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Writing Camp 8-10: Academic Essay Toolkit

Summer Language Arts
Schedule in 2026
We're not currently offering any sections of this course. Fill out this course interest form to be notified if we open one!

Our Academic Essay Toolkit course, designed for students entering grade 8, 9, or 10, offers an intensive study of the how and why of academic writing. Students learn how to plan, draft, and revise an academic essay, and also why such essays matter. Featuring the popular college writing textbook, They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, the course approaches the essay as part of a larger conversation being held among scholars. The tools students gain in this course will help them enter that conversation and maintain it through their academic careers.

Course Text:

  • They Say / I Say by Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst
  • Note: To ensure students have the best experience, it is recommended that they do not read the text before class starts.

This two-week course meets Monday through Friday for three hours each day.

Space is very limited for our summer programs. Please do not wait until the last minute to enroll. If there are more than two weeks before the course starts, a $200 deposit will be due when enrolling, with the balance due two weeks before the course begins.

SYLLABUS

Our family regularly talks about AoPS. We try to think about how our life would be different without you all. What if my daughter hadn't learned to love math? What if she never experienced being pushed to her limits? Overcoming failure? She wouldn't be who she is. And she is AWESOME! A very proud mom here. We are so fortunate that we found AoPS Academy. I credit AoPS for much of her confidence.

Kelly B.,

AoPS Academy parent to 16-year-old engineering major at UW and future cancer researcher