Sandra BallatoreLos Angeles, CAPUBLISHED WRITER/TEACHER IMPROVES WRITING FAST
Academic essay writing is a skill that middle schoolers and high school students need to master if college is in their future. I teach students to do research, create claims and proofs, sort through information to find the strongest evidence to prove their claims, and write with authority. Sometimes they write papers for school; other times they choose topics that fascinate them and write to learn more. I tell them, "Academic writing is not 'talking on the page.' It is not a patchwork of text copied from the internet. It is not jerky or disjointed. It is writing that is smooth, clever, and visual. It entertains as well as teaches. I wrote a book called Writing Well, More than Ever, Your Words Matter for young people, because their voices WILL be heard when they understand that writing is power.
