidence 

Week 6a: Body IIc – Analyze Body #2 

Week 6b: Body IIIa – Create topic sentence #3 

Week 7a: Body IIIb – Support topic sentence #3 with detail & evidence 

Week 7b: Body IIIc – Analyze Body #3 

Week 8a: Conclusion – How to structure a concluding paragraph 

Week 8b: Outline review & polishing – how to polish your outline 

Week 9a: Final Outline Project - Introduction 

Week 9b: Final Outline Project - Body 

Week 10a: Final Outline Project - Conclusion 

Week 10b: Review & polishing #1 

Week 11a: Review & polishing #2 

Week 11b: Peer review: sharing final projects 

Week 12a: Capstone project - Create your own micro outline from scratch 

Week 12b: Evaluation and feedback