June 15, 2008
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In This Issue:
*Remedial English: 5 Reasons Kids Must Take It*Allow Trial and Error
*Just One Thing to Learn
*A Note from Linda
Remedial English:
5 Reasons Your Kids Must Take It
I do not know your students by name, but I know why they wind up in remedial English classes in college. Believe me, it is a place no student (or teacher!) wants to be.1) They have little experience in expository writing. They think the only real writing is "creative” writing."
2) They have rarely written about anything except their personal experiences. They lack experience writing about ideas, concepts, and information.
3) They have little experience writing for any purpose other than self-expression.
4) They have little experience writing for any but a close audience, like family and friends. The concept of writing for people who do not share their background or prejudices is foreign to them.
5) They are unaccustomed to editing their own work to meet standard conventions for capitalization, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
If you want your students to succeed in college, better teach them to write third person expository es says in high school. As old-fashioned as it may seem, the five-paragraph essay remains the standard for college writing.
You ignore it at your students' peril.
Allow Trial and Error
Students learn some material only by trial and error. Students need to see a direct cause-and-effect relationship between a particular writing choice and the result.You need to point out the place in the writing process where a different choice could have produced a different outcome. As they get experience, students will learn to see those relationships without your help.
Allow students who realize they have goofed to correct their error as best they can within the time frame you establish. Learning to live with consequences of choices and to observe deadlines are soft skills students need for college and work.
Just One Thing to Learn
High school and college essays may have an arbitrary length (e.g.: 2,500 words) or structure (e.g.: 5 paragraphs). However, the way writers go about exposition is the same regardless of length or number of paragraphs. The writing process does not change.So, tell students they have just one process to learn.
They will love you for it.
A note from Linda
If you learn better by looking at a picture than by reading a paragraph, check out the section about outlines. Outlines are really maps built using rows and columns of information. Those Roman numerals that students find so hard to remember are just window dressing.See the grid structure of the outline.
Then see how it becomes formal.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the form on the web site for your initial message. After I know you are you and not some dreadful spammer, I will "white list" you so we can exchange e-mails without going through the site.The next issue of Writing Points is scheduled for July 15.
Until then, keep your pencil sharp!
Linda