5 paragraph essay is standard
for structure and strategies training
The
five paragraph essay has been the standard teaching
tool for essay writing for centuries precisely because it can
be taught, learned, and followed mechanically.
Although mechanical writing is deplored by English teachers, research
shows beginning and struggling writers need structure
and strategies in order to learn to write.
The device we call the five paragraph essay provides both. It also
simultaneously teaches students how to think about writing so will
not have to rely on their memorized structure unless they choose
to.
Writing becomes reinforcing
Research has shown again and again that poor writers do little,
if any planning. Beginning writers are also unlikely to do any amount
of planning. Novice writers and struggling writers they don't know
how to plan or what to plan for.
For planning strategies to be effective for those students, the
strategies must have a quick pay off. The beginner and the
struggling writers cannot wait 3 days or a week to learn whether
their plan worked. They need to know NOW.
The kid who hates to write may also be the kid who is enthralled
by video games. The games are probably more complicated than writing,
but they appeal to kids because, among other things, they give rapid
feedback.
This is not an indictment of kids. Anyone attempting to learn a
skill wants immediate feedback. Would you learn to knit if you had
to wait until the end of the grading period to know if you were
correctly applying the directions for knit and purl?
I don't think so.
If the first sentence Josh writes is a sensible working
thesis sentence, that initial success makes it more likely that
he will go on to prepare a 3-sentence writing
skeleton™. Applying that strategy reinforces Josh's writing
effort and makes it likely he will attempt another step in the 5
paragraph essay process.
By contrast, the popular writers' workshop strategy that
has students write and rewrite to find their thesis does not give
positive reinforcement soon enough to be effective with beginning
writers or with writers who have learning difficulties.
Let students work in short bursts
Beginning writers do better work if they work in several short
sessions arranged so students end each session with something
finished. For novice and struggling writers simply finishing
a task is a victory.
For example, if students have a fairly restricted topic, they usually
can prepare a working thesis and writing skeleton™ in a
half hour. Because those items are written in full sentences,
students not only reach closure, but also have no difficulty picking
up the work later to do the next step.
How long will students need at each stage?
Once students know what to do and have had a bit of practice, I
suggest beginning writers ought to be able to complete various stages
of their essays in roughly the following times:
Session 1: Prepare working
thesis and writing skeleton™
(30 minutes).
Session 2: Complete a full-sentence
plan (30–45 minutes).
Session 3: Compose
(draft) the essay
(60 minutes).
Session 4: Revise the essay
(15 minutes)
Session 5. Edit the essay
for three mechanical errors one at a time (5-15 minutes per error).
Your students may take more or less time depending on their ages,
their motor skills, whether they are writing longhand or at a computer,
etc.
Unless they have some disability that requires accommodation, don't
let beginning writers take much more time than shown above at one
sitting.
Taking a lot more time on some or all aspects of the 5 paragraph
essay is usually a symptom of lack of focus. Students develop a
distaste for writing if it takes too long—even if the reason
it takes long is that they were woolgathering.
Students usually respond positively if you say, "We are going
to take 15 minutes now for you to edit your papers for your three
most frequent errors instead of doing the editing tonight as homework.
Of course, if you want to take more time, you may edit at home later."
Such phrasing gives students an reasonable estimate of time
required for the activity. It also leaves open the option to take
longer if a student needs more time or wants to edit for five errors
instead of three.
Minimize pre-draft writing
Minimize the amount of handwriting students must
do so they can concentrate on planning, especially if you are teaching
younger students who may find handwriting physically challenging.
You can make graphic organizers in minutes using the Tables
function in your word processing program and print them for students.
See some on my page about the outline
template.
Or set up a table on the computer and let students input
their plans there. Then they can use copy and paste to eliminate
some of the drudgery.
Note: You will find more on the essay writing thread about reasons
for using the 5 paragraph essay.
Published 21-Mar-2009; updated
08-Jun-2010
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