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  How to Teach Essay Writing in Secondary ELA Teaching students how to write a multi-paragraph essay is a process, and it isn’t something that can be taught in one class period, nor is it a skill that we should expect our incoming students to know. Before I even assign my students a multi-paragraph essay, I first take several weeks to teach paragraph writing, and I typically do this with my short story unit. However, once my students are ready to make the jump from paragraphs to an essay, I still continue to break down my writing instruction. When I teach essay writing in my high school English students, I break it down paragraph-by-paragraph to encourage them to be the best writer they can be. All of the lessons that I will refer to throughout this blog post are included in this print and digital essay writing teaching unit . Teach Essay Writing in Middle School and High School ELAStart with brainstorming. I am a huge fan of group brainstorming, especially since I usually have some EL and SPED students mainstreamed in my college prep English classes. I usually dedicate an entire class period to brainstorming where students gather ideas, paragraph topics, and supporting quotes. You can read more about group brainstorming in this blog post where I discuss brainstorming with my students and I teach them how to brainstorm an essay. Outline the essayAfter brainstorming, I move my students to the outlining phase of the writing process. This step is essential because it helps students organize their papers and stay on topic. Ever since I started dedicating an entire class period to in-class essay outlining, I’ve noticed a significant improvement in my students’ essays. You can read more about how I teach essay outlining in this blog post . When we focus on outlining the essay, I make sure that we focus on all of the essential components of an essay: thesis statement, topic sentences, and evidence. Write the thesis statementAfter the class has completed the brainstorming and outlining, I then move on to direct instruction for essay writing. Since students have already outlined their main ideas, they can start working on their thesis statement. I use my introduction and thesis statement lesson to help students write a meaningful thesis statement. I also look at examples of good thesis statements with my students and have students turn in their draft thesis statements to me before moving on.  Write the introductionOnce students have a solid working thesis statement (and I say working because it is possible for it to change throughout this process), I then have them move on to the introduction. Using the same introduction and thesis writing lesson, I then have my students work on drafting a hook and background information to complete their introduction. Now that students are in high school, I don’t accept a question as an acceptable hook. However, if my students get stuck, especially some of my lower students, I have them write their questions and then help them turn them into a statement. Also, I’ve noticed that students sometimes have a hard time jumping on the hook. They tend to get stuck there, and when this happens, I have them jump right into the background information. In doing so, students get started writing, and they can go back to the hook later. Topic SentencesWhen I complete essay outlining with my students before the drafting process, I typically have them outline each paragraph with a topic sentence and then the quotes they want to use. Once we move from the introduction to the body paragraphs, I have them work on their topic sentence first. I use my topic sentences and body paragraphs essay writing lesson with my students at this point in the essay. Once students have a good topic sentence for their body paragraph, they write the rest of their body paragraph. Write the body paragraphsThe next step in the writing process, especially for the first essay of the school year, is for students to write out the rest of their body paragraphs. If they’ve done their outlining correctly, they have a good idea about what they want to include in their body paragraphs. In this step, I really emphasize that my students need to provide support and analysis. They should be providing more explanation than simply restating their quotes. Write the conclusionOnce students have their introduction and body paragraphs complete, I then have them move on to writing the conclusion. At this step, I teach conclusion writing to my students and have them restate the thesis and add a general thought to the end of the paragraph. At this point, I emphasize that students should not be adding in any new information. Also, one way to help students rephrase their thesis statement is to have them rewrite it in two sentences since a thesis statement is typically a one-sentence statement. Complete peer editing Provide time for essay revisionsOnce students revise their essays and turn them in, I still like to provide students with some time to revise their essays after I grade them. This is where true learning and growth happen. It is when a student thinks they are done but then goes back to try to improve their essay. In this blog post about essay revisions , you can read more about how I conduct them in the classroom. An entire year of writing instructionWhat if I told you that you could have all of your writing instruction for the ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR planned and ready to go? I’m talking about all the major writing strands and peer editing to grading rubrics. Just imagine how much time and stress you’ll save! It almost sounds too good to be true, right? It’s not! My Ultimate Writing Bundle is your one-stop shop for all of your writing instruction needs! Plus, your students will thrive with the built-in scaffolding and consistency throughout the year! Join the Daring English Teacher community!Subscribe to receive freebies, teaching ideas, and my latest content by email. I won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Built with ConvertKit Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Leave this field empty  SUBSCRIBE NOW Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers P LANNING, PARAGRAPHING AND POLISHING: FINE-TUNING THE PERFECT ESSAYEssay writing is an essential skill for every student. Whether writing a particular academic essay (such as persuasive, narrative, descriptive, or expository) or a timed exam essay, the key to getting good at writing is to write. Creating opportunities for our students to engage in extended writing activities will go a long way to helping them improve their skills as scribes. But, putting the hours in alone will not be enough to attain the highest levels in essay writing. Practice must be meaningful. Once students have a broad overview of how to structure the various types of essays, they are ready to narrow in on the minor details that will enable them to fine-tune their work as a lean vehicle of their thoughts and ideas.  In this article, we will drill down to some aspects that will assist students in taking their essay writing skills up a notch. Many ideas and activities can be integrated into broader lesson plans based on essay writing. Often, though, they will work effectively in isolation – just as athletes isolate physical movements to drill that are relevant to their sport. When these movements become second nature, they can be repeated naturally in the context of the game or in our case, the writing of the essay. THE ULTIMATE NONFICTION WRITING TEACHING RESOURCE
Planning an essay The Boys Scouts’ motto is famously ‘Be Prepared’. It’s a solid motto that can be applied to most aspects of life; essay writing is no different. Given the purpose of an essay is generally to present a logical and reasoned argument, investing time in organising arguments, ideas, and structure would seem to be time well spent. Given that essays can take a wide range of forms and that we all have our own individual approaches to writing, it stands to reason that there will be no single best approach to the planning stage of essay writing. That said, there are several helpful hints and techniques we can share with our students to help them wrestle their ideas into a writable form. Let’s take a look at a few of the best of these: BREAK THE QUESTION DOWN: UNDERSTAND YOUR ESSAY TOPIC.Whether students are tackling an assignment that you have set for them in class or responding to an essay prompt in an exam situation, they should get into the habit of analyzing the nature of the task. To do this, they should unravel the question’s meaning or prompt. Students can practice this in class by responding to various essay titles, questions, and prompts, thereby gaining valuable experience breaking these down. Have students work in groups to underline and dissect the keywords and phrases and discuss what exactly is being asked of them in the task. Are they being asked to discuss, describe, persuade, or explain? Understanding the exact nature of the task is crucial before going any further in the planning process, never mind the writing process . BRAINSTORM AND MIND MAP WHAT YOU KNOW:Once students have understood what the essay task asks them, they should consider what they know about the topic and, often, how they feel about it. When teaching essay writing, we so often emphasize that it is about expressing our opinions on things, but for our younger students what they think about something isn’t always obvious, even to themselves. Brainstorming and mind-mapping what they know about a topic offers them an opportunity to uncover not just what they already know about a topic, but also gives them a chance to reveal to themselves what they think about the topic. This will help guide them in structuring their research and, later, the essay they will write . When writing an essay in an exam context, this may be the only ‘research’ the student can undertake before the writing, so practicing this will be even more important. RESEARCH YOUR ESSAYThe previous step above should reveal to students the general direction their research will take. With the ubiquitousness of the internet, gone are the days of students relying on a single well-thumbed encyclopaedia from the school library as their sole authoritative source in their essay. If anything, the real problem for our students today is narrowing down their sources to a manageable number. Students should use the information from the previous step to help here. At this stage, it is important that they: ● Ensure the research material is directly relevant to the essay task ● Record in detail the sources of the information that they will use in their essay ● Engage with the material personally by asking questions and challenging their own biases ● Identify the key points that will be made in their essay ● Group ideas, counterarguments, and opinions together ● Identify the overarching argument they will make in their own essay. Once these stages have been completed the student is ready to organise their points into a logical order. WRITING YOUR ESSAYThere are a number of ways for students to organize their points in preparation for writing. They can use graphic organizers , post-it notes, or any number of available writing apps. The important thing for them to consider here is that their points should follow a logical progression. This progression of their argument will be expressed in the form of body paragraphs that will inform the structure of their finished essay. The number of paragraphs contained in an essay will depend on a number of factors such as word limits, time limits, the complexity of the question etc. Regardless of the essay’s length, students should ensure their essay follows the Rule of Three in that every essay they write contains an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Generally speaking, essay paragraphs will focus on one main idea that is usually expressed in a topic sentence that is followed by a series of supporting sentences that bolster that main idea. The first and final sentences are of the most significance here with the first sentence of a paragraph making the point to the reader and the final sentence of the paragraph making the overall relevance to the essay’s argument crystal clear. Though students will most likely be familiar with the broad generic structure of essays, it is worth investing time to ensure they have a clear conception of how each part of the essay works, that is, of the exact nature of the task it performs. Let’s review: Common Essay StructureIntroduction: Provides the reader with context for the essay. It states the broad argument that the essay will make and informs the reader of the writer’s general perspective and approach to the question. Body Paragraphs: These are the ‘meat’ of the essay and lay out the argument stated in the introduction point by point with supporting evidence. Conclusion: Usually, the conclusion will restate the central argument while summarising the essay’s main supporting reasons before linking everything back to the original question. ESSAY WRITING PARAGRAPH WRITING TIPS ● Each paragraph should focus on a single main idea ● Paragraphs should follow a logical sequence; students should group similar ideas together to avoid incoherence ● Paragraphs should be denoted consistently; students should choose either to indent or skip a line ● Transition words and phrases such as alternatively , consequently , in contrast should be used to give flow and provide a bridge between paragraphs. HOW TO EDIT AN ESSAY Students shouldn’t expect their essays to emerge from the writing process perfectly formed. Except in exam situations and the like, thorough editing is an essential aspect in the writing process. Often, students struggle with this aspect of the process the most. After spending hours of effort on planning, research, and writing the first draft, students can be reluctant to go back over the same terrain they have so recently travelled. It is important at this point to give them some helpful guidelines to help them to know what to look out for. The following tips will provide just such help: One Piece at a Time: There is a lot to look out for in the editing process and often students overlook aspects as they try to juggle too many balls during the process. One effective strategy to combat this is for students to perform a number of rounds of editing with each focusing on a different aspect. For example, the first round could focus on content, the second round on looking out for word repetition (use a thesaurus to help here), with the third attending to spelling and grammar. Sum It Up: When reviewing the paragraphs they have written, a good starting point is for students to read each paragraph and attempt to sum up its main point in a single line. If this is not possible, their readers will most likely have difficulty following their train of thought too and the paragraph needs to be overhauled. Let It Breathe: When possible, encourage students to allow some time for their essay to ‘breathe’ before returning to it for editing purposes. This may require some skilful time management on the part of the student, for example, a student rush-writing the night before the deadline does not lend itself to effective editing. Fresh eyes are one of the sharpest tools in the writer’s toolbox. Read It Aloud: This time-tested editing method is a great way for students to identify mistakes and typos in their work. We tend to read things more slowly when reading aloud giving us the time to spot errors. Also, when we read silently our minds can often fill in the gaps or gloss over the mistakes that will become apparent when we read out loud. Phone a Friend: Peer editing is another great way to identify errors that our brains may miss when reading our own work. Encourage students to partner up for a little ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’. Use Tech Tools: We need to ensure our students have the mental tools to edit their own work and for this they will need a good grasp of English grammar and punctuation. However, there are also a wealth of tech tools such as spellcheck and grammar checks that can offer a great once-over option to catch anything students may have missed in earlier editing rounds.  Putting the Jewels on Display: While some struggle to edit, others struggle to let go. There comes a point when it is time for students to release their work to the reader. They must learn to relinquish control after the creation is complete. This will be much easier to achieve if the student feels that they have done everything in their control to ensure their essay is representative of the best of their abilities and if they have followed the advice here, they should be confident they have done so. WRITING CHECKLISTS FOR ALL TEXT TYPES ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (92 Reviews) ESSAY WRITING video tutorials
How to Teach Essay WritingLast Updated: June 26, 2023 Fact Checked This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 91,022 times. Teaching students how to write an essay is a big undertaking, but this is a crucial process for any high school or college student to learn. Start by assigning essays to read and then encourage students to choose an essay topic of their own. Spend class time helping students understand what makes a good essay. Then, use your assignments to guide students through writing their essays. Choosing Genres and Topics
Tip : Readers come in many forms. You can find readers that focus on a specific topic, such as food or pop culture. You can also find reader/handbook combos that will provide general information on writing along with the model essays. 
Explaining the Parts of an Essay
Tip : Even though the thesis statement is only 1 sentence, this can be the most challenging part of writing an essay for some students. Plan to spend a full class session on writing thesis statements and review the information multiple times as well. 
Guiding Students Through the Writing Process
Tip : Emphasize the importance of giving yourself at least a few hours away from the essay before you revise it. If possible, it is even better to wait a few days. After this time passes, it is often easier to spot errors and work out better ways of describing things. Community Q&A
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Get all the best how-tos! Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter Classroom Q&AWith larry ferlazzo. In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog. Four Strategies for Effective Writing Instruction
(This is the first post in a two-part series.) The new question-of-the-week is: What is the single most effective instructional strategy you have used to teach writing? Teaching and learning good writing can be a challenge to educators and students alike. The topic is no stranger to this column—you can see many previous related posts at Writing Instruction . But I don’t think any of us can get too much good instructional advice in this area. Today, Jenny Vo, Michele Morgan, and Joy Hamm share wisdom gained from their teaching experience. Before I turn over the column to them, though, I’d like to share my favorite tool(s). Graphic organizers, including writing frames (which are basically more expansive sentence starters) and writing structures (which function more as guides and less as “fill-in-the-blanks”) are critical elements of my writing instruction. You can see an example of how I incorporate them in my seven-week story-writing unit and in the adaptations I made in it for concurrent teaching. You might also be interested in The Best Scaffolded Writing Frames For Students . Now, to today’s guests: ‘Shared Writing’Jenny Vo earned her B.A. in English from Rice University and her M.Ed. in educational leadership from Lamar University. She has worked with English-learners during all of her 24 years in education and is currently an ESL ISST in Katy ISD in Katy, Texas. Jenny is the president-elect of TexTESOL IV and works to advocate for all ELs: The single most effective instructional strategy that I have used to teach writing is shared writing. Shared writing is when the teacher and students write collaboratively. In shared writing, the teacher is the primary holder of the pen, even though the process is a collaborative one. The teacher serves as the scribe, while also questioning and prompting the students. The students engage in discussions with the teacher and their peers on what should be included in the text. Shared writing can be done with the whole class or as a small-group activity. There are two reasons why I love using shared writing. One, it is a great opportunity for the teacher to model the structures and functions of different types of writing while also weaving in lessons on spelling, punctuation, and grammar. It is a perfect activity to do at the beginning of the unit for a new genre. Use shared writing to introduce the students to the purpose of the genre. Model the writing process from beginning to end, taking the students from idea generation to planning to drafting to revising to publishing. As you are writing, make sure you refrain from making errors, as you want your finished product to serve as a high-quality model for the students to refer back to as they write independently. Another reason why I love using shared writing is that it connects the writing process with oral language. As the students co-construct the writing piece with the teacher, they are orally expressing their ideas and listening to the ideas of their classmates. It gives them the opportunity to practice rehearsing what they are going to say before it is written down on paper. Shared writing gives the teacher many opportunities to encourage their quieter or more reluctant students to engage in the discussion with the types of questions the teacher asks. Writing well is a skill that is developed over time with much practice. Shared writing allows students to engage in the writing process while observing the construction of a high-quality sample. It is a very effective instructional strategy used to teach writing.  ‘Four Square’Michele Morgan has been writing IEPs and behavior plans to help students be more successful for 17 years. She is a national-board-certified teacher, Utah Teacher Fellow with Hope Street Group, and a special education elementary new-teacher specialist with the Granite school district. Follow her @MicheleTMorgan1: For many students, writing is the most dreaded part of the school day. Writing involves many complex processes that students have to engage in before they produce a product—they must determine what they will write about, they must organize their thoughts into a logical sequence, and they must do the actual writing, whether on a computer or by hand. Still they are not done—they must edit their writing and revise mistakes. With all of that, it’s no wonder that students struggle with writing assignments. In my years working with elementary special education students, I have found that writing is the most difficult subject to teach. Not only do my students struggle with the writing process, but they often have the added difficulties of not knowing how to spell words and not understanding how to use punctuation correctly. That is why the single most effective strategy I use when teaching writing is the Four Square graphic organizer. The Four Square instructional strategy was developed in 1999 by Judith S. Gould and Evan Jay Gould. When I first started teaching, a colleague allowed me to borrow the Goulds’ book about using the Four Square method, and I have used it ever since. The Four Square is a graphic organizer that students can make themselves when given a blank sheet of paper. They fold it into four squares and draw a box in the middle of the page. The genius of this instructional strategy is that it can be used by any student, in any grade level, for any writing assignment. These are some of the ways I have used this strategy successfully with my students: * Writing sentences: Students can write the topic for the sentence in the middle box, and in each square, they can draw pictures of details they want to add to their writing. * Writing paragraphs: Students write the topic sentence in the middle box. They write a sentence containing a supporting detail in three of the squares and they write a concluding sentence in the last square. * Writing short essays: Students write what information goes in the topic paragraph in the middle box, then list details to include in supporting paragraphs in the squares. When I gave students writing assignments, the first thing I had them do was create a Four Square. We did this so often that it became automatic. After filling in the Four Square, they wrote rough drafts by copying their work off of the graphic organizer and into the correct format, either on lined paper or in a Word document. This worked for all of my special education students! I was able to modify tasks using the Four Square so that all of my students could participate, regardless of their disabilities. Even if they did not know what to write about, they knew how to start the assignment (which is often the hardest part of getting it done!) and they grew to be more confident in their writing abilities. In addition, when it was time to take the high-stakes state writing tests at the end of the year, this was a strategy my students could use to help them do well on the tests. I was able to give them a sheet of blank paper, and they knew what to do with it. I have used many different curriculum materials and programs to teach writing in the last 16 years, but the Four Square is the one strategy that I have used with every writing assignment, no matter the grade level, because it is so effective.  ‘Swift Structures’Joy Hamm has taught 11 years in a variety of English-language settings, ranging from kindergarten to adult learners. The last few years working with middle and high school Newcomers and completing her M.Ed in TESOL have fostered stronger advocacy in her district and beyond: A majority of secondary content assessments include open-ended essay questions. Many students falter (not just ELs) because they are unaware of how to quickly organize their thoughts into a cohesive argument. In fact, the WIDA CAN DO Descriptors list level 5 writing proficiency as “organizing details logically and cohesively.” Thus, the most effective cross-curricular secondary writing strategy I use with my intermediate LTELs (long-term English-learners) is what I call “Swift Structures.” This term simply means reading a prompt across any content area and quickly jotting down an outline to organize a strong response. To implement Swift Structures, begin by displaying a prompt and modeling how to swiftly create a bubble map or outline beginning with a thesis/opinion, then connecting the three main topics, which are each supported by at least three details. Emphasize this is NOT the time for complete sentences, just bulleted words or phrases. Once the outline is completed, show your ELs how easy it is to plug in transitions, expand the bullets into detailed sentences, and add a brief introduction and conclusion. After modeling and guided practice, set a 5-10 minute timer and have students practice independently. Swift Structures is one of my weekly bell ringers, so students build confidence and skill over time. It is best to start with easy prompts where students have preformed opinions and knowledge in order to focus their attention on the thesis-topics-supporting-details outline, not struggling with the rigor of a content prompt. Here is one easy prompt example: “Should students be allowed to use their cellphones in class?” Swift Structure outline: Thesis - Students should be allowed to use cellphones because (1) higher engagement (2) learning tools/apps (3) gain 21st-century skills Topic 1. Cellphones create higher engagement in students... Details A. interactive (Flipgrid, Kahoot) B. less tempted by distractions C. teaches responsibility Topic 2. Furthermore,...access to learning tools... A. Google Translate description B. language practice (Duolingo) C. content tutorials (Kahn Academy) Topic 3. In addition,...practice 21st-century skills… Details A. prep for workforce B. access to information C. time-management support This bare-bones outline is like the frame of a house. Get the structure right, and it’s easier to fill in the interior decorating (style, grammar), roof (introduction) and driveway (conclusion). Without the frame, the roof and walls will fall apart, and the reader is left confused by circuitous rubble. Once LTELs have mastered creating simple Swift Structures in less than 10 minutes, it is time to introduce complex questions similar to prompts found on content assessments or essays. Students need to gain assurance that they can quickly and logically explain and justify their opinions on multiple content essays without freezing under pressure.  Thanks to Jenny, Michele, and Joy for their contributions! Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post. Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind. You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo . Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It’s titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching . Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email (The RSS feed for this blog, and for all Ed Week articles, has been changed by the new redesign—new ones are not yet available). And if you missed any of the highlights from the first nine years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below.
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The Harvard Writing Project publishes resource guides for faculty and teaching fellows that help them integrate writing into their courses more effectively — for example, by providing ideas about effective assignment design and strategies for responding to student writing. A list of current HWP publications for faculty and teaching fellows is provided below. Most of the publications are available for download as PDF files. If you would like to be added to the Bulletin mailing list or to receive printed copies of any of the guides listed below, email James Herron at [email protected]. HARVARD WRITING PROJECT BRIEF GUIDES TO TEACHING WRITING
OTHER HARVARD WRITING PROJECT TEACHING GUIDES
How to Write an EssayUse the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide: Essay Writing FundamentalsHow to prepare to write an essay, how to edit an essay, how to share and publish your essays, how to get essay writing help, how to find essay writing inspiration, resources for teaching essay writing. Essays, short prose compositions on a particular theme or topic, are the bread and butter of academic life. You write them in class, for homework, and on standardized tests to show what you know. Unlike other kinds of academic writing (like the research paper) and creative writing (like short stories and poems), essays allow you to develop your original thoughts on a prompt or question. Essays come in many varieties: they can be expository (fleshing out an idea or claim), descriptive, (explaining a person, place, or thing), narrative (relating a personal experience), or persuasive (attempting to win over a reader). This guide is a collection of dozens of links about academic essay writing that we have researched, categorized, and annotated in order to help you improve your essay writing. Essays are different from other forms of writing; in turn, there are different kinds of essays. This section contains general resources for getting to know the essay and its variants. These resources introduce and define the essay as a genre, and will teach you what to expect from essay-based assessments. Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab One of the most trusted academic writing sites, Purdue OWL provides a concise introduction to the four most common types of academic essays. "The Essay: History and Definition" (ThoughtCo) This snappy article from ThoughtCo talks about the origins of the essay and different kinds of essays you might be asked to write. "What Is An Essay?" Video Lecture (Coursera) The University of California at Irvine's free video lecture, available on Coursera, tells you everything you need to know about the essay. Wikipedia Article on the "Essay" Wikipedia's article on the essay is comprehensive, providing both English-language and global perspectives on the essay form. Learn about the essay's history, forms, and styles. "Understanding College and Academic Writing" (Aims Online Writing Lab) This list of common academic writing assignments (including types of essay prompts) will help you know what to expect from essay-based assessments. Before you start writing your essay, you need to figure out who you're writing for (audience), what you're writing about (topic/theme), and what you're going to say (argument and thesis). This section contains links to handouts, chapters, videos and more to help you prepare to write an essay. How to Identify Your Audience"Audience" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center) This handout provides questions you can ask yourself to determine the audience for an academic writing assignment. It also suggests strategies for fitting your paper to your intended audience. "Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries) This extensive book chapter from Writing for Success , available online through Minnesota Libraries Publishing, is followed by exercises to try out your new pre-writing skills. "Determining Audience" (Aims Online Writing Lab) This guide from a community college's writing center shows you how to know your audience, and how to incorporate that knowledge in your thesis statement. "Know Your Audience" ( Paper Rater Blog) This short blog post uses examples to show how implied audiences for essays differ. It reminds you to think of your instructor as an observer, who will know only the information you pass along. How to Choose a Theme or Topic"Research Tutorial: Developing Your Topic" (YouTube) Take a look at this short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to understand the basics of developing a writing topic. "How to Choose a Paper Topic" (WikiHow) This simple, step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through choosing a paper topic. It starts with a detailed description of brainstorming and ends with strategies to refine your broad topic. "How to Read an Assignment: Moving From Assignment to Topic" (Harvard College Writing Center) Did your teacher give you a prompt or other instructions? This guide helps you understand the relationship between an essay assignment and your essay's topic. "Guidelines for Choosing a Topic" (CliffsNotes) This study guide from CliffsNotes both discusses how to choose a topic and makes a useful distinction between "topic" and "thesis." How to Come Up with an Argument"Argument" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center) Not sure what "argument" means in the context of academic writing? This page from the University of North Carolina is a good place to start. "The Essay Guide: Finding an Argument" (Study Hub) This handout explains why it's important to have an argument when beginning your essay, and provides tools to help you choose a viable argument. "Writing a Thesis and Making an Argument" (University of Iowa) This page from the University of Iowa's Writing Center contains exercises through which you can develop and refine your argument and thesis statement. "Developing a Thesis" (Harvard College Writing Center) This page from Harvard's Writing Center collates some helpful dos and don'ts of argumentative writing, from steps in constructing a thesis to avoiding vague and confrontational thesis statements. "Suggestions for Developing Argumentative Essays" (Berkeley Student Learning Center) This page offers concrete suggestions for each stage of the essay writing process, from topic selection to drafting and editing. How to Outline your Essay"Outlines" (Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill via YouTube) This short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows how to group your ideas into paragraphs or sections to begin the outlining process. "Essay Outline" (Univ. of Washington Tacoma) This two-page handout by a university professor simply defines the parts of an essay and then organizes them into an example outline. "Types of Outlines and Samples" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab) Purdue OWL gives examples of diverse outline strategies on this page, including the alphanumeric, full sentence, and decimal styles. "Outlining" (Harvard College Writing Center) Once you have an argument, according to this handout, there are only three steps in the outline process: generalizing, ordering, and putting it all together. Then you're ready to write! "Writing Essays" (Plymouth Univ.) This packet, part of Plymouth University's Learning Development series, contains descriptions and diagrams relating to the outlining process. "How to Write A Good Argumentative Essay: Logical Structure" (Criticalthinkingtutorials.com via YouTube) This longer video tutorial gives an overview of how to structure your essay in order to support your argument or thesis. It is part of a longer course on academic writing hosted on Udemy. Now that you've chosen and refined your topic and created an outline, use these resources to complete the writing process. Most essays contain introductions (which articulate your thesis statement), body paragraphs, and conclusions. Transitions facilitate the flow from one paragraph to the next so that support for your thesis builds throughout the essay. Sources and citations show where you got the evidence to support your thesis, which ensures that you avoid plagiarism. How to Write an Introduction"Introductions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center) This page identifies the role of the introduction in any successful paper, suggests strategies for writing introductions, and warns against less effective introductions. "How to Write A Good Introduction" (Michigan State Writing Center) Beginning with the most common missteps in writing introductions, this guide condenses the essentials of introduction composition into seven points. "The Introductory Paragraph" (ThoughtCo) This blog post from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming focuses on ways to grab your reader's attention at the beginning of your essay. "Introductions and Conclusions" (Univ. of Toronto) This guide from the University of Toronto gives advice that applies to writing both introductions and conclusions, including dos and don'ts. "How to Write Better Essays: No One Does Introductions Properly" ( The Guardian ) This news article interviews UK professors on student essay writing; they point to introductions as the area that needs the most improvement. How to Write a Thesis Statement"Writing an Effective Thesis Statement" (YouTube) This short, simple video tutorial from a college composition instructor at Tulsa Community College explains what a thesis statement is and what it does. "Thesis Statement: Four Steps to a Great Essay" (YouTube) This fantastic tutorial walks you through drafting a thesis, using an essay prompt on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter as an example. "How to Write a Thesis Statement" (WikiHow) This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through coming up with, writing, and editing a thesis statement. It invites you think of your statement as a "working thesis" that can change. "How to Write a Thesis Statement" (Univ. of Indiana Bloomington) Ask yourself the questions on this page, part of Indiana Bloomington's Writing Tutorial Services, when you're writing and refining your thesis statement. "Writing Tips: Thesis Statements" (Univ. of Illinois Center for Writing Studies) This page gives plentiful examples of good to great thesis statements, and offers questions to ask yourself when formulating a thesis statement. How to Write Body Paragraphs"Body Paragraph" (Brightstorm) This module of a free online course introduces you to the components of a body paragraph. These include the topic sentence, information, evidence, and analysis. "Strong Body Paragraphs" (Washington Univ.) This handout from Washington's Writing and Research Center offers in-depth descriptions of the parts of a successful body paragraph. "Guide to Paragraph Structure" (Deakin Univ.) This handout is notable for color-coding example body paragraphs to help you identify the functions various sentences perform. "Writing Body Paragraphs" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries) The exercises in this section of Writing for Success will help you practice writing good body paragraphs. It includes guidance on selecting primary support for your thesis. "The Writing Process—Body Paragraphs" (Aims Online Writing Lab) The information and exercises on this page will familiarize you with outlining and writing body paragraphs, and includes links to more information on topic sentences and transitions. "The Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo) This blog post discusses body paragraphs in the context of one of the most common academic essay types in secondary schools. How to Use Transitions"Transitions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center) This page from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explains what a transition is, and how to know if you need to improve your transitions. "Using Transitions Effectively" (Washington Univ.) This handout defines transitions, offers tips for using them, and contains a useful list of common transitional words and phrases grouped by function. "Transitions" (Aims Online Writing Lab) This page compares paragraphs without transitions to paragraphs with transitions, and in doing so shows how important these connective words and phrases are. "Transitions in Academic Essays" (Scribbr) This page lists four techniques that will help you make sure your reader follows your train of thought, including grouping similar information and using transition words. "Transitions" (El Paso Community College) This handout shows example transitions within paragraphs for context, and explains how transitions improve your essay's flow and voice. "Make Your Paragraphs Flow to Improve Writing" (ThoughtCo) This blog post, another from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming, talks about transitions and other strategies to improve your essay's overall flow. "Transition Words" (smartwords.org) This handy word bank will help you find transition words when you're feeling stuck. It's grouped by the transition's function, whether that is to show agreement, opposition, condition, or consequence. How to Write a Conclusion"Parts of An Essay: Conclusions" (Brightstorm) This module of a free online course explains how to conclude an academic essay. It suggests thinking about the "3Rs": return to hook, restate your thesis, and relate to the reader. "Essay Conclusions" (Univ. of Maryland University College) This overview of the academic essay conclusion contains helpful examples and links to further resources for writing good conclusions. "How to End An Essay" (WikiHow) This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) by an English Ph.D. walks you through writing a conclusion, from brainstorming to ending with a flourish. "Ending the Essay: Conclusions" (Harvard College Writing Center) This page collates useful strategies for writing an effective conclusion, and reminds you to "close the discussion without closing it off" to further conversation. How to Include Sources and Citations"Research and Citation Resources" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab) Purdue OWL streamlines information about the three most common referencing styles (MLA, Chicago, and APA) and provides examples of how to cite different resources in each system. EasyBib: Free Bibliography Generator This online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style. Be sure to select your resource type before clicking the "cite it" button. CitationMachine Like EasyBib, this online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style. Modern Language Association Handbook (MLA) Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of MLA referencing rules. Order through the link above, or check to see if your library has a copy. Chicago Manual of Style Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of Chicago referencing rules. You can take a look at the table of contents, then choose to subscribe or start a free trial. How to Avoid Plagiarism"What is Plagiarism?" (plagiarism.org) This nonprofit website contains numerous resources for identifying and avoiding plagiarism, and reminds you that even common activities like copying images from another website to your own site may constitute plagiarism. "Plagiarism" (University of Oxford) This interactive page from the University of Oxford helps you check for plagiarism in your work, making it clear how to avoid citing another person's work without full acknowledgement. "Avoiding Plagiarism" (MIT Comparative Media Studies) This quick guide explains what plagiarism is, what its consequences are, and how to avoid it. It starts by defining three words—quotation, paraphrase, and summary—that all constitute citation. "Harvard Guide to Using Sources" (Harvard Extension School) This comprehensive website from Harvard brings together articles, videos, and handouts about referencing, citation, and plagiarism. Grammarly contains tons of helpful grammar and writing resources, including a free tool to automatically scan your essay to check for close affinities to published work. Noplag is another popular online tool that automatically scans your essay to check for signs of plagiarism. Simply copy and paste your essay into the box and click "start checking." Once you've written your essay, you'll want to edit (improve content), proofread (check for spelling and grammar mistakes), and finalize your work until you're ready to hand it in. This section brings together tips and resources for navigating the editing process. "Writing a First Draft" (Academic Help) This is an introduction to the drafting process from the site Academic Help, with tips for getting your ideas on paper before editing begins. "Editing and Proofreading" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center) This page provides general strategies for revising your writing. They've intentionally left seven errors in the handout, to give you practice in spotting them. "How to Proofread Effectively" (ThoughtCo) This article from ThoughtCo, along with those linked at the bottom, help describe common mistakes to check for when proofreading. "7 Simple Edits That Make Your Writing 100% More Powerful" (SmartBlogger) This blog post emphasizes the importance of powerful, concise language, and reminds you that even your personal writing heroes create clunky first drafts. "Editing Tips for Effective Writing" (Univ. of Pennsylvania) On this page from Penn's International Relations department, you'll find tips for effective prose, errors to watch out for, and reminders about formatting. "Editing the Essay" (Harvard College Writing Center) This article, the first of two parts, gives you applicable strategies for the editing process. It suggests reading your essay aloud, removing any jargon, and being unafraid to remove even "dazzling" sentences that don't belong. "Guide to Editing and Proofreading" (Oxford Learning Institute) This handout from Oxford covers the basics of editing and proofreading, and reminds you that neither task should be rushed. In addition to plagiarism-checkers, Grammarly has a plug-in for your web browser that checks your writing for common mistakes. After you've prepared, written, and edited your essay, you might want to share it outside the classroom. This section alerts you to print and web opportunities to share your essays with the wider world, from online writing communities and blogs to published journals geared toward young writers. Sharing Your Essays OnlineGo Teen Writers Go Teen Writers is an online community for writers aged 13 - 19. It was founded by Stephanie Morrill, an author of contemporary young adult novels. Tumblr is a blogging website where you can share your writing and interact with other writers online. It's easy to add photos, links, audio, and video components. Writersky provides an online platform for publishing and reading other youth writers' work. Its current content is mostly devoted to fiction. Publishing Your Essays OnlineThis teen literary journal publishes in print, on the web, and (more frequently), on a blog. It is committed to ensuring that "teens see their authentic experience reflected on its pages." The Matador Review This youth writing platform celebrates "alternative," unconventional writing. The link above will take you directly to the site's "submissions" page. Teen Ink has a website, monthly newsprint magazine, and quarterly poetry magazine promoting the work of young writers. The largest online reading platform, Wattpad enables you to publish your work and read others' work. Its inline commenting feature allows you to share thoughts as you read along. Publishing Your Essays in PrintCanvas Teen Literary Journal This quarterly literary magazine is published for young writers by young writers. They accept many kinds of writing, including essays. The Claremont Review This biannual international magazine, first published in 1992, publishes poetry, essays, and short stories from writers aged 13 - 19. Skipping Stones This young writers magazine, founded in 1988, celebrates themes relating to ecological and cultural diversity. It publishes poems, photos, articles, and stories. The Telling Room This nonprofit writing center based in Maine publishes children's work on their website and in book form. The link above directs you to the site's submissions page. Essay ContestsScholastic Arts and Writing Awards This prestigious international writing contest for students in grades 7 - 12 has been committed to "supporting the future of creativity since 1923." Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest An annual essay contest on the theme of journalism and media, the Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest awards scholarships up to $1,000. National YoungArts Foundation Here, you'll find information on a government-sponsored writing competition for writers aged 15 - 18. The foundation welcomes submissions of creative nonfiction, novels, scripts, poetry, short story and spoken word. Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest With prompts on a different literary work each year, this competition from Signet Classics awards college scholarships up to $1,000. "The Ultimate Guide to High School Essay Contests" (CollegeVine) See this handy guide from CollegeVine for a list of more competitions you can enter with your academic essay, from the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards to the National High School Essay Contest by the U.S. Institute of Peace. Whether you're struggling to write academic essays or you think you're a pro, there are workshops and online tools that can help you become an even better writer. Even the most seasoned writers encounter writer's block, so be proactive and look through our curated list of resources to combat this common frustration. Online Essay-writing Classes and Workshops"Getting Started with Essay Writing" (Coursera) Coursera offers lots of free, high-quality online classes taught by college professors. Here's one example, taught by instructors from the University of California Irvine. "Writing and English" (Brightstorm) Brightstorm's free video lectures are easy to navigate by topic. This unit on the parts of an essay features content on the essay hook, thesis, supporting evidence, and more. "How to Write an Essay" (EdX) EdX is another open online university course website with several two- to five-week courses on the essay. This one is geared toward English language learners. Writer's Digest University This renowned writers' website offers online workshops and interactive tutorials. The courses offered cover everything from how to get started through how to get published. Writing.com Signing up for this online writer's community gives you access to helpful resources as well as an international community of writers. How to Overcome Writer's Block"Symptoms and Cures for Writer's Block" (Purdue OWL) Purdue OWL offers a list of signs you might have writer's block, along with ways to overcome it. Consider trying out some "invention strategies" or ways to curb writing anxiety. "Overcoming Writer's Block: Three Tips" ( The Guardian ) These tips, geared toward academic writing specifically, are practical and effective. The authors advocate setting realistic goals, creating dedicated writing time, and participating in social writing. "Writing Tips: Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block" (Univ. of Illinois) This page from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Center for Writing Studies acquaints you with strategies that do and do not work to overcome writer's block. "Writer's Block" (Univ. of Toronto) Ask yourself the questions on this page; if the answer is "yes," try out some of the article's strategies. Each question is accompanied by at least two possible solutions. If you have essays to write but are short on ideas, this section's links to prompts, example student essays, and celebrated essays by professional writers might help. You'll find writing prompts from a variety of sources, student essays to inspire you, and a number of essay writing collections. Essay Writing Prompts"50 Argumentative Essay Topics" (ThoughtCo) Take a look at this list and the others ThoughtCo has curated for different kinds of essays. As the author notes, "a number of these topics are controversial and that's the point." "401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing" ( New York Times ) This list (and the linked lists to persuasive and narrative writing prompts), besides being impressive in length, is put together by actual high school English teachers. "SAT Sample Essay Prompts" (College Board) If you're a student in the U.S., your classroom essay prompts are likely modeled on the prompts in U.S. college entrance exams. Take a look at these official examples from the SAT. "Popular College Application Essay Topics" (Princeton Review) This page from the Princeton Review dissects recent Common Application essay topics and discusses strategies for answering them. Example Student Essays"501 Writing Prompts" (DePaul Univ.) This nearly 200-page packet, compiled by the LearningExpress Skill Builder in Focus Writing Team, is stuffed with writing prompts, example essays, and commentary. "Topics in English" (Kibin) Kibin is a for-pay essay help website, but its example essays (organized by topic) are available for free. You'll find essays on everything from A Christmas Carol to perseverance. "Student Writing Models" (Thoughtful Learning) Thoughtful Learning, a website that offers a variety of teaching materials, provides sample student essays on various topics and organizes them by grade level. "Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo) In this blog post by a former professor of English and rhetoric, ThoughtCo brings together examples of five-paragraph essays and commentary on the form. The Best Essay Writing CollectionsThe Best American Essays of the Century by Joyce Carol Oates (Amazon) This collection of American essays spanning the twentieth century was compiled by award winning author and Princeton professor Joyce Carol Oates. The Best American Essays 2017 by Leslie Jamison (Amazon) Leslie Jamison, the celebrated author of essay collection The Empathy Exams , collects recent, high-profile essays into a single volume. The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate (Amazon) Documentary writer Phillip Lopate curates this historical overview of the personal essay's development, from the classical era to the present. The White Album by Joan Didion (Amazon) This seminal essay collection was authored by one of the most acclaimed personal essayists of all time, American journalist Joan Didion. Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace (Amazon) Read this famous essay collection by David Foster Wallace, who is known for his experimentation with the essay form. He pushed the boundaries of personal essay, reportage, and political polemic. "50 Successful Harvard Application Essays" (Staff of the The Harvard Crimson ) If you're looking for examples of exceptional college application essays, this volume from Harvard's daily student newspaper is one of the best collections on the market. Are you an instructor looking for the best resources for teaching essay writing? This section contains resources for developing in-class activities and student homework assignments. You'll find content from both well-known university writing centers and online writing labs. Essay Writing Classroom Activities for Students"In-class Writing Exercises" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center) This page lists exercises related to brainstorming, organizing, drafting, and revising. It also contains suggestions for how to implement the suggested exercises. "Teaching with Writing" (Univ. of Minnesota Center for Writing) Instructions and encouragement for using "freewriting," one-minute papers, logbooks, and other write-to-learn activities in the classroom can be found here. "Writing Worksheets" (Berkeley Student Learning Center) Berkeley offers this bank of writing worksheets to use in class. They are nested under headings for "Prewriting," "Revision," "Research Papers" and more. "Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism" (DePaul University) Use these activities and worksheets from DePaul's Teaching Commons when instructing students on proper academic citation practices. Essay Writing Homework Activities for Students"Grammar and Punctuation Exercises" (Aims Online Writing Lab) These five interactive online activities allow students to practice editing and proofreading. They'll hone their skills in correcting comma splices and run-ons, identifying fragments, using correct pronoun agreement, and comma usage. "Student Interactives" (Read Write Think) Read Write Think hosts interactive tools, games, and videos for developing writing skills. They can practice organizing and summarizing, writing poetry, and developing lines of inquiry and analysis. This free website offers writing and grammar activities for all grade levels. The lessons are designed to be used both for large classes and smaller groups. "Writing Activities and Lessons for Every Grade" (Education World) Education World's page on writing activities and lessons links you to more free, online resources for learning how to "W.R.I.T.E.": write, revise, inform, think, and edit.
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Don't just throw your homeschooled-student intoformal essay crafting. Focus on sentence structure and basic paragraph composition before movingto more complicated formal essay composition. Are you a competent essay writer? Even if you know how to write an essay , chances are you are dreading the coming years of teaching homeschool writing just as much as your novice writer could be dreading learning how to write . Writing comes naturally for very few, but most view writing as an insurmountable abstract mountain. The Write Foundation writing curriculum is a divide and conquer method of teaching writing. Focusing on small portions of writing paragraphs and later five-paragraph college level essays, eventually you and your students will be able to use all the necessary writing skills to easily compose wonderfully crafted formal essays . Start with a good foundationThat is, of course, what The Write Foundation teaches. Don’t just throw your homeschooled-child into the middle of essay crafting. Focus on sentence structure and basic paragraph composition before moving to more complicated formal essay composition . Learn to write essays one bite at a time. This helps students develop writing skills by using writing tools which helps them gain confidence and enables parents who are insecure about their own writing skills learn with their students. Hold their hand as much as they need you hold their hand.An abstract assignment with limited instructions can appear quite daunting to a reluctant, struggling, or new writer; tiny decisions can become writing blocks in a new writer’s mind. Share the experience with your homeschooler. Discuss writing blocks and ways to overcome them. Discuss the planning process and experience how it helps flesh out an essay. Walk them through each lesson making sure they complete each step successfully before attempting to move on in the writing process. Working side by side with your student also helps you become a better instructor by solidifying the lesson for yourself. As students gain confidence with their new skills they will need your help less and less so they will shoo you away as they learn writing is much easier using the complete writing process. Use concrete assignmentsCreative writing is very subjective, and it is also very abstract for a new writer. You need a writing curriculum which focuses on concrete assignments and provides a variety of writing topics that fit the type of writing being taught in that assignment. Give your students a structure to work into a paragraph using their creative information. Leaving several factors to the unknown, such as type of writing, structure, and so on, leaves more decisions that the novice writer is not ready to determine. An abstract assignment with limited instructions can appear quite daunting to a reluctant, struggling, or just new writer; tiny decisions can become writing blocks in a new writer’s mind. Even experienced writers face writer’s block. Students need to be given tools and taught skills that overcome “But, what do I write about?” Know your audienceLet your child select from a list of possible writing topics that may be interesting to them. Your child may enjoy the experience more if he is writing about his favorite pastime instead of writing about your favorite pastime. Choosing topics about things that directly influence your child, such as different views about their favorite sport, the influence of network TV or political topics that hit close to home may open the doors for lively discussion and insight into your child’s mind. Writing is a necessary life skill. When teaching writing remember you are not alone. If you are worried about teaching formal writing to your homeschooler, use the support system of The Write Foundation for any questions you may have through the process, and know that you are not alone. Look into a homeschool writing co-op in your area to lighten the burden and give new perspective on your child’s essay writing development. Use The Write Foundation and use a proven writing system. Questions or Comments?Recent articles.
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Copyright © 2021 TheWriteFoundation.org web site design - evolvethebrand.com  A Step-by-Step Plan for Teaching Argumentative WritingFebruary 7, 2016  Can't find what you are looking for? Contact Us  Listen to this post as a podcast: This page contains Amazon Affiliate and Bookshop.org links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. What’s the difference between Amazon and Bookshop.org? For seven years, I was a writing teacher. Yes, I was certified to teach the full spectrum of English language arts—literature, grammar and usage, speech, drama, and so on—but my absolute favorite, the thing I loved doing the most, was teaching students how to write. Most of the material on this site is directed at all teachers. I look for and put together resources that would appeal to any teacher who teaches any subject. That practice will continue for as long as I keep this up. But over the next year or so, I plan to also share more of what I know about teaching students to write. Although I know many of the people who visit here are not strictly English language arts teachers, my hope is that these posts will provide tons of value to those who are, and to those who teach all subjects, including writing. So let’s begin with argumentative writing, or persuasive writing, as many of us used to call it. This overview will be most helpful to those who are new to teaching writing, or teachers who have not gotten good results with the approach you have taken up to now. I don’t claim to have the definitive answer on how to do this, but the method I share here worked pretty well for me, and it might do the same for you. If you are an experienced English language arts teacher, you probably already have a system for teaching this skill that you like. Then again, I’m always interested in how other people do the things I can already do; maybe you’re curious like that, too. Before I start, I should note that what I describe in this post is a fairly formulaic style of essay writing. It’s not exactly the 5-paragraph essay, but it definitely builds on that model. I strongly believe students should be shown how to move past those kinds of structures into a style of writing that’s more natural and fitting to the task and audience, but I also think they should start with something that’s pretty clearly organized. So here’s how I teach argumentative essay writing. Step 1: Watch How It’s DoneOne of the most effective ways to improve student writing is to show them mentor texts, examples of excellent writing within the genre students are about to attempt themselves. Ideally, this writing would come from real publications and not be fabricated by me in order to embody the form I’m looking for. Although most experts on writing instruction employ some kind of mentor text study, the person I learned it from best was Katie Wood Ray in her book Study Driven (links to the book: Bookshop.org | Amazon ). Since I want the writing to be high quality and the subject matter to be high interest, I might choose pieces like Jessica Lahey’s Students Who Lose Recess Are the Ones Who Need it Most and David Bulley’s School Suspensions Don’t Work . I would have students read these texts, compare them, and find places where the authors used evidence to back up their assertions. I would ask students which author they feel did the best job of influencing the reader, and what suggestions they would make to improve the writing. I would also ask them to notice things like stories, facts and statistics, and other things the authors use to develop their ideas. Later, as students work on their own pieces, I would likely return to these pieces to show students how to execute certain writing moves. Step 2: Informal Argument, FreestyleAlthough many students might need more practice in writing an effective argument, many of them are excellent at arguing in person. To help them make this connection, I would have them do some informal debate on easy, high-interest topics. An activity like This or That (one of the classroom icebreakers I talked about last year) would be perfect here: I read a statement like “Women have the same opportunities in life as men.” Students who agree with the statement move to one side of the room, and those who disagree move to the other side. Then they take turns explaining why they are standing in that position. This ultimately looks a little bit like a debate, as students from either side tend to defend their position to those on the other side. Every class of students I have ever had, from middle school to college, has loved loved LOVED this activity. It’s so simple, it gets them out of their seats, and for a unit on argument, it’s an easy way to get them thinking about how the art of argument is something they practice all the time. Step 3: Informal Argument, Not so FreestyleOnce students have argued without the support of any kind of research or text, I would set up a second debate; this time with more structure and more time to research ahead of time. I would pose a different question, supply students with a few articles that would provide ammunition for either side, then give them time to read the articles and find the evidence they need. Next, we’d have a Philosophical Chairs debate (learn about this in my discussion strategies post), which is very similar to “This or That,” except students use textual evidence to back up their points, and there are a few more rules. Here they are still doing verbal argument, but the experience should make them more likely to appreciate the value of evidence when trying to persuade. Before leaving this step, I would have students transfer their thoughts from the discussion they just had into something that looks like the opening paragraph of a written argument: A statement of their point of view, plus three reasons to support that point of view. This lays the groundwork for what’s to come. Step 4: Introduction of the Performance AssessmentNext I would show students their major assignment, the performance assessment that they will work on for the next few weeks. What does this look like? It’s generally a written prompt that describes the task, plus the rubric I will use to score their final product. Anytime I give students a major writing assignment, I let them see these documents very early on. In my experience, I’ve found that students appreciate having a clear picture of what’s expected of them when beginning a writing assignment. At this time, I also show them a model of a piece of writing that meets the requirements of the assignment. Unlike the mentor texts we read on day 1, this sample would be something teacher-created (or an excellent student model from a previous year) to fit the parameters of the assignment. Step 5: Building the BaseBefore letting students loose to start working on their essays, I make sure they have a solid plan for writing. I would devote at least one more class period to having students consider their topic for the essay, drafting a thesis statement, and planning the main points of their essay in a graphic organizer. I would also begin writing my own essay on a different topic. This has been my number one strategy for teaching students how to become better writers. Using a document camera or overhead projector, I start from scratch, thinking out loud and scribbling down my thoughts as they come. When students see how messy the process can be, it becomes less intimidating for them. They begin to understand how to take the thoughts that are stirring around in your head and turn them into something that makes sense in writing. For some students, this early stage might take a few more days, and that’s fine: I would rather spend more time getting it right at the pre-writing stage than have a student go off willy-nilly, draft a full essay, then realize they need to start over. Meanwhile, students who have their plans in order will be allowed to move on to the next step. Step 6: Writer’s WorkshopThe next seven to ten days would be spent in writer’s workshop, where I would start class with a mini-lesson about a particular aspect of craft. I would show them how to choose credible, relevant evidence, how to skillfully weave evidence into an argument, how to consider the needs of an audience, and how to correctly cite sources. Once each mini-lesson was done, I would then give students the rest of the period to work independently on their writing. During this time, I would move around the room, helping students solve problems and offering feedback on whatever part of the piece they are working on. I would encourage students to share their work with peers and give feedback at all stages of the writing process. If I wanted to make the unit even more student-centered, I would provide the mini-lessons in written or video format and let students work through them at their own pace, without me teaching them. (To learn more about this approach, read this post on self-paced learning ). As students begin to complete their essays, the mini-lessons would focus more on matters of style and usage. I almost never bother talking about spelling, punctuation, grammar, or usage until students have a draft that’s pretty close to done. Only then do we start fixing the smaller mistakes. Step 7: Final AssessmentFinally, the finished essays are handed in for a grade. At this point, I’m pretty familiar with each student’s writing and have given them verbal (and sometimes written) feedback throughout the unit; that’s why I make the writer’s workshop phase last so long. I don’t really want students handing in work until they are pretty sure they’ve met the requirements to the best of their ability. I also don’t necessarily see “final copies” as final; if a student hands in an essay that’s still really lacking in some key areas, I will arrange to have that student revise it and resubmit for a higher grade. So that’s it. If you haven’t had a lot of success teaching students to write persuasively, and if the approach outlined here is different from what you’ve been doing, give it a try. And let’s keep talking: Use the comments section below to share your techniques or ask questions about the most effective ways to teach argumentative writing. Want this unit ready-made?If you’re a writing teacher in grades 7-12 and you’d like a classroom-ready unit like the one described above, including mini-lessons, sample essays, and a library of high-interest online articles to use for gathering evidence, take a look at my Argumentative Writing unit. Just click on the image below and you’ll be taken to a page where you can read more and see a detailed preview of what’s included. What to Read Next Categories: Instruction , Podcast Tags: English language arts , Grades 6-8 , Grades 9-12 , teaching strategies 58 Comments This is useful information. In teaching persuasive speaking/writing I have found Monroe’s Motivated sequence very useful and productive. It is a classic model that immediately gives a solid structure for students.  Thanks for the recommendation, Bill. I will have to look into that! Here’s a link to more information on Monroe’s Motivated sequence, for anyone who wants to learn more: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/MonroeMotivatedSequence.htm  What other sites do you recommend for teacher use on providing effective organizational structure in argumentative writing? As a K-12 Curriculum Director, I find that when teachers connect with and understand the organizational structure, they are more effective in their teaching/delivery.  Hey Jessica, in addition to the steps outlined here, you might want to check out Jenn’s post on graphic organizers . Graphic organizers are a great tool that you can use in any phase of a lesson. Using them as a prewrite can help students visualize the argument and organize their thoughts. There’s a link in that post to the Graphic Organizer Multi-Pack that Jenn has for sale on her Teachers Pay Teachers site, which includes two versions of a graphic organizer you can use specifically for argument organization. Otherwise, if there’s something else you had in mind, let us know and we can help you out. Thanks!  Dear Jennifer Gonzalez, You are generous with your gift of lighting the path… I hardly ever write (never before) , but I must today… THANK YOU… THANK YOU….THANK YOU… mostly for reading your great teachings… So your valuable teachings will even be easy to benefit all the smart people facing challenge of having to deal with adhd… I am not a teacher… but forever a student…someone who studied English as 2nd language, with a science degree & adhd… You truly are making a difference in our World…  Thanks so much, Rita! I know Jenn will appreciate this — I’ll be sure to share with her!  Love it! Its simple and very fruitful . I can feel how dedicated you are! Thanks alot Jen  Great examples of resources that students would find interesting. I enjoyed reading your article. I’ve bookmarked it for future reference. Thanks! You’re welcome, Sheryl!  Students need to be writing all the time about a broad range of topics, but I love the focus here on argumentative writing because if you choose the model writing texts correctly, you can really get the kids engaged in the process and in how they can use this writing in real-world situations! I agree, Laura. I think an occasional tight focus on one genre can help them grow leaps and bounds in the skills specific to that type of writing. Later, in less structured situations, they can then call on those skills when that kind of thinking is required.  This is really helpful! I used it today and put the recess article in a Google Doc and had the kids identify anecdotal, statistic, and ‘other’ types of evidence by highlighting them in three different colors. It worked well! Tomorrow we’ll discuss which of the different types of evidence are most convincing and why. Love that, Shanna! Thanks for sharing that extra layer.  Greetings Ms. Gonzales. I was wondering if you had any ideas to help students develop the cons/against side of their argument within their writing? Please advise. Thanks. Hi Michael, Considering audience and counterarguments are an important part of the argumentative writing process. In the Argumentative Writing unit Jenn includes specific mini-lessons that teach kids how, when and where to include opposing views in their writing. In the meantime, here’s a video that might also be helpful.  Hi, Thank you very much for sharing your ideas. I want to share also the ideas in the article ‘Already Experts: Showing Students How Much They Know about Writing and Reading Arguments’ by Angela Petit and Edna Soto…they explain a really nice activity to introduce argumentative writing. I have applied it many times and my students not only love it but also display a very clear pattern as the results in the activity are quite similar every time. I hope you like it. Lorena Perez  I’d like to thank you you for this excellence resource. It’s a wonderful addition to the informative content that Jennifer has shared.  What do you use for a prize?  I looked at the unit, and it looks and sounds great. The description says there are 4 topics. Can you tell me the topics before I purchase? We start argument in 5th grade, and I want to make sure the topics are different from those they’ve done the last 5 years before purchasing. Thanks! Hi Carrie! If you go to the product page on TPT and open up the preview, you’ll see the four topics on the 4th page in more detail, but here they are: Social Networking in School (should social media sites be blocked in school?), Cell Phones in Class, Junk Food in School, and Single-Sex Education (i.e., genders separated). Does that help?  I teach 6th grade English in a single gendered (all-girls) class. We just finished an argument piece but I will definitely cycle back your ideas when we revisit argumentation. Thanks for the fabulous resources! Glad to hear it, Madelyn!  I’m not a writing teacher and honestly haven’t been taught on how to teach writing. I’m a history teacher. I read this and found it helpful but have questions. First I noticed that amount of time dedicated to the task in terms of days. My questions are how long is a class period? I have my students for about 45 minutes. I also saw you mentioned in the part about self-paced learning that mini-lessons could be written or video format. I love these ideas. Any thoughts on how to do this with almost no technology in the room and low readers to non-readers? I’m trying to figure out how to balance teaching a content class while also teaching the common core skills. Thank you for any consideration to my questions. Hey Jones, To me, a class period is anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour; definitely varies from school to school. As for the question about doing self-paced with very little tech? I think binders with written mini-lessons could work well, as well as a single computer station or tablet hooked up to a class set of videos. Obviously you’d need to be more diligent about rotating students in and out of these stations, but it’s an option at least. You might also give students access to the videos through computers in other locations at school (like the library) and give them passes to watch. The thing about self-paced learning, as you may have seen in the self-paced post , is that if students need extra teacher support (as you might find with low readers or non-readers), they would spend more one-on-one time with the teacher, while the higher-level students would be permitted to move more quickly on their own. Does that help?  My primary goal for next semester is to increase academic discussion and make connections from discussion to writing, so I love how you launch this unit with lessons like Philosophical Chairs. I am curious, however, what is the benefit of the informal argument before the not-so-informal argument? My students often struggle to listen to one another, so I’m wondering if I should start with the more formal, structured version. Or, am I overthinking the management? Thanks so much for input. Yikes! So sorry your question slipped through, and we’re just now getting to this, Sarah. The main advantage of having kids first engage in informal debate is that it helps them get into an argumentative mindset and begin to appreciate the value of using research to support their claims. If you’ve purchased the unit, you can read more about this in the Overview.  My 6th graders are progressing through their argumentative essay. I’m providing mini lessons along the way that target where most students are in their essay. Your suggestions will be used. I’ve chosen to keep most writing in class and was happy to read that you scheduled a lot of class time for the writing. Students need to feel comfortable knowing that writing is a craft and needs to evolve over time. I think more will get done in class and it is especially important for the struggling writers to have peers and the teacher around while they write. Something that I had students do that they liked was to have them sit in like-topic groups to create a shared document where they curated information that MIGHT be helpful along the way. By the end of the essay, all will use a fantastic add-on called GradeProof which helps to eliminate most of the basic and silly errors that 6th graders make. Debbi! I LOVE the idea of a shared, curated collection of resources! That is absolutely fantastic! Are you using a Google Doc for this? Other curation tools you might consider are Padlet and Elink .  thanks v much for all this information  Love this! What do you take as grades in the meantime? Throughout this 2 week stretch? Ideally, you wouldn’t need to take grades at all, waiting until the final paper is done to give one grade. If your school requires more frequent grades, you could assign small point values for getting the incremental steps done: So in Step 3 (when students have to write a paragraph stating their point of view) you could take points for that. During the writer’s workshop phase, you might give points for completion of a rough draft and participation points for peer review (ideally, they’d get some kind of feedback on the quality of feedback they give to one another). Another option would be to just give a small, holistic grade for each week based on the overall integrity of their work–are they staying on task? Making small improvements to their writing each day? Taking advantage of the resources? If students are working diligently through the process, that should be enough. But again, the assessment (grades) should really come from that final written product, and if everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing during the workshop phase, most students should have pretty good scores on that final product. Does that help?  Awesome Step 2! Teaching mostly teenagers in Northern Australia I find students’ verbal arguments are much more finely honed than their written work. To assist with “building the base” I’ve always found sentence starters an essential entry point for struggling students. We have started using the ‘PEARL’ method for analytical and persuasive writing. If it helps here a free scaffold for the method: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Paragraph-Scaffold-PEEL-to-PEARL-3370676 Thanks again, Thank you for sharing this additional resource! It’s excellent!  I’ve been scouring the interwebs looking for some real advice on how I can help my struggling 9th grader write better. I can write. Since it comes naturally for me, I have a hard time breaking it down into such tiny steps that he can begin to feel less overwhelmed. I LOVE the pre-writing ideas here. My son is a fabulous arguer. I need to help him use those powers for the good of his writing skills. Do you have a suggestion on what I else I can be using for my homeschooled son? Or what you may have that could work well for home use? Hi Melinda, You might be interested in taking a look at Jenn’s Argumentative Writing unit which she mentions at the end of the post . Hope this helps!  Mam it would be good if you could post some steps of different writing and some samples as well so it can be useful for the students.  Hi Aalia! My name is Holly, and I work as a Customer Experience Manager for Cult of Pedagogy. It just so happens that in the near future, Jenn is going to release a narrative writing unit, so keep an eye out for that! As far as samples, the argumentative writing unit has example essays included, and I’m sure the narrative unit will as well. But, to find the examples, you have to purchase the unit from Teachers Pay Teachers.  I just want to say that this helped me tremendously in teaching argument to 8th Graders this past school year, which is a huge concept on their state testing in April. I felt like they were very prepared, and they really enjoyed the verbal part of it, too! I have already implemented these methods into my unit plan for argument for my 11th grade class this year. Thank you so much for posting all of these things! : ) -Josee` Vaughn I’m so glad to hear it, Josee!!  Love your blog! It is one of the best ones. I am petrified of writing. I am teaching grade 8 in September and would love some suggestions as I start planning for the year. Thanks!  This is genius! I can’t wait to get started tomorrow teaching argument. It’s always something that I have struggled with, and I’ve been teaching for 18 years. I have a class of 31 students, mostly boys, several with IEPs. The self-paced mini-lessons will help tremendously. So glad you liked it, Britney!  My students will begin the journey into persuasion and argument next week and your post cemented much of my thinking around how to facilitate the journey towards effective, enthusiastic argumentative writing. I use your rubrics often to outline task expectations for my students and the feedback from them is how useful breaking every task into steps can be as they are learning new concepts. Additionally, we made the leap into blogging as a grade at https://mrsdsroadrunners.edublogs.org/2019/01/04/your-future/ It feels much like trying to learn to change a tire while the car is speeding down the highway. Reading your posts over the past years was a factor in embracing the authentic audience. Thank You! Trish  I love reading and listening to your always helpful tips, tricks, and advice! I was wondering if you had any thoughts on creative and engaging ways to have students share their persuasive writing? My 6th students are just finishing up our persuasive writing where we read the book “Oh, Rats” by Albert Marrin and used the information gathered to craft a persuasive piece to either eliminate or protect rats and other than just reading their pieces to one another, I have been trying to think of more creative ways to share. I thought about having a debate but (un)fortunately all my kids are so sweet and are on the same side of the argument – Protect the Rats! Any ideas?  Hi Kiley! Thanks for the positive feedback! So glad to hear that you are finding value in Cult of Pedagogy! Here are a few suggestions that you may be interested in trying with your students: -A gallery walk: Students could do this virtually if their writing is stored online or hard copies of their writing. Here are some different ways that you could use gallery walks: Enliven Class Discussions With Gallery Walks -Students could give each other feedback using a tech tool like Flipgrid . You could assign students to small groups or give them accountability partners. In Flipgrid, you could have students sharing back and forth about their writing and their opinions. I hope this helps!  I love the idea of mentor texts for all of these reading and writing concepts. I saw a great one on Twitter with one text and it demonstrated 5-6 reasons to start a paragraph, all in two pages of a book! Is there a location that would have suggestions/lists of mentor texts for these areas? Paragraphs, sentences, voice, persuasive writing, expository writing, etc. It seems like we could share this info, save each other some work, and curate a great collection of mentor text for English Language Arts teachers. Maybe it already exists? Hi Maureen, Here are some great resources that you may find helpful: Craft Lessons Second Edition: Teaching Writing K-8 Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentor Texts and Mentor Texts, 2nd edition: Teaching Writing Through Children’s Literature, K-6 Thanks so much! I’ll definitely look into these.  I love the steps for planning an argumentative essay writing. When we return from Christmas break, we will begin starting a unit on argumentative writing. I will definitely use the steps. I especially love Step #2. As a 6th grade teacher, my students love to argue. This would set the stage of what argumentative essay involves. Thanks for sharing. So glad to hear this, Gwen. Thanks for letting us know!  Great orientation, dear Jennifer. The step-by-step carefully planned pedagogical perspectives have surely added in the information repository of many.  Hi Jennifer, I hope you are well. I apologise for the incorrect spelling in the previous post. Thank you very much for introducing this effective instruction for teaching argumentative writing. I am the first year PhD student at Newcastle University, UK. My PhD research project aims to investigate teaching argumentative writing to Chinese university students. I am interested in the Argumentative Writing unit you have designed and would like to buy it. I would like to see the preview of this book before deciding to purchase it. I clicked on the image BUT the font of the preview is so small and cannot see the content clearly. I am wondering whether it could be possible for you to email me a detailed preview of what’s included. I would highly appreciate if you could help me with this. Thank you very much in advance. Looking forward to your reply. Take care and all the very best, Chang Hi Chang! Jenn’s Argumentative Writing Unit is actually a teaching unit geared toward grades 7-12 with lessons, activities, etc. If you click here click here to view the actual product, you can click on the green ‘View Preview’ button to see a pretty detailed preview of what’s offered. Once you open the preview, there is the option to zoom in so you can see what the actual pages of the unit are like. I hope this helps!  Great Content!  Another teacher showed me one of your posts, and now I’ve read a dozen of them. With teaching students to argue, have you ever used the “What’s going on in this picture?” https://www.nytimes.com/column/learning-whats-going-on-in-this-picture?module=inline I used it last year and thought it was a non-threatening way to introduce learners to using evidence to be persuasive since there was no text. I used to do something like this to help kids learn how to make inferences. Hadn’t thought of it from a persuasive standpoint. Interesting.  this is a very interesting topic, thanks!  Hi! I’m a teacher too! I was looking for inspiration and I found your article and thought you might find this online free tool interesting that helps make all students participate meaningfully and engage in a topic. https://www.kialo-edu.com/ This tool is great for student collaboration and to teach argumentative writing in an innovative way. I hope this helps! Leave a ReplyYour email address will not be published.
Gallery Teachers 8 easy ways to teach essay writing skills Teachers play a critical role in teaching various educational skills and developing a young brain. Every genius had modest beginnings and was instructed by a tutor. Teaching is a challenging profession. It often involves dealing with disobedient youngsters who refuse to listen. Since the pandemic, most high schools, colleges, and universities have moved their lectures online, and students and their tutors must connect using technology. Due to the global economic downturn, educators have been forced to modify and adjust their instructional methods. They were required to learn new tactics and adapt them to their instruction. Similarly, when a person prepares to become a teacher, they must adjust to the new practices and realities. However, it involves developing fresh methods to capture the students’ interest, which is not always simple, particularly concerning topics that pupils already deem boring. Consider academic writing skills as an example. How often have your pupils regarded you with boredom or indifference because you assigned them writing? Writing is an enjoyable and effective means of expression. This post discusses 8 easy ways to teach essay writing skills, which you can share with your students to make essay writing an easy and enjoyable activity. Nurturing essay writing skills in your pupilsChoose an interesting topic. The first thing your pupils should consider before writing an essay is the subject. Remember that an essay reveals your students’ research and writing abilities. Therefore, you are responsible for educating them on how to do research. Try to reject the suggested themes if they are too simple for a student, and you will find that writing such an essay will not take much time. Without research, an essay is not an essay. Explain to your pupils that choosing a subject they understand well and can research is usually preferable. Every student should develop strong research skills. Thus, pay attention to practising various research techniques with them. Describe in detail the methods they may use to gather all the necessary information, how to utilize this knowledge effectively, and how to identify the essential facts. Focus on the basics of writingRefreshing your student’s foundational writing abilities should be the first step to teaching essay writing skills. You should pay particular attention to the following: adverbs; adjectives; punctuations; tense; speaking, and so on. You should not overburden the students. Provide information in logical pieces that pertain to a particular subject. Be sure you are patient since youngsters cannot focus like adults. Always make adjustments and provide straightforward explanations. Give examples so that they may fully comprehend the material. Start with a thesis statementYou should collaborate with your students to generate a thesis statement. Comprehending this concept is difficult for many people, but it is crucial. To facilitate comprehension, please follow the steps below:
Start by elaborating on the significance of a thesis statement in essay writing. It is the essay’s main topic, and your narrative hinges on it. You will know how to convey the narrative if you construct it. Show students how to write an outlineAn outline is one of the most critical components of any essay. It makes a writer disciplined and structured and keeps all the important tasks in front of them. It is particularly crucial for youngsters with limited focus and a tendency to forget key facts. You must demonstrate how to develop an outline and describe its practical significance. Be careful to demonstrate several outline forms. Teenagers like vivid objects and recall them more quickly. Teach the students first to compose the body, then the introduction, and finally, the conclusion. Creating an introduction takes time and effort. You’ll need to assemble the fundamental gist of your essay in the beginning, even before you have the complete piece written. Thus, concentrate on the essay’s body first and write the introduction after you have the basic flow jotted down. How to teach writing skills: What do I use?Make use of the following items to streamline your tasks. Use technologyWe live in an age of technological advancement that permeates every aspect of human endeavour. Education is not an exception. You can use various intelligent tools with youngsters. Modern students are obsessed with smart applications and devices. It is an ideal opportunity to increase their enthusiasm for essay writing. Grammar checks and digital organizers are among the most entertaining and helpful applications for high school, college, and university students. When they utilize grammar checkers, they can identify frequent errors that include punctuation, spelling, grammar, selection of words, and stylistics. In addition, there are online essay-writing services that can help students with their essays. In fact, the essay writing service CustomWritings is one of the best sites that allow learners to spend less money on a high-quality custom paper. The website consistently receives high marks in reviews. It has received over 4.7 out of 5 stars on both Trustpilot and Sitejabber, indicating that most customers are satisfied with its services. Most clients who evaluated it were pleased with the guarantees offered, customer service, and work quality. The platform provides assignment assistance, written research papers, affordable essay writing, and various other high-quality, non-plagiarized, and custom-formatted academic services. Use examplesWithout examples, it is difficult to teach. Just provide samples of exceptional essays to help your pupils grasp what constitutes a good piece of writing. It may be an essay written by a former pupil. After seeing an example, the learner will have a concept of what an excellent piece should look like. Use examples to instruct students on each aspect their essays must have. They will completely understand what constitutes a decent introduction, an instructive body, and a fitting conclusion. In addition, your pupils will be able to examine how sentences are constructed and what grammatical structures are employed. Insist on having a purposeWithout a purpose, it is hard to compose informative, well-written essays. An essay cannot simply be a piece of writing regarding common knowledge and concepts that everyone fully grasps. Therefore, remind your pupils that they should not rush to write their essays after selecting a subject. Make them choose the essay’s objective. When a student fully comprehends the purpose of their essay, it will be much simpler for them to create an outline and begin writing. Use clear topic sentencesOne of the most important tips to teach writing skills is employing topic sentences. The first sentence of a paragraph establishes its tone. The gist of your content should be communicated in the opening sentence of each paragraph. Ideally, explain your paragraph first, and then expand upon it by providing examples and explanations that support your essential ideas and demonstrate your expertise.
Teaching the College EssayYour students can write argumentative essays, but they need additional guidance to produce standout personal narratives.  A college application is little more than names and numbers. The numbers include SAT score, class rank, and GPA. The names include classes taken, sports, clubs, and activities, as well as awards and recognitions. While these elements may give a snapshot of a student’s academic background, there’s little to no soul to that snapshot. That’s where the essay comes in. It’s an opportunity to humanize an application. It’s a chance for students to shine a light on who they are and what has shaped them. It allows them to show that they’re more than just a transcript—they have an identity. That’s what makes it so intimidating. When you can write about anything, how do you know what to say? And how do you sum up who you are in one essay? To complicate matters, most of the essay writing that students do in high school is argumentative writing. A college essay is a personal narrative, and introspection is not in most students’ wheelhouse. I’ve taught seniors for nearly a decade and have read thousands of college essays. In that time, I’ve heard the same student fears over and over again:
Our job is to guide students through the writing process in a way that gives them the courage and confidence to write a college essay they’re proud of. Three Things to Tell Your Students1. Just start: The Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky believed that “everything starts with a dot.” So many students believe that they need to have the perfect idea and the most amazing first line before they even put pen to paper. Remind them that they don’t need to have a great idea—they just need that first dot. They can start with a bad idea, they can start with a sentence they don’t like, but if they just start, something positive will come out of it. 2. Good essays are often about the simplest things: Have you seen the essay about Costco that helped one student get into five Ivy League schools? It, like the best essays I’ve read over the years, is not about the most extraordinary accomplishments, written in a bombastic tone. It’s about something mundane. But it displays a perceptive and insightful mind in a captivating way. Reassure students that they need not have climbed Mount Everest or invented a water-filtering system for a remote South American village. They just need to share something meaningful and revelatory about their life in an interesting way. As teachers, we can help them see that even the simplest experiences can matter and that they just need to be insightful about why such an experience was meaningful. 3. It’s all about them... and they’re unique: The three most common essay subjects I’ve seen over the years are the sports injury, the family divorce, and the death of a loved one. There are two potential pitfalls in these types of essays. First, the primary focus isn’t the person writing the essay—it’s the parents fighting, the physical therapist that rehabbed them, or the grandfather, once strong but now decrepit and weak. Those people are not the ones applying to college. Let students know that if they talk about others, they must do so in the service of revealing something valuable about themselves. Second, these topics, being frequently used, run the risk of being predictable and clichéd. The essays become generic. Instead of being particular, they are broad and universal because the experiences in them sounds like everyone else’s. If your students choose one of these topics, encourage them to write about it as only they can. Show them how to infuse dialogue, capture the imagery of the moment, and write in a voice that’s authentic to them. Fear ManagementStephen King believes that the scariest moment for a writer is just before they start. If we can help students get that first dot on the page, assure them that their story is meaningful, and empower them to believe that they are unique, we can take away a lot of that fear. As teachers, we need to approach the college essay with empathetic ears, listening to our students’ voices to help them capture the best of who they are. Have a language expert improve your writingRun a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.
How to Structure an Essay | Tips & TemplatesPublished on September 18, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023. The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction , a body , and a conclusion . But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body. Instantly correct all language mistakes in your textUpload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes  Table of contentsThe basics of essay structure, chronological structure, compare-and-contrast structure, problems-methods-solutions structure, signposting to clarify your structure, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay structure. There are two main things to keep in mind when working on your essay structure: making sure to include the right information in each part, and deciding how you’ll organize the information within the body. Parts of an essayThe three parts that make up all essays are described in the table below.
Order of informationYou’ll also have to consider how to present information within the body. There are a few general principles that can guide you here. The first is that your argument should move from the simplest claim to the most complex . The body of a good argumentative essay often begins with simple and widely accepted claims, and then moves towards more complex and contentious ones. For example, you might begin by describing a generally accepted philosophical concept, and then apply it to a new topic. The grounding in the general concept will allow the reader to understand your unique application of it. The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay . General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body. The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis . Ask yourself whether each piece of information advances your argument or provides necessary background. And make sure that the text clearly expresses each piece of information’s relevance. The sections below present several organizational templates for essays: the chronological approach, the compare-and-contrast approach, and the problems-methods-solutions approach. Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.The chronological approach (sometimes called the cause-and-effect approach) is probably the simplest way to structure an essay. It just means discussing events in the order in which they occurred, discussing how they are related (i.e. the cause and effect involved) as you go. A chronological approach can be useful when your essay is about a series of events. Don’t rule out other approaches, though—even when the chronological approach is the obvious one, you might be able to bring out more with a different structure. Explore the tabs below to see a general template and a specific example outline from an essay on the invention of the printing press.
Essays with two or more main subjects are often structured around comparing and contrasting . For example, a literary analysis essay might compare two different texts, and an argumentative essay might compare the strengths of different arguments. There are two main ways of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay: the alternating method, and the block method. AlternatingIn the alternating method, each paragraph compares your subjects in terms of a specific point of comparison. These points of comparison are therefore what defines each paragraph. The tabs below show a general template for this structure, and a specific example for an essay comparing and contrasting distance learning with traditional classroom learning.
In the block method, each subject is covered all in one go, potentially across multiple paragraphs. For example, you might write two paragraphs about your first subject and then two about your second subject, making comparisons back to the first. The tabs again show a general template, followed by another essay on distance learning, this time with the body structured in blocks.
An essay that concerns a specific problem (practical or theoretical) may be structured according to the problems-methods-solutions approach. This is just what it sounds like: You define the problem, characterize a method or theory that may solve it, and finally analyze the problem, using this method or theory to arrive at a solution. If the problem is theoretical, the solution might be the analysis you present in the essay itself; otherwise, you might just present a proposed solution. The tabs below show a template for this structure and an example outline for an essay about the problem of fake news.
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See an example  Signposting means guiding the reader through your essay with language that describes or hints at the structure of what follows. It can help you clarify your structure for yourself as well as helping your reader follow your ideas. The essay overviewIn longer essays whose body is split into multiple named sections, the introduction often ends with an overview of the rest of the essay. This gives a brief description of the main idea or argument of each section. The overview allows the reader to immediately understand what will be covered in the essay and in what order. Though it describes what comes later in the text, it is generally written in the present tense . The following example is from a literary analysis essay on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein . TransitionsTransition words and phrases are used throughout all good essays to link together different ideas. They help guide the reader through your text, and an essay that uses them effectively will be much easier to follow. Various different relationships can be expressed by transition words, as shown in this example. Because Hitler failed to respond to the British ultimatum, France and the UK declared war on Germany. Although it was an outcome the Allies had hoped to avoid, they were prepared to back up their ultimatum in order to combat the existential threat posed by the Third Reich. Transition sentences may be included to transition between different paragraphs or sections of an essay. A good transition sentence moves the reader on to the next topic while indicating how it relates to the previous one. … Distance learning, then, seems to improve accessibility in some ways while representing a step backwards in others. However , considering the issue of personal interaction among students presents a different picture. If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!
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The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas. The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas. An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarized in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to. The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point. Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:
It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric. You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so. Cite this Scribbr articleIf you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator. Caulfield, J. (2023, July 23). How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved September 11, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/essay-structure/ Is this article helpful? Jack CaulfieldOther students also liked, comparing and contrasting in an essay | tips & examples, how to write the body of an essay | drafting & redrafting, transition sentences | tips & examples for clear writing, what is your plagiarism score. Scaffolding the Writing Process: An Approach to Assignment Design in the SOSC CoreBy Sarah Johnson, Assistant Senior Instructional Professor & Director of Undergraduate Studies in Laws, Letters, and Society and CCTL Associate Pedagogy Fellow Every time I design a new course, I return to the most significant piece of advice that I received when I was getting ready to teach for the first time: that it is my job to prepare my students to succeed on the assignments I give them. When I first heard this, it struck me as an obvious responsibility but also one that I had hardly considered. I was a graduate student at the time who was about to teach a section of Classics of Social and Political Thought in the Social Sciences (SOSC) Core along with a political theory seminar of my own design. These were courses in which students would read books, talk about them, and then write about them. I realized, on reflection, that I had assumed that my students would simply learn by doing, or that with the opportunity to read, discuss, and write that I was giving them—and with some feedback from me along the way—they would leave my classes more adept at these tasks than they were when the classes began. I had thus intended to rely upon my students’ other teachers to shape them into the kinds of readers, interlocutors, and writers that I both needed and wanted them to be and had no concrete strategy for taking on that responsibility myself. What would effective teaching moments look like in the kinds of courses that I wanted to offer? I’ve spent the last fifteen years trying to answer this question, largely through experimentation in the classroom and by learning from my own teachers and colleagues. Below I share an approach to designing writing assignments that came together when I was teaching full time in the SOSC Core as a Harper-Schmidt Fellow. It prepares students to succeed on their SOSC essays by breaking down the writing process into the essential steps that college-level writing demands and giving students time to attend to each one. The aim of scaffolding the writing process in this way is to help students not only to practice but also to learn the necessity and value of tasks such as exploratory writing, refining their ideas in conversation with others, and being mindful of their own development as writers (and thinkers). Using this assignment for the first essay of the quarter or year also helps me to clarify what I expect from my students each time they write a paper, even when some of the steps aren’t formally assigned. The ultimate goal of the assignment is to cultivate in my students a way of thinking about and approaching the writing process that will provide a foundation for further growth in other contexts. Two Preparatory Assignments: Exploration and FrameworkI give students their essay assignment about two and a half weeks before the deadline and structure this time to help them use it effectively. There are various ways of doing this. One approach that I learned from Kristen Brookes, a former colleague who teaches at the Amherst College Writing Center, is to give students an opportunity to use informal, exploratory writing to generate ideas for a paper immediately after receiving the assignment. Following Kristen’s model, I first ask my students to revisit the material they will be writing about and to copy down about five passages that they think can help them to answer the essay question. They bring these passages to our next class, where I give them time to hand-write in short bursts of three to five minutes in response to a series of prompts. After initially writing about their tentative argument for the paper, the students engage with each of their chosen passages in whatever way is most useful to them—for example, by explaining its meaning or why they think it will be useful, or by writing about any questions the passage inspires. As I learned from Kristen, what matters most in this exercise is that the students write constantly during their brief time with each prompt and resist the urge to criticize or edit what they have written. The point of an exercise like this is to get all their ideas onto the page without judgment. Once that is done, they can spend time reviewing what they have written to determine which ideas are more and less useful and revisit their plans for their paper. My students then take advantage of the momentum generated by this initial exercise as they complete a second preparatory assignment that is due roughly twelve days before the essay deadline. The students’ task here is to transform their initial ideas into a framework for their paper. This framework includes a draft thesis-statement followed by a point-based outline, in which they write out the point of each paragraph in a complete sentence. As a final component of the framework assignment, I ask the students to provide a few pieces of textual evidence that can be analyzed to substantiate each point along with a brief discussion of why each passage will be helpful. I saw Kristen make great use of pairing exploratory writing and point-based outline assignments at Amherst, but it was while training to be a lector for the Academic and Professional Writing course here at Chicago in graduate school that I first learned the value of teaching students to think about paragraphs in terms of points as opposed to topics or topic sentences. Whereas a topic sentence need only announce in broad terms what each paragraph will discuss, a paragraph’s point announces to the reader the reason why that paragraph exists at all. It is the specific step in the paper’s overarching argument that a given paragraph will develop and defend in order to develop and defend that larger argument successfully. Within a paragraph, then, the point carries the authority of a thesis: it governs everything that is written in it and helps the writer to determine what they must accomplish before moving on to the next paragraph. The framework assignment thus allows students to begin considering the moves they will need to make in their paper, the order in which those moves must be made, and the kinds of evidence and analysis that they might provide to execute those moves effectively. The assignment requires much of the reading and thinking effort that a full draft would require, but by producing just its essential components a student can more easily see the relationships among their thesis and their paragraphs and where things may have gone wrong as they worked up their argument. Required Meeting: Feedback and Refining IdeasI use these two preparatory assignments as the basis for a twenty-minute conversation with each student one week to ten days before the essay is due. The purpose of requiring students to meet with me at this stage is not only to provide verbal feedback on their framework assignment and to address questions and concerns about their developing paper. Its purpose is also to help students make the most of their discoveries from the preparatory assignments and to demonstrate the role of conversation in the refinement and generation of ideas. For instance, when reviewing the framework assignment, I might see that a student’s points develop a different and stronger argument than is found in the thesis statement at the top of the page. In this case, I would use our conversation to explain the misalignment between the existing thesis and points, to show the student the insight that they reached through the process of working on their paper, and to brainstorm with the student what a thesis statement might look like that would do justice to their insight. Another student might plan to discuss an important concept in their paper without doing so in sufficient detail. Here I would ask the student to explain their understanding of the concept in order to draw out the knowledge they have about it that does not yet appear in their framework. We could then discuss how to incorporate that information into their paper. Reflection: Opening a Conversation about WritingJust as the required meeting offers students a chance to step back from their ideas in the middle of the writing process to reflect on the shape their paper is taking, I give students a way to take stock of their entire experience of writing the paper after they finish it. I want them to keep in mind that the paper they have written for me is part of their larger process of development as writers, a process that began long before they entered my classroom and one that will continue long after they leave. This means that when they write for me, they are drawing upon habits and skills that they learned by writing in other contexts while also cultivating new habits and skills that they can rely upon in future papers. Before submitting their final drafts, my students therefore prepare a 300- to 500-word reflection that helps them to understand their own writing process and to become more self-conscious about their development as writers. These reflections discuss 1) what they found most challenging about writing the essay; 2) something that they learned while writing it; 3) something that their essay does well; and 4) something that they could do to improve the essay. When they write their final paper of the quarter, I also ask them to discuss 5) how they have improved as a writer during the quarter; and 6) in what ways they would like to improve as a writer in future quarters. Final Paper Comments: A Focus on Writing DevelopmentThe students’ reflections on their papers open a conversation about writing that I enter through my feedback. I typically begin my comments at the end of a paper by engaging with one of their own observations about their writing process. For example, students often report that their argument underwent significant changes between the time they began outlining and drafting their paper and when they submitted it. Some will take from this experience the insight that they need to try to give themselves more time than they typically do to write their papers as these transformations, although frustrating, ultimately made their final draft much better than it would have otherwise been. In response to an observation like this, I might explain that this is indeed an indispensable part of the writing process and that building in more time for these discoveries and revisions will help them to write at an even higher level. But some students will draw a different conclusion from the same experience, namely that they did something wrong because they did not begin writing with the best possible argument in mind. Their goal in future essays is usually to develop a better plan for their papers in advance so that they can avoid friction and uncertainty in the drafting process. In these cases, I would caution them against this aspiration by explaining that we typically only find the best arguments we can make through the process of writing itself, and that the evolution of their own argument demonstrates that they did exactly what they were supposed to do during the writing process. In the rest of my comments, I discuss two or three writing issues that I want the student to try to address in their next paper. I number these discussions and place corresponding numbers in the margins of the essay to show the student where each problem occurred. Over the years, these numbers have become the only margin notes I make on essays, an approach that I remember one of my own professors, Aryeh Kosman, using when I was in college. I have discovered that providing feedback in this way allows me to focus the student’s attention on making the improvements that I think will have the greatest impact on the next paper they write, whether that paper is written for me or another instructor. And by addressing these at the end of the paper, I give myself the space both to explain why the issues I identified are indeed problems and to provide concrete suggestions for how to avoid them in the future. In doing so, I often draw upon my training for Academic and Professional Writing, where I was taught to rewrite sentences for my students in order to show them how the feedback I was offering could be put to use and the difference that it would make to their writing. Although this kind of feedback necessarily emphasizes problems at the level of writing over problems at the level of textual interpretation, this does not mean that I ignore the claims my students make about the texts we are studying. Rather, it means that what I say about a student’s interpretation will be in the service of helping them to do a better job on their next paper, which is unlikely to be on the same text and will often be in another course altogether. For example, students often attribute ideas to an author that I don’t think can be supported by the text at all, and certainly not by the parts of it that they quoted or cited as evidence. When this happens, I might explain why I don’t think they can use a particular passage as evidence for their claim, offer a few examples of claims that the passage could in fact support, and explain the difference between these claims and the student’s. My aim in doing this would be to help the student to become a more careful reader by giving them tools that can help them to scrutinize their textual evidence during the drafting process. Final ThoughtsWhile this specific approach to scaffolding writing assignments can help students to succeed on their SOSC essays, the principle that underlies it—breaking down a writing process into its essential components—can also guide the design of writing assignments in upper-level undergraduate courses. It has helped me, for example, when designing research assignments for my courses in the Law, Letters, and Society program. I ask myself what students would have to accomplish throughout the quarter to succeed on their projects and turn these expected milestones into guided assignments that provide an opportunity for feedback. No matter the level of the course, then, I aim to avoid assuming that my students already know the motions that I expect them to go through to complete an assignment and instead build those into the course itself. Sarah Johnson is Assistant Senior Instructional Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Law, Letters, and Society (LLSO) Program. Her current research focuses on the coevolution of Karl Marx’s ideas about history, critique, and political economy in the 1840s. In addition to teaching courses on political economy in LLSO, she regularly teaches in the Classics of Social and Political Thought Core sequence. How to Teach Essay WritingA guide on how to teach essay writing skills from the ground up Jagseer S Sidhu / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0
As ESL students become more fluent, it's time to focus on how to use that fluency in specific tasks, such as making a presentation or writing an essay. The advanced topics you choose should depend upon what your students have planned for the future. In classes with mixed objectives, there's a need for balance to make sure that students who don't necessarily need the task at hand still profit from the lesson. This is never truer than when teaching essay writing skills. Classes that are preparing for academic English objectives require the skills while " business English ," or English for specific purposes classes, might find the entire exercise a waste of their time. Chances are, you have a mixed class, so it is recommended to tie essay writing skills to other important skills — such as using equivalencies, the proper use of linking language, and sequencing in writing. Students not interested in essay writing skills will gain valuable experience in developing these skills regardless of the task. Build Toward Essay Writing SkillsStart by modeling clear writing at the sentence level. The best way to approach essay writing skills is to start at the sentence level. Once students have learned to compose simple, compound, and complex sentences, they will have the tools necessary to write longer documents such as essays, business reports , formal emails, and so on. All students will find this help invaluable. Focus on EquivalenciesI find the best place to start is with equivalencies. Before moving on, make sure students understand sentence types by writing a simple, compound, and complex sentence on the board. Simple sentence: Mr. Smith visited Washington three years ago. Compound sentence: Anna advised him against the idea, but he decided to go nonetheless. Complex sentence: Since he was in Washington, he took the time to visit the Smithsonian. Build up students' knowledge of equivalencies by beginning with FANBOYS ( coordinating conjunctions ), moving on to subordinating conjunctions, and finishing with other equivalencies, such as preposition and conjunctive adverbs. Focus on Linking LanguageNext, students will need to link their language, creating organization through the use of linking language, including sequencing. It helps to write out processes at this point. Ask students to think of some process, then use sequencing language to connect the dots. It's a good idea to ask students to use both numberings in a sequence of steps and linking through time words. Writing Essay PracticeNow that students understand how to combine sentences into larger structures, it's time to move on to writing essays. Provide a simple essay to students and ask them to identify various structures and written objectives:
I like to help students by first explaining that an essay is like a hamburger. It's certainly a crude analogy, but students seem to get the idea of the intro and conclusion being like the buns, while the content is the good stuff. Essay Writing Lesson Plans There are a number of lesson plans and resources on this site that help with the many steps involved in developing the necessary writing skills. To focus on combining simple sentences into more compound structures, use a simple-to-compound sentence worksheet. Once students are comfortable at the sentence level, proceed from brainstorming through outlining to final essay production. Challenges With Teaching Essay Writing As previously stated, the main issue with essay writing is that it is not really necessary for every student. Another issue is that traditional five-paragraph essays are certainly a little old school. However, I still feel that understanding the structure of your basic hamburger essay will serve students well when putting together future written work.
Essay Papers Writing OnlineMastering the art of teaching essay writing – strategies, tips, and techniques for educators.  Instructors constantly strive to deliver exemplary teaching that not only provides students with the necessary knowledge but also equips them with skills essential for success in their academic and professional lives. One crucial skill that students need to develop is essay writing, as it is directly linked to effective communication and critical thinking. Engaging Students in the Process: To encourage students’ active participation, instructors can adopt various strategies such as incorporating real-life examples or current events into essay prompts. By giving students a chance to express their opinions on topics that matter to them, instructors create a sense of relevance and foster deeper engagement. Promoting Structure and Organization: One key aspect of effective essay writing is the ability to structure thoughts and ideas in a coherent manner. Instructors can guide students in outlining their essays, emphasizing the importance of an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Establishing this foundation helps students convey their arguments systematically and persuasively. Define the Purpose and Audience In order to write an effective essay, it is important to first define the purpose and audience. The purpose of an essay is the main goal or objective that the writer wants to achieve with their writing, while the audience refers to the specific group of people for whom the essay is intended. Both the purpose and audience play a crucial role in shaping the content, tone, and style of the essay. When defining the purpose of an essay, writers need to consider what they want to accomplish with their writing. Do they want to inform, persuade, entertain, or argue? The purpose will depend on the topic, the writer’s own intentions, and the desired outcome. For instance, a writer may want to inform their audience about a specific topic, or they may want to persuade readers to adopt a certain viewpoint. By clearly defining the purpose, writers can focus their efforts on achieving their desired outcome. Equally important is identifying the target audience for the essay. The audience may vary depending on the type of essay and its intended purpose. Is the essay meant for a general audience, or is it targeted toward a specific group of people with a particular interest or knowledge? Understanding the audience allows the writer to tailor their language, examples, and arguments to better connect with and engage the intended readers. It also helps to determine the appropriate level of complexity and detail that should be included in the essay. Once the purpose and audience have been defined, writers can then proceed with planning and crafting their essay. By having a clear understanding of the intended goal and the specific readers, writers can create content that is relevant, compelling, and impactful. So, before diving into the writing process, take the time to define the purpose and audience to lay a strong foundation for an effective essay. Teach Proper Essay StructureIn order to effectively guide students in their essay writing, it is important to teach them the proper structure that essays should follow. By providing a clear and organized framework, students will be able to craft well-structured and coherent essays. One key element of teaching proper essay structure is introducing students to the concept of an introduction. The introduction serves as the opening paragraph of an essay and should grab the reader’s attention while providing a brief overview of the topic. Encouraging students to begin their essay with a strong hook or an interesting fact can help captivate the reader from the start. Another crucial aspect of essay structure is the body paragraphs. The body paragraphs should present the main ideas and arguments of the essay in a logical and coherent manner. Each paragraph should focus on a single idea or argument and be supported by evidence or examples. Teaching students how to effectively transition between paragraphs and connect their ideas can enhance the overall flow and cohesiveness of their essays. Finally, it is important to teach students how to craft a strong conclusion for their essays. The conclusion should summarize the main points of the essay and provide a sense of closure. Encouraging students to end their essays with a thought-provoking statement or a call to action can leave a lasting impression on the reader. By teaching proper essay structure, educators can equip students with the necessary tools to effectively communicate their ideas and arguments in a clear and organized manner. This not only improves their writing skills, but also enhances their ability to think critically and develop well-supported arguments. Encourage Brainstorming and OutliningOne effective approach to improving essay writing is to encourage students to engage in brainstorming and outlining activities before they begin their first draft. By providing students with a structured framework for organizing their thoughts, they can better develop their ideas and create a coherent and well-structured essay. When students brainstorm, they generate a variety of ideas related to the essay prompt or topic. This process allows them to explore different perspectives, consider different arguments or examples, and think critically about the subject matter. Brainstorming helps students to expand their thinking and gather a wide range of potential content to include in their essay. Once students have generated their ideas through brainstorming, it is important to guide them through the outlining process. Outlining provides students with a roadmap for their essay, helping them to organize their thoughts and create a logical flow of ideas. By outlining, students can see the connections between their main points and how they support their thesis statement. This process helps to ensure that their essay is well-structured and cohesive. Teachers can encourage students to brainstorm and outline by providing them with specific prompts or questions to consider. This can help to focus their thinking and guide them towards developing strong arguments and supporting evidence. Additionally, teachers can provide examples of effective outlines to model the process for students. By demonstrating the benefits of brainstorming and outlining, students are more likely to engage in these activities and ultimately produce higher quality essays. Incorporating brainstorming and outlining as regular components of the essay writing process can significantly improve students’ writing skills. These activities encourage critical thinking, strengthen organizational skills, and promote thoroughness and clarity in writing. By teaching students to brainstorm and outline effectively, educators can empower them to communicate their ideas more clearly and convincingly in their essays. Teach Effective Research TechniquesIn order to enhance students’ ability to write high-quality essays, it is vital to teach them effective research techniques. By providing students with the skills and knowledge required to conduct thorough research, they will be better equipped to gather relevant and reliable information for their essays. One key aspect of teaching effective research techniques is teaching students how to differentiate between credible and non-credible sources. It is important to emphasize the importance of using reputable sources such as scholarly articles, academic journals, and books. Students should be encouraged to critically evaluate the information they find and consider the author’s credentials, the publication’s credibility, and any potential biases. Another crucial component of effective research is teaching students how to effectively use search engines and databases. Students should learn how to use search operators and filters to refine their search results, as well as how to use advanced search techniques to locate specific information within a source. By teaching students these skills, they will be able to efficiently navigate through the vast amount of information available online and find the most relevant sources for their essays. Furthermore, students should be taught how to properly cite their sources and avoid plagiarism. It is important for students to understand the different citation styles, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, and how to correctly format their references and in-text citations. By teaching students the importance of giving credit to the original authors and avoiding plagiarism, they will develop a strong sense of academic integrity and ethical writing practices. Lastly, it is important to teach students how to effectively organize and manage their research materials. Students should learn how to create annotated bibliographies, take effective notes, and develop a systematic approach to organizing their research. By teaching students these skills, they will be able to easily access and reference their sources when writing their essays, resulting in more coherent and well-structured papers. In conclusion, teaching effective research techniques is a vital component of essay writing instruction. By providing students with the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct thorough research, differentiate between credible and non-credible sources, effectively use search engines and databases, properly cite sources, and organize their research materials, students will be better equipped to write high-quality essays that are well-supported and well-evidenced. Provide Feedback and Revision StrategiesEnhancing the quality of students’ essays involves an ongoing process of feedback and revision. This section explores effective strategies for providing feedback and guiding students through the revision process to improve their essay writing skills.
By implementing these feedback and revision strategies, educators can empower students to refine their essay writing skills and achieve greater levels of clarity, coherence, and persuasive effectiveness in their work. Develop Strong Thesis StatementsCrafting a persuasive and coherent thesis statement is essential for any essay. The thesis statement serves as the foundation for the entire argument, setting the tone and direction of the piece. A strong thesis statement concisely conveys the main idea of the essay, while also indicating the writer’s stance on the topic. Teach Clear and Concise Writing Style One essential aspect of effective essay writing is teaching students how to develop a clear and concise writing style. This style involves using precise language and avoiding unnecessary words or phrases. By teaching students to write in a clear and concise manner, they can effectively communicate their ideas and arguments to their readers. When students are able to write with clarity and conciseness, they are more likely to engage and hold their reader’s attention. Clear and concise writing allows the reader to understand the main points and arguments without getting lost in unnecessary details or confusing language. By teaching this writing style, students can craft essays that are easy to read and understand. One way to teach clear and concise writing is by emphasizing the use of precise language. Encourage students to choose words that accurately convey their intended meaning and avoid using vague or general terms. By using specific and descriptive language, students can paint a clear picture for their readers and make their writing more engaging. Another strategy is to teach students how to avoid unnecessary words or phrases. Help them understand that brevity can enhance their writing and make it more concise. Encourage them to eliminate redundant phrases, remove filler words, and trim unnecessary information. By doing so, their writing will become more focused and impactful. In addition, it is important to teach students how to structure their sentences and paragraphs in a clear and concise manner. Emphasize the use of concise sentences that contain one main idea and are free of unnecessary details. Teach them to use transitions effectively to guide their readers smoothly from one idea to the next. Encourage them to organize their paragraphs logically, with each paragraph focusing on a specific point or argument. Overall, by teaching students to write in a clear and concise style, you are equipping them with a valuable skill that can be applied not only in essay writing but also in various professional and academic settings. Clear and concise writing allows ideas to be communicated effectively and leaves a lasting impact on the reader. Related PostHow to master the art of writing expository essays and captivate your audience, convenient and reliable source to purchase college essays online, step-by-step guide to crafting a powerful literary analysis essay, unlock success with a comprehensive business research paper example guide, unlock your writing potential with writers college – transform your passion into profession, “unlocking the secrets of academic success – navigating the world of research papers in college”, master the art of sociological expression – elevate your writing skills in sociology.
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Updated, Feb. 2020 How can writing change people’s understanding of the world? How can it influence public opinion? How can it lead to meaningful action? Below, we round up the best pieces we’ve published over the years about how to use the riches of The Times’s Opinion section p to teach and learn. We’ve sorted the ideas — many of them from teachers — into two sections. The first helps students do close-readings of editorials and Op-Eds, as well as Times Op-Docs, Op-Art and editorial cartoons. The second suggests ways for students to discover their own voices on the issues they care about. We believe they, too, can “write to change the world.” Ideas for Reading Opinion Pieces1. Explore the role of a newspaper opinion section. How would your students describe the differences between the news sections of a newspaper and the opinion section? What do they have in common? How do they differ? Where else in newspapers are opinions — for instance, in the form of reviews or personal essays — often published? Bring in a few print copies of a newspaper, whether The Times or a local or school paper, and have your students work in small groups to contrast a news page with an opinion page and see what they discover. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe . |
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Outline. The last thing to do before starting to write an essay is to make its outline. Choose some topic and make a list of points your students would need to mention if they wrote an essay on it. Such a technique will give them a better understanding of what and essay is, and how it should be written. Make sure that all students perfectly ...
Once students have their introduction and body paragraphs complete, I then have them move on to writing the conclusion. At this step, I teach conclusion writing to my students and have them restate the thesis and add a general thought to the end of the paragraph. At this point, I emphasize that students should not be adding in any new information.
At this stage, it is important that they: Ensure the research material is directly relevant to the essay task. Record in detail the sources of the information that they will use in their essay. Engage with the material personally by asking questions and challenging their own biases.
Teaching students how to write an essay is a big undertaking, but this is a crucial process for any high school or college student to learn. Start by assigning essays to read and then encourage students to choose an essay topic of their own. Spend class time helping students understand what makes a good essay.
The Four Square is a graphic organizer that students can make themselves when given a blank sheet of paper. They fold it into four squares and draw a box in the middle of the page. The genius of ...
Effective writing is a vital component of students' literacy achievement, and writing is a critical communication tool for students to convey thoughts and opinions, describe ideas and events, and analyze information. Indeed, writing is a life-long skill that plays a key role in post-secondary success across academic and vocational disciplines.1
Students should be encouraged to learn words they frequently misspell, as well as words they wish to include in their writing. Teachers also should help students acquire the skills they need to generate and check plausible spellings for words. 3. Teach students to construct sentences for fluency , meaning and style.
The Harvard Writing Project publishes resource guides for faculty and teaching fellows that help them integrate writing into their courses more effectively — for example, by providing ideas about effective assignment design and strategies for responding to student writing.. A list of current HWP publications for faculty and teaching fellows is provided below.
Come up with a thesis. Create an essay outline. Write the introduction. Write the main body, organized into paragraphs. Write the conclusion. Evaluate the overall organization. Revise the content of each paragraph. Proofread your essay or use a Grammar Checker for language errors. Use a plagiarism checker.
How to Prepare to Write an Essay. Before you start writing your essay, you need to figure out who you're writing for (audience), what you're writing about (topic/theme), and what you're going to say (argument and thesis). This section contains links to handouts, chapters, videos and more to help you prepare to write an essay.
Harvard College Writing Center 5 Asking Analytical Questions When you write an essay for a course you are taking, you are being asked not only to create a product (the essay) but, more importantly, to go through a process of thinking more deeply about a question or problem related to the course. By writing about a
The Write Foundation writing curriculum is a divide and conquer method of teaching writing. Focusing on small portions of writing paragraphs and later five-paragraph college level essays, eventually you and your students will be able to use all the necessary writing skills to easily compose wonderfully crafted formal essays.
Ideas- The main idea, supporting details, evidence, and explanation. Ideas are the heart of any good paper. This is where you get the argument, the main idea, or the details that really bring the paper to life. Ideas should be the first thing discussed and brainstormed in the writing process.
Step 2: Informal Argument, Freestyle. Although many students might need more practice in writing an effective argument, many of them are excellent at arguing in person. To help them make this connection, I would have them do some informal debate on easy, high-interest topics.
This post discusses 8 easy ways to teach essay writing skills, which you can share with your students to make essay writing an easy and enjoyable activity. Nurturing essay writing skills in your pupils. Choose an interesting topic. The first thing your pupils should consider before writing an essay is the subject. Remember that an essay reveals ...
Teaching the College Essay. Your students can write argumentative essays, but they need additional guidance to produce standout personal narratives. A college application is little more than names and numbers. The numbers include SAT score, class rank, and GPA. The names include classes taken, sports, clubs, and activities, as well as awards ...
Teaching essay writing in high school can be tedious work for just about anyone. Don't be discouraged; find a thorough guide to help you through it here. ... Don't assume high schoolers already know how to write an essay. Many students are able to move through grades without ever having mastered this skill. Make sure your classroom is the ...
The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body. This article provides useful templates and tips to help you outline your essay, make decisions about your structure, and ...
This resource includes instructional materials and an essay graphic organizer to use all year long to help students plan their writing. The digital version is included - Now optimized for Google Classroom and digital learning! The PowerPoint/Google Slide: 25 slides in three different presentations. animated.
Polish Writing Mechanics: Writing an exceptional essay involves more than just ideas and creativity. Our guide will provide you with practical tips to refine grammar, spelling, and punctuation, ensuring that your students' written work is polished and professional. Structure with Purpose: Teach your students the art of organizing their ...
Below I share an approach to designing writing assignments that came together when I was teaching full time in the SOSC Core as a Harper-Schmidt Fellow. It prepares students to succeed on their SOSC essays by breaking down the writing process into the essential steps that college-level writing demands and giving students time to attend to each one.
Start by modeling clear writing at the sentence level. The best way to approach essay writing skills is to start at the sentence level. Once students have learned to compose simple, compound, and complex sentences, they will have the tools necessary to write longer documents such as essays, business reports, formal emails, and so on.
Promoting Structure and Organization: One key aspect of effective essay writing is the ability to structure thoughts and ideas in a coherent manner. Instructors can guide students in outlining their essays, emphasizing the importance of an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Establishing this foundation helps students convey their ...
4. Identify claims and evidence. Related Article Tim Lahan. The Common Core Standards put argument front and center in American education, and even young readers are now expected to be able to ...