Writing prompts go formal
Make them worth the care required

Formal prompts are writing occasions that require writers to think before they respond.

A good prompt calls for the same level of care from the person making the assignment as the assigner expects from the writer.

In school situations, prompts that call for a formal response appear in the guise of essay topics, essay exams, term papers, research papers, or written projects.

In workplace situations, prompts that ask for memos, papers, reports, recommendations, or proposals are formal.

Formality means accuracy of content

When writers have a formal assignment, they are supposed to come up with a “correct” response, that is, one that’s logical and supported by evidence.

Except in exam situations, if writers don't have information they need to respond, they are expected to dig out the missing material before they turn in their work. (Typically, a student who attempts to remedy his information deficits during an exam is not applauded for initiative.)

Moreover, writers responding to a formal prompt are expected to take care with their spelling, wording, grammar and punctuation, and the appearance of their finished documents.

Focus on Essential Concepts

The topics around which you should develop formal writing prompts are the major concepts and ideas in your course. Writing is too hard — and developing good writing assignments is too hard — to waste time on trivia.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking your state standards are the important concepts to teach.

The National Council of Teachers of English points out that many state standards fail to say what is essential for students to learn.

Because a topic is appropriate for ninth graders doesn’t necessarily mean that topic is required for your ninth grade ELA classes.

What is used is essential

Decide what’s important for students to know about — the topics likely to show up on standardized tests, for example — and which are important for students to do in written and oral communication.

The essentials include . . .

1) Skills ordinary people have to use on the job.

Summarizing oral or written material fits this category. Writing in complete sentences is also an essential skill.

2) Concepts people must understand in order to improve their communications skills.

The concept of a sentence is one example of a foundational concept. People will have difficulty improving their grammar and punctuation without recognizing sentences.

3) Patterns people have to recognize in order to perform typical daily tasks.

Identifying the main idea in a paragraph is a pattern recognition skill people must be able to do in order to perform many routine tasks every day.

Once is enough

You need to do this analysis only once. Methods and strategies change, but the essential concepts and ideas of a discipline don’t change.

If you’ve unearthed the basics all your students must master by the end of high school, you have a good start toward teaching writing.

You still need to know how to make the essential course material into good, formal prompts. It’s not hard, but it may be unfamiliar territory for you.

We’ll take it in short chunks.