3 Strategies to Improve Student Writing Instantly Editor's Note: A version of this post first appeared on Techie Teacher and Character Coach. "But Miss Parrish, I can't think of anything to write!" Haven't we all heard similar lines in our classrooms? We see hesitant writers sit with a pencil in their hands and a paper on their desks, almost as if they have been handicapped by the task we asked them to do. How is it that some students have so much to say when talking out loud, but when a pencil is put into their hand they suddenly hesitate, struggle and have nothing to say? The answer is to simply have them produce "writing" without technically "writing" at all. Strategies That Work 1. Have your student stand up while you sit in his or her seat. 2. Identify a way that your students can audio record themselves "speaking" their essay rather than "writing" it. 3. Identify an app or tool that will transcribe speaking into text. Communication Before Craft How have you helped students write without putting pen to paper (or pixel to page)?
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do. Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Think of your laptop as a machine like the one at the gym where you open and close your inner thighs in front of everyone, exposing both your insecurities and your genitals. Procrastination is an alluring siren taunting you to google the country where Balki from Perfect Strangers was from, and to arrange sticky notes on your dog in the shape of hilarious dog shorts. The blank white page. Mark Twain once said, “Show, don’t tell.” Finding a really good muse these days isn’t easy, so plan on going through quite a few before landing on a winner. There are two things more difficult than writing. It’s so easy to hide in your little bubble, typing your little words with your little fingers on your little laptop from the comfort of your tiny chair in your miniature little house.
Persuasion Map Helps Students Formulate Persuasive Essays Developing persuasive writing skills is a process that students start in elementary school and continue to develop through high school and beyond. Read Write Think offers a good interactive guide that can help students craft a good persuasive essay. The Persuasion Map asks students to start with a thesis statement before walking them through developing support for that thesis. Applications for Education Using Read Write Think's Persuasion Map won't replace the need for your instruction, but it could be helpful to students who need a little assistance after your lesson.
Read These Seven Books, and You’ll be a Better Writer Donald Miller I used to play golf but I wasn’t very good. I rented a DVD, though, that taught me a better way to swing, and after watching it a few times and spending an hour or so practicing, I knocked ten strokes off my game. I can’t believe how much time I wasted when a simple DVD saved me years of frustration. I’d say something similar is true in my writing career. If you read these books, your writing will improve to the point people who read your work will begin to comment on how well you write. • The War of Art by Steven Pressfield: This book is aimed at writers, but it’s also applicable to anybody who does creative work. Pressfield leaves out all the mushy romantic talk about the writing life, talk I don’t find helpful. • On Writing Well by William Zinsser: Zinsser may be the best practical writing coach out there. • Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott: Before becoming a literary superstar, Anne Lamott taught writing, and Bird by Bird is the best of her advice, broken up into chapters.
Writing the Essay Intro and Conclusion Your essay lacks only two paragraphs now: the introduction and the conclusion. These paragraphs will give the reader a point of entry to and a point of exit from your essay. Introduction The introduction should be designed to attract the reader's attention and give her an idea of the essay's focus. Begin with an attention grabber. Conclusion The conclusion brings closure to the reader, summing up your points or providing a final perspective on your topic. All the conclusion needs is three or four strong sentences which do not need to follow any set formula. How to Get a “God’s-Eye View” of Your Story in Microsoft Excel I know what you’re thinking and the answer is no, I don’t get a kickback from Microsoft! I just happen to like using Word and Excel for my screenwriting. And I know what you’re thinking now, too. What the hell could he possibly use Excel for in his screenwriting? I could actually write an entire blog post on the uses of Excel for just about anything. I don’t use all the complex formula calculations. What’s great about Excel is that one file can have virtually unlimited pages which are easily accessed by tabs at the bottom of the worksheet. But enough about how cool Excel is for organizing your life. Here’s a screenshot of my Scene Breakdown page. The reason I use Excel is based on a writing principle I discovered years ago. I initially solved this problem in Word by typing out my scenes on a single line in small type. Let me describe what you’re seeing in the above screenshot. Each narrow row is a scene. Column A is just a simple act number breakdown. Jeff
How to Write an Essay This page continues from our page: Planning an Essay, the essential first step to successful essay writing. This page assumes that you have already planned your essay, you have taken time to understand the essay question, gathered information that you intend to use, and have produced a skeleton plan of you essay – taking into account your word limit. This page is concerned with the actual writing of your essay, it provides some guidelines for good practice and also some common mistakes you will want to avoid. Structuring Your Essay An essay should be written in a flowing manner with each sentence following on logically from the previous one and with appropriate signposts to guide the reader. An essay usually takes the following structured format: The introduction The main body: a development of the issues A conclusion A list of references of the sources of information you have used The Introduction Warning Some people are far too ambitious in writing their introductions. A Conclusion Style
The Introduction One easy way to write the introduction for an argument or opinion essay is to write THREE sentences: two about the topicone thesis sentence You can write either Situation or Opinion introductions. Situation Introductions Write two sentences to describe the two sides of the present situation. Sentence 1: One side of the present situationSentence 2: The other side of the present situationSentence 3: Thesis: What you are going to do in your essay Who should take care of our old people? Does Aid to Poor Countries Work? Should dangerous sports be banned? Opinion Introductions In this kind you give two opposite opinions in the first two sentences. Does space exploration benefit mankind? Does space exploration benefit mankind? Do Athletes Deserve Their High Salaries? As well as situation or opinion introductions, you can use the following variations: What do you want to do now? Look at some sample Introductions (recommended)Look at Thesis sentencesHome