Best way for beginners to create an outline:
Turn thesis into writing skeleton™

Beginning writers can create an outline in minutes providing they know a simple trick for making an outline from the working thesis. I call this trick a writing skeleton™. Your beginning and struggling students will call it a godsend.

Efficient idea generation uses thesis

English texts instruct students at length how to settle on a writing topic. Learning to write is much easier if students just pick the first idea that comes along.

If you give students authentic writing prompts related to your course content, they cannot go too far wrong. For example, if you ask them to write about whether Atticus is the hero of To Kill a Mockingbird, students are not likely to write about basketball, are they?

Let's suppose Britt is writing about wifflets. She picks as her thesis statement

Wifflets should be prohibited at the Bigger City High School.

To create an outline in writing skeleton™ format, Britt will replace the period with the word because and then add a reason for believing the thesis to be true. I've put the thesis statement and the reason statement in different colors below so you can see them easily.

• Wifflets should be prohibited at the Bigger City High School because wifflets distract students from paying attention in class.

• Wifflets should be prohibited at the Bigger City High School because some students use wifflets to cheat on tests.

• Wifflets should be prohibited at the Bigger City High School because wifflets are available on campus if students really need them.

Both the thesis statement and the writing skeleton™ points can be created by following a formula. Because they are so mechanical, they are easy for students to learn and quick for students to produce.

Authentic prompts ease difficulties

If you give students an authentic writing prompt related to your course content, they will be able to come up with a thesis statement and some supporting ideas.

What's more, they will be able to phrase each of them as a complete sentence. For kids who struggle with writing, this is a breakthrough.

Do you know how great a LD kid will feel coming up with a complete sentence outline? Wow! That is a real confidence booster.

Having a sentence outline is also a big efficiency booster. Sentences are complete ideas. When Britt comes back to work on her essay plan again, she won't have to spent time wondering what she meant by "test wifflets." The sentence will tell her.

Of course, beginning writers who use my writing skeleton™ trick to create an outline are not going to do a terrific job the first time. Often they will have overlapping points or unclear wording. Like Britt, they'll have passive voice sentences.

Despite those problems that all students have when first learning to create an outline this way, the writing skeleton™ gives struggling writers a tremendous boost.

One student's experience

I once had a super-smart student who was taking freshman composition for the third time. He said he failed the first time because it took him so long to decide on a topic that he never got around to writing an essay.

The second time, he turned in an essay, but it took him so long to get a topic that he didn't have time to edit his essay. That time he failed because of sloppy writing mechanics.

When he got to my class, I taught him how to grab a working thesis and make a writing skeleton™. He turned in five essays in five weeks and earned an A. All he needed was a technique for getting started.

Your students may not go from F to A in 5 weeks; almost none of mine do. However, if you teach students the writing skeleton technique and give them plenty of opportunities to use it, I am sure you will see a big improvement in their writing.