Teaching how to write an outline
may not promote good planning

Teaching students how to write an outline is an unpleasant task that is often unnecessary. The kinds of formal outlines taught in schools are used infrequently in school and workplace settings and are almost never used for planning purposes.

Since good planning is best way to improve the content of nonfiction writing, I've posted a separate thread on which I discuss a strategic planning process that is easier to teach, friendlier, and more more effective than teaching outlining.

However, for form's sake, this thread will tell you what you need to know to teach students enough about how to write an outline that they can answer multiple choice questions about outline format.

Four types of outlines

Outlines can be classified by degree of formality and by the grammatical structure of the points:

• An informal outline is little more than a list superimposed on a grid. Items are indented below the subject to which they refer.

• A formal outline dresses up the informal outline using special symbols and rules about how the outline should look.

• A sentence outline is one in which each point is presented as a full sentence.

• A topic outline is one in which each point is presented as a sentence fragment.

The chart below shows how the two outline classifications can be combined:

You can see an informal outline example in both topic and sentence formats. Also see a formal outline example in both topic and sentence formats.

Note, please, that teaching this terminology to students is not a necessary part of teaching how to write an outline. It can, however, be helpful for you when you are seeking teaching resources.

Terms such as essay outline, speech outline, or research paper outline indicate communications to which the outline is applied rather than any specific characteristics of the outlines themselves.

More pages on outline terms

Creating an outline is a higher level task than making an outline.

To create an outline may be impossible for students.

Students can construct, craft, make, or do outlines quite easily.

Pages on special outline applications

Learn about preparing a research paper outline as part of the presentation

A research paper outline can be built wisely or stupidly.

Academic uses of outlines

Students are usually taught how to write an outline in English language arts classes as planning tools for writing essays and papers. However, students rarely use the kinds of formal outlines taught in ELA for planning.

If my own behavior is any guide, I suspect few teachers use formal outlines for planning their writing either.

Outlines can be used for a variety of purposes within the ELA classroom and in other areas of the academic curriculum.

Course overviews

Instructors may use outlines to provide students with overviews of:

• Course policies and procedures.

• Content to be learned.

• Content to be reviewed.

Reading comprehension activities

Instructors may require students to write outlines to get them to read course material carefully. For such reading comprehension assignments, instructors typically expect a sentence outline that indicates the main points the author uses to develop his/her thesis statement.

Teacher effort-reduction measures

A few teachers require students to submit formal outlines with final drafts of papers. The only reason I can think of for requiring an outline with the final paper is so the teacher can avoid reading the paper.

If you want students to use outlines as planning tools, you need to see the outlines early in the writing process and give students feedback on them so they can improve their papers.

Nonacademic uses of outlines

Outside of school settings, people use formal outlines primarily to give overviews of material discussed in an oral presentation or written document. For planning purposes, people usually use informal outlines.