Introducing Transformations: Basic Academic Writing

Writing academic essays is an important skill for students to learn, regardless of their intended major in college. Transformations is an advanced writing course that will prepare high school students for college-level writing. Students will work through the writing process, focusing on brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising essays on a variety of topics. Students will be guided through the revision process, receiving thorough feedback from their teacher at every step of the process. By the end of the course, students will have gained the knowledge and skills needed to successfully write and revise the types of academic essays expected of a college student.

How does Transformations get there?

In this 25-lesson course, students will have the opportunity to look at every aspect of academic writing. Students will be introduced to big picture issues such as the organization and structure of their essays. They will also look at smaller issues that will help them refine their writing skills. Additionally, students will review issues surrounding research, including citing sources, plagiarism, and paraphrasing. Students will write multiple essays, giving them ample opportunities to put what they have learned in class into practice. Finally, during this course, students will engage in the revision process, critically analyzing their own work and learning strategies for improving their writing. 

Instructors

Transformations’ teachers are experts in writing. Whether they are published writers, professional editors, or writing teachers, they all have extensive experience in this field. Through this course, they will challenge their students at every step of the writing process, encouraging them to critically analyze their own writing and improve their ability to write clear, concise, and creative essays.

Class Organization

This course is divided into four thematic units: environmental issues, technology and academic literacy, global issues, and literature.  Each unit has six classes. The first half of each unit will focus on different aspects of academic writing skills, such as writing strong thesis statements, summarizing and paraphrasing, and crafting effective introductions and conclusions. Students will use Keys for Writers as a resource to help them develop these skills. 

The second half of each unit will give students the opportunity to go through the writing process, from brainstorming and writing a first draft to editing and polishing a final draft. Essay topics will depend on the individual student, as part of the process will be crafting their own thesis statements based on the readings they complete for homework. Part of their work will be to critically analyze and synthesize the information from the weekly readings to determine an essay topic on their own. During the editing stage, students will focus on various aspects of style and mechanics to add an important level of detail and precision to both their writing and editing process.