GCSE Principles of Academic Writing is a five-week course aimed at students aged 12-15. The classes are thoroughly planned and delivered to a high standard in an enjoyable and relaxed environment where each student is appropriately challenged. They will be delivered with the use of online platforms, such as Nearpod, Padlet, and/or One Note which allow students to maximise their interaction and learning experience.

Start/end date:    TBC
Age:                    12-15
Day & Time:         TBC
Group size:          3-6 students
Price (5 lessons): £105.00

Lesson 1 - Introduction to Academic Style 

Academic writing in English has a distinctive style – it is formal and uses particular language norms. Academic style can help students think more logically and clearly as they work on an essay. The objective of this class is to make students aware what is allowed to use in academic writing (e.g., use of passive voice, writing full forms and statements) and what should be avoided (e.g., use of phrasal verbs, Latinate verbs, contractions).  
 

Lesson 2 – Hedging Language  
 

Using hedge words and phrases in academic writing allow students to be academically cautious, to acknowledge the degrees of uncertainty in their statements and claims, rather than claiming something is an absolute truth or fact. In this class, we will discuss the most common forms of hedging involve tense and aspect, modal expressions including modal verbs and adverbs, vague language such as sort of and kind of, and some verbs. And then apply them in writing through a number of activities for example filling the gaps in with missing information or correcting mistakes in sentences, amongst others.  

 
Lesson 3 - Nominalization  
 
Nominalisation is another important feature of academic writing. It adds variety, objectivity and an impersonal tone to texts. Nominalisation also makes writing more reader-friendly and concise by allowing writers to pack a great deal of information into sentences. This class will help students identify examples of nominalization in the text and learn how to create noun forms from other parts of speech applying them in writing.  
 

Lesson 4 - Complex and Compound Sentences  
 
The way sentences are used can be just as important as the language they contain. They can help to build up tension and put across anger or humour in student’s writing. In this lesson, we will pay particular attention to fragments, compound and complex sentences which should be frequently used in more advanced writing such as an essay and are often omitted by many students. Moreover, we will focus on various punctuation marks which help readers follow the structure and organization of sentences to make their meaning clearer. 

 
Lesson 5 - Intext citations, quotations and reporting verbs to support a claim 
 

If students are writing an essay, they are advised to use both quotations and possibly in-text citations to keep their reader engaged and interested. If points are always made in the same way, they can make student’s writing seem dull and repetitive. Reporting verbs are a way for a student, the writer, to show their attitude towards the source of information they are citing and can help them strengthen their argument. Therefore, we will look at different types of reporting verbs that show different attitudes either 'strong', 'tentative' or 'neutral', and their use in writing by putting them in appropriate categories and matching to the correct meanings.