A Bit of Advice Regarding College-Level Papers

[1Togo]

Make sure your high school student can write various 2-3 page papers using multiple sources (text, videos, and fiction/non-fiction) under a tight deadline; i.e. 1-2 weeks. The papers need to have proper citations within the paper and Works Cited/Bibliography. Practice using MLA and APA.

 

That.is.all.

[Loesje22000]

Thank you!

[Chrysalis Academy]

Make sure your high school student can write various 2-3 page papers using multiple sources (text, videos, and fiction/non-fiction) under a tight deadline; i.e. 1-2 weeks. The papers need to have proper citations within the paper and Works Cited/Bibliography. Practice using MLA and APA.

 

That.is.all.

 

Thank you. This is a great goal to be working toward.  I appreciate you stating it so clearly.

[1Togo]

CA,

 

You are welcome. I also want to add this. It's a good idea to teach the 5-paragraph paper in junior high and use that format to write many, many short papers across the curriculum, Sit with your student and model/work though the process as long as necessary. Some students need lots of practice developing a thesis, writing intros and conclusions, paraphrasing, transitions, etc. etc. -- all the skills needed to write a paper with outside sources. Turning out a polished, 2-3 page, college-level paper in a week is a hustle when the student has exams in other classes and possibly other papers.

 

1togo

Edited March 7, 2016 by 1Togo

[Reefgazer]

I am so grateful to WWSII - it taught DD to do this.  I could not have taught this effectively, even though I write very well myself.

[Tsuga]

Make sure your high school student can write various 2-3 page papers using multiple sources (text, videos, and fiction/non-fiction) under a tight deadline; i.e. 1-2 weeks. The papers need to have proper citations within the paper and Works Cited/Bibliography. Practice using MLA and APA.

 

That.is.all.

Some quarters, this will add up to 2 per week in the quarter system. A philosophy, classics, or English major can expect a paper a week, 5 pages, in my experience in a regional state U or state flagship.

[sparrow]

CA,

 

You are welcome. I also want to add this. It's a good idea to teach the 5-paragraph paper in junior high and use that format to write many, many short papers across the curriculum, Sit with your student and model/work though the process as long as necessary. Some students need lots of practice developing a thesis, writing intros and conclusions, paraphrasing, transitions, etc. etc. -- all the skills needed to write a paper with outside sources. Turning out a polished, 2-3 page, college-level paper in a week is a hustle when the student has exams in other classes and possibly other papers.

 

1togo

 

Thank you for the bolded. We have had an absolutely abysmal couple of weeks in the writing department around here. The same paper has been turned in 3 times without listening/reading instructions. Tomorrow, I will be modeling how to tear apart the reading selection and writing it myself because we're not getting anywhere the traditional way. Oh, paraphrasing and transitions. Why must you be so hard for some kids?

[Dmmetler]

Some quarters, this will add up to 2 per week in the quarter system. A philosophy, classics, or English major can expect a paper a week, 5 pages, in my experience in a regional state U or state flagship.

The same is true in many music history and literature courses, at least at universities. They tend to be writing intensive.

[chiguirre]

Purdue's OWL is an awesome resource.

 

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

[Lori D.]

Purdue's OWL is an awesome resource.

 

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

 

Yep. I direct my Lit. & Comp. co-op students to OWL at Purdue all the time. :)

 

Adding onto 1Togo's post:

MLA for literary analysis essays, and APA for Science-based research papers. History and Social Science papers often swing either way -- instructor's choice. 

 

Amending 1Togo's post:

Allow yourself all of high school to work up to that goal of multi-page papers in the tight deadline of 1-2 weeks -- I had one student with mild LDs, esp. in writing, and he could NOT have handled that in 8th, 9th, 10th grade. About the end of 12th is when he could clear that hurdle. So everyone: gauge this to YOUR student's level and ability. :)

 

Also going to add that doing a weekly timed essay from a prompt was probably the biggest helpful thing we did to practice thinking/writing/supporting your points, and that, along with the bill debating DSs did with YMCA Youth & Gov't, really helped them learn to think of support, and to organize their thoughts *quickly*. That in turn led in to it becoming almost second nature to be able to come up with what to think of to write about, supporting points/examples, and organizing essays and papers, so that they were able to hit those goals of volume of written output without flipping out when they reached college.

 

 

For my co-op class, we're right in the midst of this process, and tomorrow's class is all about how to do in-text citations and the full citations on the works cited page. Fun fun fun.  :tongue_smilie:

Edited March 8, 2016 by Lori D.

[yvonne]

Has anyone run into Turbanian citation format before?  I'd never heard of it until my daughter had to use it this year for her history papers. Is it at all common?

[elegantlion]

Has anyone run into Turbanian citation format before? I'd never heard of it until my daughter had to use it this year for her history papers. Is it at all common?

Yes, it's common for history majors. I believe it is a simplified version of Chicago style.

[Lostinabook]

. 

 

Edited March 9, 2016 by Lostinabook

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Has anyone run into Turbanian citation format before? I'd never heard of it until my daughter had to use it this year for her history papers. Is it at all common?

This was the standard for dh's history graduate program.

[klmama]

Has anyone run into Turbanian citation format before?  I'd never heard of it until my daughter had to use it this year for her history papers. Is it at all common?

 

Yes, but it's Turabian, written by author Kate Turabian.  I had to use it for all of my English papers in college 30 years ago.

[1Togo]

Actually, I want to amend myself. Now that I think about it, sitting with the student hasn't really been an answer for my children. It has produced writing that I like, but their best writing has come from giving them time to wrestle with their writing.

[Plink]

I'm currently editing a divinity doctorate written in Turbanian.  I personally detest the style, but this was a good reminder that I need to at least mention all of the citation options with my kids.