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Topic: resource to prepare for college writing:

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Barb.b
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Posted: Oct 14 2010 at 6:29pm \| IP Logged

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/college_writing.html
Hope this link works. I am going to have ds read this and then write a bunch in the next couple weeks. I have been wondering about preparing ds (12th grade)for the transition to college writing. I liked this article and also read the others it refers to. Hope someone finds this helpful.
Let me know of any you find too! Could be a useful thread of resources and articles about this.

Barb

lapazfarm
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Posted: Oct 14 2010 at 10:46pm \| IP Logged

That is a great resource!

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Theresa
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Barb.b
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Posted: Oct 15 2010 at 8:31am \| IP Logged

I think so too! I am now wondering if I didn't stay too long with the typical 5 paragraph essay with ds. It isn't that he has a hard time getting out of that - he seems to not know what to do in its place.

My next thought is my 7th grader. Do you think it too soon to go the way of the above resource with her? S he knows the 5 para essay and I don't want her stuck the
there.
Barb

lapazfarm
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Posted: Oct 15 2010 at 12:23pm \| IP Logged

That's a good question.
I think the deciding factor would be whether or not dd at such a young age has the maturity to do the type of in-depth and thoughtful analysis the more complex essay-type requires. In other words, it isn't that the writing itself is necessarily much more complex, but the thought behind the writing.
You may want to move slowly with her, exploring the many different types of 5 paragraph essays in depth before you move on with her. Try moving on from simple expository essays to persuasive, narrative, descriptive, comparison-contrast, etc. This will improve her stylistic skills considerably without asking for too much in-depth analysis at a young age.
Just my thoughts.

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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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Barb.b
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Posted: Oct 16 2010 at 7:24am \| IP Logged

Thanks Theresa, I think you are right. I will keep doing what I am with her then. So far this year we have reviewed paragraphs. Next week she does her 1st 5 paragraph of this year (She's don'e them for several years). I think what I can work on is her growth in writing within the 5 paragraph foramt. For insance her inroductions tend to just summerize the topic sentences of the middle paragraphs. We can work on that. Also, maybe the thesis doesn't have to state three points of the three middle paragraphs, but we could explore other ways to write a thesis sentence.

Just my meadering thoughts! Thanks for letting my think outloud!

THe one that needs help this year is my oldest - we are working on getting out of the 5 paragraph essay. I does like this idea, but we are going to work on this one essay at a time, having him go back to handing in his thesis first, then out line, rough draft. . . so we can walk through what his writing process is and how college writing is different. Kind of like trying to get my 7 year old to ride his bike without training wheels! (said 7 year old doens't even like to ride with the training wheels!)
Barb

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