Learning the Language of Academic Writing: Using the C3WP as a Scaffold in the Secondary English Classroom

Authors

John Lennon, Petoskey High SchoolFollow

Author Biographies

John Lennon is an English teacher at Petoskey High School and a graduate student in Central Michigan University's Master of Arts in English Composition and Communication program. His primary focus is composition studies in both his education and his practice, and he believes in helping all students reach new heights through the power of writing and language.

Abstract

Using academic language and employing textual evidence as support is a critical component of academic writing. However, many secondary students struggle to join academic conversations because of the skills associated with this type of writing. Through the implementation of the National Writing Project's College, Career, and Community Writing Program (C3WP) (2018) and focusing on the moves of academic writers presented by Harris (2006) and Graff and Birkenstein (2017), students can find ways to use evidence in a more constructive way in their research and argumentative writing. This essay will analyze student writing samples at various levels of skill development and discuss examples of how this process looks in an actual classroom in order to examine how these resources help secondary students develop their academic writing skills. While it is a representation of one teacher’s experience, it serves as an example of the C3WP in action.

Recommended Citation

Lennon, John (2019) "Learning the Language of Academic Writing: Using the C3WP as a Scaffold in the Secondary English Classroom," Language Arts Journal of Michigan: Vol. 34: Iss. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.9707/2168-149X.2211

Publication Date

4-2019