Developing a Writer

In working with middle and high school writers over the past 12 years, I have developed a step-by-step process for building writing skills. Each step is labeled with a rough grade-level application.

I. Paragraph structure (grades 2-6)
Elementary school prepares students to write well-shaped paragraphs with topic sentences, supporting details and concluding sentences. This BEGINNING-MIDDLE-END format will stay with the student FOREVER!

II. Essay structure (grades 6-9)
The best place to start teaching students about full essay structure is to present the classic five-paragraph essay. The essay is an expanded form of the beginning-middle-end paragraph formula taught in earlier grades: a topical paragraph, supporting paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. The thesis statement should appear at the end of the introductory paragraph and identify not only the topic of the essay but the writer's point of view on the topic. In the early phases of training, teachers might opt to write thesis statements for students.

III. Thesis development (grades 7-11)
Once students recognize the role of the thesis statement and have successfully composed their own simple statements, they are ready to work on more sophisticated statements. One option is the three-tiered format in which the thesis previews the three points of the three body paragraphs. Another more challenging option is to require a "how" or "why" element to the thesis. Advanced Placement students (and others) need to learn to write theses that provide direct answers to prompt questions.

IV. Specialized formulas (grades 7-12)
Certain types of writing genres will require special approaches to structure. For instance, journalism requires an inverted pyramid approach. Science papers may need to follow the scientific method. Literary analysis, which is particularly difficult for some students, can be made easier with a formula such as Jane Schaffer's model. Research papers pose the highest level of challenge, as they require not only good organization but an artful blending of original and borrowed ideas, not to mention strict adherence to citation rules.

V. Inductive and Deductive patterns (grades 11-12)
The five paragraph format is an inductive pattern of discussion, as are most essay formulas I've encountered (including Schaffer). Students need to be taught the difference between inductive and deductive structure and specifically trained in how to do the latter. This should take place in the context of a unit on argumentation/persuasion. Advanced essays usually function better with a deductive structure, because they allow for the development of sophisticated arguments. (See my "Inductive and Deductive Writing" post for explanations and examples of each.)

VI. Improving Fluency (grammar grades 1-10, fluency training grades 7-12)
This "step" is listed last, but it is often an ongoing element of instruction for students who have challenges in writing smooth, artful sentences. I believe that the core of fluency instruction is grammar; thus, early grades must teach basic sentence structure concepts and usage rules. Once a student has a basic understanding of the way parts of speech work and how sentences function, then the teacher can specifically target the craft of sentence writing. My technique begins with verb exercises, moves through issues of wordiness and patterning, and concludes with lessons in variation. Fluency challenges are the hardest issues to tackle in student writing, as they reflect a person's natural propensity for language, not just the amount of knowledge acquired in school. Often, fluency aptitude is parallel to one's reading frequency - the more you read, the more your brain has a chance to develop its language functions in grammatical and artistic patterns. Increased reading and regular exercises in sentence composition can reap rewards in the long term.