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BREAKING DOWN ACADEMIC WRITING INTO MANAGEABLE CHUNKS

BREAKING DOWN ACADEMIC WRITING INTO MANAGEABLE CHUNKS. By Tamara Milbourn , International English Center, University of Colorado at Boulder. Research Papers. What skills do students need to write a research paper?. Selected Skills. Selecting a topic Finding sources

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BREAKING DOWN ACADEMIC WRITING INTO MANAGEABLE CHUNKS

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  1. BREAKING DOWN ACADEMIC WRITING INTO MANAGEABLE CHUNKS By Tamara Milbourn, International English Center, University of Colorado at Boulder

  2. Research Papers What skills do students need to write a research paper?

  3. Selected Skills • Selecting a topic • Finding sources • Making connections among sources • Writing topic sentences • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Summarizing/Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Citing in the text • Writing concluding sentences • Creating end-of-text references

  4. Selected Skills • Selecting a topic • Finding sources • Summarizing/Paraphrasing • Creating end-of-text citations • Making connections among sources • Writing topic sentences • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Writing a concluding sentence • Citing properly • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Citing in the text • Writing concluding sentences

  5. Selected Skills • Selecting a topic • Finding sources • Summarizing/Paraphrasing • Creating end-of-text citations

  6. Three Summaries

  7. Three Summaries Students… • Choose a topic • Find an article • Summarize and respond (critically) to the article, including an end-of-text citation • Turn it in with the original article attached • When the first summary is handed back, they find a second article and then a third article on the same topic, repeating the process

  8. Three Summaries Benefits… • Students get practice picking their own topic • Introduces how to find sources • Focuses on summarizing and paraphrasing • Students comment in written form on the article • Only one end-of-text citation per summary • The summaries are done separately, so there is time for feedback and direction from the teacher • Three chances

  9. Selected Skills Three Summaries • Making connections among sources • Writing topic sentences • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Writing a concluding sentence • Citing properly • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Citing in the text • Writing concluding sentences

  10. Selected Skills • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Citing in the text • Writing concluding sentences

  11. Two Paragraphs

  12. Two Paragraphs Students… • Read two articles on a topic • Discuss the articles in class • Are given a topic sentence • Discuss the best support from each article • Paraphrase the support • Incorporate the support using reporting verbs and phrases as well as in-text citations • Write a concluding sentence • Repeat process with for a second paragraph on a different topic

  13. Two Paragraphs Benefits… • Not focused on topic sentence • Can focus on incorporating sources • Practice writing concluding sentences • The paragraphs are done separately, so there is time for feedback and direction from the teacher, especially on how to avoid plagiarism • Two chances

  14. Selected Skills Three Summaries • Making connections among sources • Writing topic sentences • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Writing a concluding sentence • Citing properly • Two Paragraphs--

  15. Selected Skills • Making connections among sources • Writing topic sentences • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Writing a concluding sentence • Citing properly

  16. Final Project

  17. Final Project Students… • Select two articles from their “Three Summaries” assignments • Write a paragraph demonstrating a relationship between the two articles

  18. Selected Skills • Selecting a topic • Finding sources • Making connections among sources • Writing topic sentences • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Summarizing/Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Citing in the text • Writing concluding sentences • Creating end-of-text references 1 3 1 1 6 3/6 6 6 3 4

  19. Final Project Benefits… • Focus on connecting sources through a topic sentence • Practicing everything else • Lessens the amount of mental stress the students have • Builds to better writing because academic writing has been broken down into manageable chunks

  20. Suggestions: Three Summaries • Make photo copies of the original sources or note the end-of-text citations • When you check the second summary, you can compare it to the first and see if you need to talk to the student about narrowing or shifting the topic • You have them around to double-check the paraphrases in the Final Project • If they are good, you can use them for a “Two Paragraph” assignment in the future

  21. Suggestions: Two paragraphs • In your daily life, look for articles that interest you. Then search for another one on the same topic • Toxic pollutants in the home • American levees • Adverse effects of cumulative lead exposure in the environment • Disadvantages of English as an international language • Foster care • Newspapers and magazines • Most ESL reading texts • TOEFL integrated materials • Altruism and “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS”

  22. Suggestions: Final Project • If students are having a hard time seeing a connection between their two articles, recommend that they look again at their responses • If the sources are not that great, turn it into a learning opportunity (“I should have picked different sources” or narrowed the topic more) • Enjoy correcting the grammar

  23. Research Paper • Selecting a topic • Finding sources • Making connections among sources • Writing topic sentences • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Summarizing/Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Citing in the text • Writing concluding sentences • Creating end-of-text references

  24. Research Paper Focus on organization • Introduction paragraph • Thesis statement • Body paragraphs • Concluding paragraph • Transitions between paragraphs Focus on ideas • Developing lengthier essays • Progression of ideas and coherence

  25. Research Paper Refine… • Selecting a topic • Finding sources • Making connections among sources • Writing topic sentences • Identifying solid supporting evidence • Summarizing/Paraphrasing • Using reporting verbs and phrases • Citing in the text • Writing concluding sentences • Creating end-of-text references

  26. Any questions or comments? BREAKING DOWN ACADEMIC WRITING INTO MANAGeABLE CHUNKS By Tamara Milbourn, International English Center, University of Colorado at Boulder

  27. http://cotesol.pbwiki.com/ By Tamara Milbourn, International English Center, University of Colorado at Boulder

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