Teaching Academic Writing

My underlying theory in teaching writing is to give my students the organizational systems of the basic rhetoric patterns, such as cause-and-effect, compare-contrast, and argumentation, help them implement critical thinking and academic language to support their ideas, and then teach them how to self-correct and revise their own work as a process. The activities listed below represent a sample, not a comprehensive set, of the types I often to do in my academic writing classes.

Sample In-Class Activities
Basic Pre-writing Activities I always think it's good to provide some type of media input or activity to help them think more deeply about an issue.
Drafting and Revisions First Draft
  • Post to Blackboard for my comments on ideas and flow of logic.
Second Draft

Peer editing is done in teams in the computer lab using Microsoft Word's Track Changes. Depending on time constraints and need, the following issues may be in focus:

  • Sentence completion
  • Connectors
  • Eliminate redundancy
  • Vocabulary (implement a given list of academic words)
Final Draft
  • Meet with instructor or tutor to check peer edits
Self-editing is done thoughout the process as well. Often during the grammar instruction time, we will take out their essays and look for examples of specific errors and check for necessary rhetoric structures.
Paraphrasing

In an effort to encourage paraphrasing an outside source while preventing plagiarism, I often have students do either of these activities:

  • Take notes while they read and then, with the article closed, write a summary
  • Underline selected vocabulary words in a certain text. Then copy the words in a list on a separate paper. Using the vocabulary words, have them re-write their own version of the text

I often use SafeAssign, a tool our university has to detect plagiarism in student papers. I use this as a learning tool in the classroom allowing my students to see how close their paraphrases are to the original quote. For practice, I give them a set of quotations from online sources and have them paraphch one. Then, the student can see the originality report, highlighting which parts are too similar to the original. See the snapshot below:

Grammar
  • Paragraphs with a specific grammar focus
  • Online chat with a partner: review language structures used in the rhetoric patterns of cause/effect; compare/contrast; argumentative; grammar structures; implement vocabulary
Projects
Group Projects

Occasionally, to make their writing more engaging, I will have them work in a group to create an informational poster or magazine article. After doing the brainstorming and research, they can divide the writing tasks among themselves. I have them edit each other's work, of course, but the fun part comes when they transfer their writing into a creative product such as the poster.