Academic Writing
WEEK 1 CLASS 1
Think and Write
*Please take out a piece of paper and spend five minutes writing down your answers to the
following questions. It will be collected.
What is the easiest part about writing an essay? What is the hardest
part? What do you need to improve on the most? What skills could
you help other improve on?
Academic Writing Vocabulary
outline
supporting details
topic
signal/transition words
paragraph
sentence fragment
topic sentence
direct quotation
thesis statement
paraphrase
indent
citations
summary
draft
free writing
reference page
essay
plagiarism
With a partner define
as many of the
academic writing
vocabulary terms as
you can. Your
definition can be a few
words or a sentence.
Practice Creating an Outline
You are going to watch a video called “How It’s Made: Canned Pineapples”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-15bEIG7sRY
During the video you need to take notes on whatever you think is important
After the video you will use your notes to create an outline for a (pretend) essay
called “Summary Paper: How Canned Pineapples Are Made”
We will watch the video twice
Homework
Create an outline you will turn into a paragraph next class
 Outline must have topic (main) sentence, three main points, and concluding
sentence
 My Favorite _________________ (food, music, place, person, movie, book,
sport, car, etc.)
 Sample Paragraph Outline
Bring in 2 new vocabulary words you could use to improve your writing
Sample Paragraph Outline
1. Topic Sentence
2. Main Point 1
A. Supporting detail
3. Main Point 2
A. Supporting detail
4. Main Point 3
A. Supporting detail
5. Concluding Sentence
My Favorite Sport Paragraph Outline
1. American football is my favorite sport.
2. Game day experience
A. Tailgating
B. Brings people together
3. Hometown Pride
A. Family connection
4. Violence
A. Exiting to watch
5. With all of these reasons American football can be your favorite sport too.