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
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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
Selected Skills
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Selecting a topic
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Finding sources
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Summarizing/Paraphrasing
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Creating end-of-text citations
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Identifying solid supporting
evidence
Paraphrasing
Using reporting verbs and
phrases
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Citing in the text
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Writing concluding sentences
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Making connections among sources
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Writing topic sentences
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Identifying solid supporting
evidence
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Paraphrasing
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Using reporting verbs and phrases
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Writing a concluding sentence
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Citing properly
Selected Skills
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Selecting a topic
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Finding sources
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Summarizing/Paraphrasing
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Creating end-of-text citations
Three Summaries
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
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
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The summaries are done separately, so there is time for
feedback and direction from the teacher
Three chances
Selected Skills
Three Summaries
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Making connections among sources
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Writing topic sentences
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Identifying solid supporting
evidence
Paraphrasing
Using reporting verbs and
phrases
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Citing in the text
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Writing concluding sentences
Identifying solid supporting
evidence

Paraphrasing

Using reporting verbs and phrases

Writing a concluding sentence

Citing properly
Selected Skills
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Identifying solid supporting
evidence
Paraphrasing
Using reporting verbs and
phrases

Citing in the text

Writing concluding sentences
Two Paragraphs
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
Two Paragraphs
Benefits…
 Not focused on topic sentence
 Can focus on incorporating sources
 Practice writing concluding sentences
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The paragraphs are done separately, so there is
time for feedback and direction from the teacher,
especially on how to avoid plagiarism
Two chances
Selected Skills
Three Summaries
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Making connections among sources
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Writing topic sentences
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Two Paragraphs--
Identifying solid supporting
evidence
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Paraphrasing

Using reporting verbs and phrases
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Writing a concluding sentence

Citing properly
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
Final Project
Final Project
Students…
 Select two articles from their “Three Summaries”
assignments
 Write a paragraph demonstrating a relationship
between the two articles
Selected Skills
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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
Final Project
Benefits…
 Focus on connecting sources through a topic sentence
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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
Suggestions: Three Summaries
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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
Suggestions: Two paragraphs
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In your daily life, look for articles that interest you. Then
search for another one on the same topic
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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”
Suggestions: Final Project
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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
Research Paper
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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
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
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
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Any questions or comments?
BREAKING DOWN ACADEMIC
WRITING INTO MANAGEABLE
CHUNKS
By Tamara Milbourn, International English Center,
University of Colorado at Boulder
http://cotesol.pbwiki.com/
By Tamara Milbourn, International English Center,
University of Colorado at Boulder