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

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

6. Three Summaries

7. 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  Identifying solid supporting evidence  Paraphrasing  Using reporting verbs and phrases  Citing in the text  Writing concluding sentences  Identifying solid supporting evidence  Paraphrasing  Using reporting verbs and phrases  Citing in the text  Writing concluding sentences  Making connections among sources  Writing topic sentences  Identifying solid supporting evidence  Paraphrasing  Using reporting verbs and phrases  Writing a concluding sentence  Citing properly  Making connections among sources  Writing topic sentences  Identifying solid supporting evidence  Paraphrasing  Using reporting verbs and phrases  Writing a concluding sentence  Citing properly

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

11. Two Paragraphs

12. 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 Two Paragraphs--  Making connections among sources  Writing topic sentences  Identifying solid supporting evidence  Paraphrasing  Using reporting verbs and phrases  Writing a concluding sentence  Citing properly  Making connections among sources  Writing topic sentences  Identifying solid supporting evidence  Paraphrasing  Using reporting verbs and phrases  Writing a concluding sentence  Citing properly

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

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