I’m rewriting some handouts and I find that rewriting usually means add much more structure. What I thought was brillantly clear remains very muddy to the students as they begin to do their new pattern of writing. As I go over an instructional handout with the students, I mark in the margins where they “got” it and where they seem to falter or get confused. If they cannot move forward easily, then I have not explained it very well in the handout. When I see their final essay with this new pattern, I can tell whether the handout did guide them in becoming a better writing.
I now have broken the body of each pattern of writing into very large graphic organizer. I give them plenty of room to write their topic sentence for each paragraph, the various categories of evidence and the details of each category. I even number each detail so that they know how many are expected. If a pattern such as contrast requires a special format, I show that visually. I always include a paragraph exemplary.
I have now required a completed graphic organizer before I will correct an essay.
One of my students who did well in her writing revealed her secret, “I reread the handout, look at the example, and then use it as the model for my writing.” One of my students who did not do as well revealed her approach, “I pick a topic and then just write.”
What structure do you add to help students be more successful?