Unit I

Welcome to the Academic Writing Hub!

Cultivating understandings by improving academic writing skills among English language learners (i.e., pre-service English language educators)

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Understandings

English language learner will understand that academic writing requires linking main ideas for the purpose of developing a sound argument through formal writing conventions. Strategies to develop paragraph and argument development will be covered.

Essential Questions

How do writers determine an appropriate audience? How do authors attract readers and maintain their interests? Define a complete idea, thought, or opinion.

Enabling Knowledge

Sections to a formal paper An argument and types APA Style

Subskills

How to write a thesis statement How to develop a paragraph Grammar and punctuation

Assessment

Webquest Informal discussions Academic prompts

Week 1 (August 8-12, 2010)

• This week you will become familiar with Wikieducator which is where you will submit a lot of your work for this class.
• Get familiar with the online resources available at your school (UAA). Make sure you have the proper passwords so that you have full access to the databases you need.
• Here is one example of an academic writing rubric that we will use for this class. However, UAA students are to use the rubric provided in the Moodle course. Please refer to this rubric each time you complete a writing assignment.

Readings

• Wikieducator workshop
• UAA Virtual Library
• Punctuation marks
• EFL Writer's Manual

Activities

• Register to the Collaborative Understandings website (see tutorial).
• Register to the Collaborative Understandings Moodle.
• Register to WikiEducator (see wiki tutorials) and create a user page.
• Go to your user page and write a classification-type paragraph related to your problem you face as a teacher or learner of English as a foreign language. This assignment is due on March 23, 2011.
• Add your paragraph you created in class to this page. This assignment is due on March 23, 2011.
• Each week you are expected to contribute to the EFL Writer's Manual, which you may organize it however you wish. Your weekly contributions will be considered when grading your products for each unit. Note: Use headings to organize the content and avoid copying-and-pasting information from outside sources. You your own words and refer to APA when citing references.
• Add your name to the main page (See tutorial).

Outcomes

• Create a user page in Wikieducator (WE)

Student Works

Include a hyper link to your work related to this outcome.

Week 2 (August 15-19, 2011)

Readings

• Writing principles

Activities

• Register to the Collaborative Understandings website (see tutorial).
• Register to the Collaborative Understandings Moodle.
• Register to WikiEducator (see wiki tutorials) and create a user page.
• Go to your user page and write a classification-type paragraph related to your problem you face as a teacher or learner of English as a foreign language.
• Add your paragraph you created in class to this page.
• Each week you are expected to contribute to the EFL Writer's Manual, which you may organize it however you wish. Your weekly contributions will be considered when grading your products for each unit. Note: Use headings to organize the content and avoid copying-and-pasting information from outside sources. You your own words and refer to APA when citing references.
• Add your name to the main page (See tutorial).

Outcomes

• Paragraph development
• Wiki syntax skills

Week 3 (August 22-26, 2011)

Readings

• Writing principles
• Using someone else's idea or work
• Watch this video on what is a thesis statement!

Activities

• Make sure you have completed activities from prior week, including your weekly contributions to the EFL Writer's Manual.
• Begin your three-paragraph essay that is due Tuesday, August 30, 2011 (first draft). Create a level II heading in your user page and create your essay within this section.
• Find two resources from the UAA Virtual Library and include citations and references in your essay according to APA.
• Write a paragraph that could serve as an introductory paragraph, making sure you hook the audience and you include a thesis statement.
• Include the three references of the articles you found as samples

Outcomes

• Create a thesis statement
• Create a three paragraph essay that includes an introductory paragraph (with a thesis statement), body paragraph, and a conclusion paragraph.
• Include two citations in the body paragraph, making sure you include the references at the end of your paragraph according to APA.
• Include a topic sentence for each paragraph.
• Each paragraph should have the following number of sentences: introduction - four-to-six sentences, body - 8-10 sentences, and conclusion - four-to-six sentences.
• Include unified, coherent, and cohesive paragraphs.
• Include a topic sentence within the body paragraph that relates to the thesis or main idea of your essay.
• Show evidence of correct usage of the following punctuation marks exist: period, comma, semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, and quotation marks.
• Show evidence of correct comma usage using a restrictive and nonrestrictive clause and comma usage in a series.

Week 4 (August 29 - September 3, 2011)

Readings and Video

• How to write a three-paragraph essay
• Three-paragraph video
• Punctuation video

Activities

• Watch this video on what is a thesis statement.
• Make sure you have completed activities from prior week, including your weekly contributions to the EFL Writer's Manual.
• Begin your three-paragraph essay that is due Tuesday, August 30, 2011 (first draft). Create a level II heading in your user page and create your essay within this section.
• Find two resources from the UAA Virtual Library and include citations and references in your essay according to APA.
• Write a paragraph that could serve as an introductory paragraph, making sure you hook the audience and you include a thesis statement.
• Include the three references of the articles you found as samples

Outcomes

• Include a thesis statement in your three-paragraph essay.
• Create a three paragraph essay that includes an introductory paragraph (with a thesis statement), body paragraph, and a conclusion paragraph.
• Include two citations in the body paragraph, making sure you include the references at the end of your paragraph according to APA.
• Include a topic sentence for each paragraph.
• Each paragraph should have the following number of sentences: introduction - four-to-six sentences, body - 8-10 sentences, and conclusion - four-to-six sentences.
• Include unified, coherent, and cohesive paragraphs.
• Include a topic sentence within the body paragraph that relates to the thesis or main idea of your essay.
• Show evidence of correct usage of the following punctuation marks exist: period, comma, semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, and quotation marks.
• Show evidence of correct comma usage using a restrictive and nonrestrictive clause and comma usage in a series.