English Core · Sentence Architecture & Control
Understand how sentences work. Use them with control.
Develop a thorough understanding of English grammar through paced instruction, cumulative practice, editing, and sentence construction before the rapid review of SAT English.
School-year terms meet weekly. Summer terms meet twice weekly. Placement and schedules are confirmed by Dr. Seo.
Course fit
Grammar & Sentence Structure
For students who need systematic grammar instruction, including fluent readers who have had little formal study of sentence structure. Entry is based on preparation rather than a required sequence of prior courses. Be ready for cumulative practice, careful error analysis, and applying grammar to authentic sentences and your own writing.
What students develop
Skills that carry into the next stage.
- Identify sentence parts, phrases, clauses, and complete sentence boundaries.
- Control agreement, tense, pronoun reference, and possessives.
- Use punctuation, modification, parallel structure, and comparisons accurately.
- Recognize, explain, correct, and construct sentences in context.
How we learn
Purposeful practice, growing independence.
Each instructional cycle connects a short explanation with identification, correction, sentence construction, and application to a paragraph. Cumulative retrieval builds dependable control. The goal is to use grammar to create meaning, with terminology supporting that work.
The course outline
Sixteen sessions of connected learning.
Each meeting builds on earlier work, with guided practice and growing independence.
- 01
Parts of speech by function
Classify the same word in different roles and identify what each word contributes.
- 02
Subjects predicates objects and complements
Locate sentence backbones and expand them without losing the central relationship.
- 03
Phrases clauses and subordination
Distinguish phrases dependent clauses and independent clauses.
- 04
Complete sentences and boundaries
Repair fragments run ons and comma splices using several valid structures.
- 05
Main verbs auxiliaries and verbals
Distinguish finite verbs from gerunds participles and infinitives.
- 06
Subject verb agreement
Resolve agreement across intervening phrases compound structures and inverted order.
- 07
Verb tense aspect and sequence
Maintain time relationships and select forms that fit the context.
- 08
Pronouns reference and cumulative checkpoint
Repair unclear reference and agreement then apply sessions one through seven in mixed editing.
- 09
Coordination and subordination
Choose structures that show addition contrast cause condition and concession accurately.
- 10
Modifiers and placement
Repair dangling misplaced and ambiguous modifiers.
- 11
Parallel structure and comparisons
Construct balanced series paired structures and logically complete comparisons.
- 12
Punctuation within and between sentences
Use periods commas semicolons colons dashes and parentheses according to clause structure.
- 13
Plurals possessives contractions and usage
Distinguish forms through grammatical role and meaning rather than appearance.
- 14
Sentence combining and emphasis
Create varied sentences while preserving clarity logical relationships and intended emphasis.
- 15
Editing authentic passages
Diagnose mixed errors explain corrections and preserve the writer's intended meaning.
- 16
Integrated control and final assessment
Edit explain construct and revise under decreasing support.
The English pathway
Choose the next step by readiness and goals.
SAT English Lecture Series retrieves and reinforces this foundation while introducing SAT question types. Students ready for college-level reading can later extend their skills through Language Lab II.
Explore SAT English