Teaching a strategic planning process is the best way to get
students to produce competent expository writing. (Expository
writing is a broad classification of nonfiction that includes
essay
genres whose overall organization is thesis-plus-support rather
than chronological.)
The strategies used within the planning process are often referred
to as critical thinking strategies or problem solving
skills. They encourage thinking about a writing problem systematically
so the writer doesn't overlook some critical information needed
for the task at hand.
Critical thinking in thesis + support
I teach nine writing strategies for preparing a thesis
and support essay, which can produce communications anywhere
from paragraph length to book length. Such variety is possible
because at each stage of the strategic planning process, writers
make choices based on their goals. Each choice changes the
range of potential outcomes.
The smallest written work that can display all the thesis and support
features is five paragraphs long. Thus, the thesis-and-support
form has been saddled with the label five-paragraph essay,
or if you prefer, the 5-paragraph essay.
What is a strategic process?
A strategy is a series of steps designed to achieve a clearly
defined objective.
A strategic planning process incorporates a series of
strategies for achievement of a clearly defined objective.
In other words, the plan has an ultimate goal and its components
have their own objectives. As each component objective is met, the
plan advances toward its final objective.
For a strategic process to succeed, each strategy must be stated
in such a way that the persons using it can know when they
have finished.
In other words, each strategy has to contain standards or
benchmarks for saying, "We've finished," "This
is good enough," "Time to move on."
Sentence format improves efficiency
Students achieve maximum writing efficiency when they move quickly
from the writing prompt into putting information for their papers
into sentences. The sentence format is a more efficient container
for materials created in the strategic planning process than a sentence
fragment: sentences convey complete thoughts.
When student writers learn to use a strategic planning process,
they don't waste time wondering what to do next. The strategies
guide them toward their goal.
And, by using a strategy, writers determine what they
don't need to do or think about. That eliminates wasting
time on topics or tasks unrelated to their writing goals.
Transfer of strategies
Teaching writing consists primarily of:
-
Teaching strategies.
-
Monitoring students' use of strategies.
-
Re-teaching strategies, if necessary, until students
use them automatically.
Planning is really tough for beginning writers, but it is the
activity with the greatest potential to improve students' writing
and students' grades quickly. Students who don't care about having
better writing don't object to having better grades, even if good
grades are not highly motivating for them.
One trick for getting students to plan their essays is structured
peer learning activities in which students help students. My Talk
It Out duplication masters give questions students can use
to help each other plan expository essays.
Another technique I use is informal writing, which forces students
to respond in writing to a topic that's essential for them to
understand well. Informal
writing is a multifunctional tool every English teacher should
know and use.
