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You are here: Courses / Future Courses / Future Course: Academic Writing 100: Academic Writing from the Ground Up

Future Course: Academic Writing 100: Academic Writing from the Ground Up

Future Course

This course repeats yearly in the fall semester.

Live webinars are normally held Wednesdays at 8 AM Pacific.

This course is a part of the Academic Writing series. 

  • Information about the Academic Writing series may be found on the Athena’s Upper Level Language Arts Information webpage under the Academic Writing tab.
Category: Future Courses Tags: Future Courses, Prof. Deborah Simon's Future Courses
Offered By Instructor

Deborah Simon, M.Ed.

Content Level

Middle School – Lower High School – Grades 6-10

Course Length

16-Week Course

  • Description
  • What to Expect
  • Materials & More

Description

Do you remember reading your first real textbook? That time when someone handed you a heavy, fresh-smelling, unopened tome and expected you to learn a new subject from it? Academic reading is one of the first steps to academic writing, but there’s often little help for students making the leap from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn and even less sprinting towards writing-to-learn. The tone, vocabulary, and syntax native to scholarly pursuits can be daunting at best and downright scary at worst.

This class is meant to bridge that gap between basic language arts skills and writing academic essays independently. Just as there is a spoken English language and a  written English language, there is an academic English language, and the purpose of this class is to introduce your student to the language they will use throughout  their upper-level scholastic career.

We will examine the “textbook” vocabulary, comprehension and note-taking skills, academic tone, sentence structure, paragraph structure, and work steadily towards writing an academic essay. Successful completion of this class will leave students ready for Athena’s How to Write in Any Situation class.

Note from “Prof.” Deborah:

Writing is a process with several distinct stages, and I believe that much of the confusion and disinterest students (and adults!) feel about writing comes from teachers’ lack of involvement at each of those stages. Writing needs to be a conversation between student and teacher. Like navigating on the open sea, a degree or two change can make a huge difference in the destination. If I can help students make necessary course corrections along the way, they will be so much more confident in both their ability and their final product. So I spend quite a bit of time steering students’ essays from prewriting to drafting to revising/proofreading.

Note to parents: 

  • This course is one of Athena’s Upper Level Language Arts courses. Click for more information.

Offered by:

  • “Prof.” Deborah Simon

What to Expect

What to expect in the Required section in the classroom each week:

  • Participate actively in the weekly forums.
  • Complete assignments on time.
  • Read and explore provided material prior to class each week.
  • This class will prepare students to follow APA format.

What to expect in the Highly Suggested & Optional sections in the classroom each week:

  • Because of the nature of this class, all sections in the classroom are either required for the current webinar or required in preparation for the following week’s topic.

What to expect during the weekly webinar:

  • Weekly webinars are 50 minutes long. Webinars are recorded and are available for students with schedule conflicts.
  • Although recorded sessions will be available, students should be able to attend at least 75% of the webinars.
  • Primary instruction and guided discussions are provided during live webinars.
  • Active Participation (via the microphone and chat) in online class discussions.
  • Students should stay up-to-date on classroom work and come to webinars prepared to offer insights from their own perspective about the previous week’s assignment and readings.

Academic Writing 100: Academic Writing from the Ground Up Syllabus

Materials & More

Before taking this course, students should be able to: 

  • Read at a solid 5th grade level or above.
  • Write sentences and paragraphs independently.
  • Important note: While this class guides students in writing sentences and paragraphs in an academic tone and prepares them for writing academic essays independently, students should be familiar with sentence and paragraph structure, having successfully completed reading, grammar, and writing assignments to a 5th grade level.

Students should be willing to:

  • Be prepared for the webinar.
  • Actively participate (via the microphone and chat) in the class discussion.
  • Encourage class discussion by adding their questions/ideas in the chat window during the webinar.
  • Respond with positive and encouraging comments on their classmates’ posts in the classroom forums.

Required books & materials:

  • Building Writing Skills the Hands-on Way, 1st edition
    Jenia Walter
    ISBN-13: 978-1305260733
    AAA
  • Junior Analytical Grammar (1996)
    R. Robin Finley
    ASIN: B009239NGS
    AAA
  • How to Read a Book (1972)
    Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren (1972)
    ISBN-13: 978-0671212094

Enrollment Options

This course repeats yearly in the fall semester.

  • Register Your Student
  • Academic Calendar & Weekly Schedules

Related Courses

  • Future Course: Introductory Psychology – Year-long Course

  • Future Course: The Story of the World – Volume 1: Ancient Times

  • Future Course: College Prep English 11/12

  • Future Course: Comparative World Mythology – Junior Instructor

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It was by-chance that we found Athena’s in our first fledgling month of homeschooling — and we thank our lucky stars! Now in our second year, Athena’s has become the backbone of our curriculum. Not only are the academic classes interesting, challenging and thought-provoking, the community we’ve found is so warm and welcoming. In fact, my 8-year old has decided to forgo a couple of in-person classes because he can’t stand the thought of missing Athena’s!
Parent Deborah W.
Athena’s was an amazing find for us…He did other online classes, but his weekly hour at Athena’s was his favorite. He really loved his teacher and enjoyed the interaction with other kids in the virtual classroom, which is missing from many online classes. But most importantly, he was engaged intellectually. I highly recommend Athena’s Advanced Academy for highly gifted homeschoolers who want to interact in “class” with gifted students like themselves.
Parent Chris O.
She has loved her experiences with you at Athena’s. They have been the perfect transition from the classroom…She has felt that the Athena’s environment is the best of both worlds; she can still learn with experts and true peers in a classroom, but doesn’t have to spend so many hours of her day to get that experience. She is free to move at her own pace and to pursue other passions and activities with the many hours that have been freed up by being able to learn at home and with Athena’s.… Read more
Parent Kristi H.
What I especially liked about the course was how the teacher presented the information in the webinars. It was all very easy to understand. I also liked the activities and the friends.
Student N.E.
Thanks for running Athena’s– you guys are my refuge as I homeschool my 2 PGs!
Parent Amy C.
It’s clear to me that [my daughter’s] experience at Athena’s is only one of two unqualifiedly successful educational experiences she has had. I wish I could just leave her in your hands all the time.
Parent Amanda S.
I would like to thank you for helping us in raising our daughter through these years.
Parent Alison C.
It was smart and fun! Every week there was great homework, and extra that was cool too! I will definitely be sign up for more classes!
Student Z.A.
I am an unexpected homeschooling mom and your classes were [her] first online classes. At first I was very wary that they (really anything online) would be a reasonable solution for her, but they ended up being an overwhelming success.  Athena’s made me realize I can do this whole homeschooling thing…at least for now 🙂
Parent Roz W.
The instructors were very positive and cheerful and encouraging in all ways to the students. I found it easier to relax when my child was in the classroom because I felt the instructors were more understanding and accepting of the particular qualities linked to giftedness…[like] dyslexia, dysgraphia, etc.
Parent K.B.

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