An authentic expository writing prompt provides the only way
you can legitimately tell students to "write what you know."
That's because an authentic prompt requires students to write
about your course content.
No matter how little Joey may appear to be taking in of your
English class, he probably knows—or can quickly find out—more
about what you are discussing in class than about any other topic
you think will interest him.
What's authentic in English class?
I don't know exactly what your curriculum covers, but I am sure
they will include some topics related to each of these categories:
You may also have to teach other topics, such as media literacy
or research skills.
These are all
authentic writing topics for your students
because they are
part of your actual curriculum. Prompts
that you develop on one of these topics from your curriculum will
be authentic.
By contrast, writing assignments you develop on subjects outside
the English language arts framework are inauthentic, or,
as the kids say, bogus.
Authenticity is wise use of your time
Forget the students for a minute. Think about yourself. Having
students write on topics that are outside your course curriculum
is a poor use of your time.
Does the football coach have the team scrimmage so they'll learn
teamwork? Of course not. His goal is winning football games. His
players may learn teamwork while they practice football, but he
doesn't devote a unit to developing teamwork. He keeps his mind
on his goal.
The same principle should apply to teaching writing. All
the "practice" you have students do, every writing prompt
you give, should move them toward accomplishing your major objectives
for the year.
Authentic essay topics are a better use of your time than having
students write about "the best thing in the ditch." (An English
teacher I once met considered that her top-of-the-line prompt.)
Authenticity is good for students
In addition, authentic prompts are a better use of students'
time. When students write on authentic subjects, they find
out how much they actually understood — or failed to
understand — about what you attempted to teach them.
If you give students formal
assignments dealing with class topics, they will be required
to plug the gaps in their information by doing
some study and research.
A side benefit to this is that students won't be able to get
by with the pseudo research that pastes material
copied from the Internet into a paper. They'll have to learn
to use sources correctly. That will make their college
instructors very happy—and keep students out of plagiarism
difficulties.
