Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits Nancy Mullins ESL/Bilingual Programs Director...

Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Nancy Mullins ESL/Bilingual Programs DirectorMaine Department of Education

January 26, 2012

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits. You need direct

instruction, templates and modeling. To ensure that the papers are cooked properly –

follow the recipe.

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DIRECT INSTRUCTION

“If it is important, it should be intentional.”

Stephen Covey

Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

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EXPLICIT DIRECTIONS

Providing explicit directions

is NOT cheating – it is support .

Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

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Be careful what you ask for

Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Draw on existing communication skills - oral

Speakers Speak like Listeners Listen

I‘ll tell you three reasons why you can’t stay out on a school night.

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Writers Write like Readers Read and the Reader is Stupid

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Writers Write Like Readers Read

Reader’s Opinions Letter to

the Editor

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Academic Language of an Orange

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

TEMPLATES

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Color within the lines –

give the lines then work on improving coloring within

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Templates provide a technique, a constant

Step-by-step

Templates provide the requirements for meeting the standard

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Discrete skills (grammar,

syntax, vocabulary), sequence,

transition, cloze

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Template: They Say I Say

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Template: Sentence, Paragraph, Essay

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Template: Checklist for Paragraph for Essay

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

MODEL

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Use the template in your teaching

Expose them

Allow them to observe others

Practice, practice, practice

Write every day

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Jigsaw

Expand/Collapse

Group – thesis, sentence, paragraph, essay

Outline

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Having the recipe to write allows for critical thinking

Academic writing requires thinking – with evidence, point of view, cause/effect, conjecture-what if and social-so what.

Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Resources

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Teaching Academic Writing is like Making Biscuits

Thank you