• In High School, I was “taught” to write five-paragraph essays (and when I say “taught,” I mean “forced.”) The five-paragraph essay was the only form allowed in Sophomore English class.
• I hope it’s not taught anymore.
• -my daughter hated it. She would have crying fits each and every time.

Global warming, the budget deficit, budget cuts, taxes, conservatives, liberals, rap music… yes people get very emotional over hot topics. I just was not aware that the five-paragraph essay fell into this category.

Five-Paragraph Essay Advice given… but was it Taken?

When taking the CBEST test to become a teacher, an experienced teacher told me, “Just write a five-paragraph essay. Don’t write about anything you care about. Introduction, three paragraphs, conclusion… that’s it. Nothing more! Remember, don’t write about anything you care about!”

Did I follow that advice? No. I’m not going to write about something I don’t care about. However, half way into the CBEST essay section, those words of… advice… came echoing through my frustration. I was lost. I was in over my head. I was in a heated state of passion… and I was going to prove my point. Hmm, what is my point? Where am I headed? How am I going to finish this? What am I trying to say?

Well, I got out of that jam… and I’m happy to say I received a great grade. My position is that writing about something you care about always pays off. However, that advice stuck in my mind long after that test and influenced how I taught writing once I became a teacher. 

Wikipedia Describes the Five-Paragraph Essay

The five-paragraph essay is a form of written argument. It is a common requisite in assignments in middle school, high school, and university and sometimes elementary school. The format requires an essay to have five paragraphs: one introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs with support and development, and one concluding paragraph. Because of this structure, it is also known as a hamburger essay or a three tier essay. Recently, a simpler version of the five paragraph essay, called the Painted EssayTM, has been designed as a pedagogical tool for elementary school teachers. The Painted EssayTM combines the traditional structure of the five paragraph essay with color, activity and oral practice to teach younger students about the relationship among the components of a well written piece.

The five-paragraph essay format is also applied to speech making, with some college classes teaching the five-paragraph format, along with an organized system of outlining and pre-writing the speech.  

That’s the five-paragraph essay in a nutshell! That does not seem like it should get anyone hot under the collar. What cause is there to be against teaching the five-paragraph essay? Before you answer that question… ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you also against paragraph form?
2. Are you also against beginning, middles and endings?
3. Are you also against introductions, bodies, and conclusions?
4. Are you in favor of rambling and pointless essays?

Based on what the Wiki says… as well as my personal answers to those four questions, I am taking a stand. THE FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY MUST BE TAUGHT! There… I said it!

Teaching the 5-paragraph essay teaches students that:

1. They must write in paragraph form.
2. They must have a beginning, middle and ending.
3. A beginning, middle and ending is essentially the same thing as an introduction, body, and conclusion.
4. They cannot ramble. They must be headed in a direction and get there.

The five-paragraph essay is the easiest, fastest, and best way to teach all this. It teaches GOOD THINKING. I have to admit, I’m not as much a fan of “five-paragraph essay writing” as I am a fan of “FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY THINKING.”

So the Remaining Issues are:
• When?
• For how long?

1. When must the 5-paragraph essay be taught?
2. For how long must students write in 5-paragraph essay format?

The 5-paragraph essay is “essays for beginners.” All students past a certain age should be able to write a 5-paragraph essay at the drop of a hat. What is that certain age? I think it should be mastered in elementary school, but only because it CAN be mastered in elementary school. It definitely should not be an issue in high school for any student.

Even though the 5-paragraph essay is “essays for beginners” it is okay if there is still a strong emphasis put on it in high school and in college. That’s fine… but in high school and in college it should be the equivalent of knowing your multiplication tables. Students should be able to whip one out in nothing flat.

The five-paragraph essay is a tool. It is not an end in itself. The greatest benefit that comes from being able to write “the five-paragraph essay” is the awareness of “five-paragraph essay thinking.”

 “Five-paragraph essay thinking” provides value for a lifetime. Whether you are giving a speech or…  whatever task one is doing… being aware of how things tie together, where you are headed, and how you will wrap things up… will always be “in style.”

If your students write three paragraphs, seven paragraphs or fifteen paragraphs… with “five paragraph essay thinking” GREAT! If you will only accept five paragraphs, nothing more or less, your students will eventually feel as the people at the top of this page felt.

In short “five paragraph essay THINKING” is always rewarded and in style. Do you know how to teach your students to THINK in five-paragraph essay format? (“Pattern Based Writing” does!)

The State of Affairs for “Beginning, Middle, and Endings” in Student Writing

The sad truth is students aren’t interested in beginning, middle, and ending. No. I’m not sure that they ever were… but in this modern age… it’s passé. It’s boring. It doesn’t pique their interest… and they don’t see what it is so important about it. “What’s so important about… blah… blah… blah…. beginnings, middles… introductions… bodies… I don’t get it…” 

I’ll tell you what students are interested in… playing with time.

Beginning, Middle and Ending? Okay… But In What Order?

Kids love the idea of flashbacks, flash-forwards, foreshadowing and creating suspense or curiosity by holding back information. All that’s interesting to them…

However, it’s pretty hard to teach them those concepts, and it’s pretty hard for students to learn them… that is, unless they have a solid understanding of beginning, middle, and ending.

Beginning, Middle and Ending… the Basics

On a basic level we want students to be thinking about and planning for their beginning, middle and ending in their writing.

Before beginning, prepare carefully.
Marcus Tullius Cicero 

Then we want students to continue to think about these concepts and self-monitor as they write. Even more important though is we want them to “feel the rhythm” of beginning, middle, ending… beginning, middle, ending… both within their paragraphs and within and their entire essay, report or story.

Why? 

As an adult… you have likely learned about the need for…“closure.” Haven’t you ever felt the need for a little “closure?” Was it your imagination… or did you really “need closure?” Well, it turns out there is actually a scientific reason that people simply need closure.

The Scientific Need for Beginning, Middle, and Endings

This scientific reason is called the “Zeigarnik Effect.” The Zeigarnik Effect describes how people remember unfinished or interrupted tasks better than completed ones.
Here is one example of the “Zeigarnik Effect” at work. I once began reading a book, but I didn’t really like it. I got busy and never finished the last 30 pages. Ten years later I was still aware that I had not finished that book. I finally went to the library and checked it out so I could finish it. This was for a book I did not really like! It was easier to simply finish the book instead of thinking about it for another 10 years!

What the “Zeigarnik Effect” Means for Student Writers

Do your students jump around in their writing? Do they write whatever pops into their head? Do they not know how to start or end their writing? All this and much, much more is solved with just a little understanding of the “Zeigarnik Effect.”

The “Zeigarnik Effect” teaches students “Don’t start an idea if you are not going to finish it. Your reader does not want to be thinking about an idea that you did not finish 10 years later!” 

The “Zeigarnik Effect” also teaches students “Get rid of ideas that are started and go nowhere. This is called editing.”

The “Zeigarnik Effect” is a Fun Tool that Gives Students a…

First off, the “Zeigarnik Effect” is a fun concept. For students it’s right up there with flashbacks and foreshadowing. 

Second, it’s a tool. Students learn to appreciate “beginning, middle, and ending” and they understand how they can use it to control their writing… and eventually control their reader’s emotional involvement.

Third, once “beginning, middle, and endings” are mastered, the “Zeigarnik Effect” leads to very effective and controlled advanced writing techniques. Students easily learn how to create suspense, curiosity, and interest in their writing… and it’s fun!

No Playing With Time… Until You Master Beginning, Middle, Ending… Beginning, Middle…

We teach students that paragraphs and stories have a beginning, middle, and ending. We teach students that essays and reports have an introduction, body, and conclusion. Students learn that good writing almost always has a very clear beginning, middle, and ending.

This must be mastered.

If you want your students to develop a natural rhythm and flow to their writing be sure to get your free guide to writing at the homepage and while you’re at it, check out the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program! You won’t know what you’re missing till you see it!

Every end is a new beginning.
Proverb

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.
Seneca

A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end but not necessarily in that order.
Jean-Luc Godard (French Filmmaker)

Do you teach “grammar” when you teach children about sentences… or do you teach “writing” when you teach children about sentences? Let’s take a quiz. Read this sentence:

Do you still eat pizza every day?

Which of these four kinds of sentences is this?

• Declarative Sentence – Makes a statement.
• Interrogative Sentence – Asks a question.
• Exclamatory Sentence – Expresses strong feeling.
• Imperative Sentence – Gives a command.

The answer depends on if you are teaching “grammar” or if you are teaching students “writing.”

If you are teaching grammar… the answer is simple. It is an “Interrogative Sentence” because it does ask a question.

However, in a sense it is really two sentences. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Do you still eat pizza every day?

Notice the word “still.” “Still” adds to the question in a way that it makes it a presupposition (pre-suppose.) Now the sentence really has two parts.

1. A statement: You use to eat pizza every day.
2. A question: Do you still?

Have you ever heard of the “Secret A, B, C Sentence?”

It’s one of the patterns in “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay.” It’s a powerful sentence pattern that brings mastery to topic sentences and essay introductions without the teacher explaining a thing.

Without “explaining”… it teaches children that while it is true that a sentence communicates an idea, it also implies many other ideas. Isn’t this really what a topic sentence does? Doesn’t a creative introduction really imply what the rest of the essay will be about… without giving all the details away?

We often think of a sentence as just one idea but there are really many hidden ideas within that sentence. Wait though… don’t try and “explain” this to kids. When you teach them to WRITE using “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” they will just… get it!

1. Are your middle school students remedial writers or are they on grade level?
2. How do you bridge the gap between your remedial writers and your high achieving writers?
3. What are appropriate goals and objectives of middle school writing instruction?

The Six Traits of Effective Middle School Writing Instruction

Many students are ready for this kind of writing instruction. However, if your students are not, the question is, “What is the fastest way to get them ready for this?”

1. Students apply the skills of using both precise and descriptive language.
2. Students apply advanced levels of syntax and sentence structure.
3. Students apply the skills of precision in language, clarity in language, and unique expression in language.
4. Students develop the knowledge and skills of writing in a variety of genres and across the curriculum.
5. Students engage in deep analysis of many genres of writing and use evaluative rubrics in their analysis.
6. Students apply advanced language usage and sentence structure to essay writing and composition assignments.

Bridging the Gap between Remedial and High Achieving Middle School Writers

One of the greatest frustrations in teaching middle school writing is the wide range of academic skills that students in the same class possess. There is a much larger gap between the high achievers and students who are struggling when compared with both elementary school and high school students.

In elementary school the gap in student achievement is much smaller because there has been less time for the gap to grow. In high school students are essentially on different career paths and as such are in different classrooms. (Furthermore, the statistics on the national high school dropout rates are dismal. This does make it easier for high school teachers; however it is a national failure that we must address!)  

Three-Step Plan for Scaffolding and Remedial Instruction 

1. Get everyone on the same page.
2. Scaffold the new instruction.
3. Remediate with students who still struggle.

Your writing instruction needs to be accessible (inspirational and motivational) across a wide range of abilities!

With “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” you will:
1. Quickly get everyone on the same page!
2. Easily remediate with students who still struggle!
3. NOW because ALL your students are engaged, scaffolding the new writing instruction actually WORKS!

The most important thing about a writing prompt is for the teacher to have a purpose for the writing prompt. Many teachers don’t think a lot about what their purpose is when they put up a writing prompt.

The thought process usually goes about as far as:

• I want them to write about something that they will have an interest in.
• I want them to write about something that will inspire them.
• I want them to write about something that they will think is fun.

A Little Extra Thought and You Will Get Writing that is More Thought Provoking (Both you and your students will think so!)

The reason teachers use lesson plans is because we want to make the most of our students time. We need to know what it is that we wish to accomplish with our lesson. We want to have a goal, or an objective. If we don’t know where we are going… we will be on the road to nowhere.

Using a writing prompt is no different. We can define our purpose and objectives in many different ways, and I’ll touch on a few.

The Wrong Way to Use a Writing Prompt (a.k.a. Quick! Think!)

Be honest… have you ever gone through this thought process?

“What am I going to have the kids write about? Quick! Think! Hmm… Okay… kids… what you are going to write about today is… hmm… okay… what it is… you are going to write about… umm… what did you… or what… no… describe a time when…”

The thinking that went into your creation of the writing prompt is likely to be reflected in the creation of the writing that the students do. If you don’t think it’s that important, they won’t think it’s that important. Even if they don’t observe exactly how you created the writing prompt, students have a sixth sense for what they perceive as “busy work.” 

Here Are a Few Ways that You Can More Clearly Define Your Purpose, Goal, or Objective When You Give Students a Writing Prompt:

1. You Can Base Your Purpose on the Kind of Growth You Wish Your Students to Experience

• Write in a new and unique way. (In a way they have never written before.)
• Focus on, explore, or expand their creativity
• Break the mold of their previous writing and expand their horizons
• Focus on or experiment with structure
• Focus on or explore word usage
• Focus on or explore the imagination
• Focus on or explore their thoughts
• Focus on or explore their feelings
• Think about their own thinking along with how they learn
• Learn the subject material by writing (Writing across the curriculum)

2. You Can Base Your Purpose on Bloom’s Taxonomy

• You want them to know (facts, information)
• You want them to comprehend or understand (internalize)
• You want them to apply what they have learned or know (use the information)
• You want them to analyze information (what is the significance of this information)
• You want them to synthesis information (kind of like creating new information from old information)
• You want them to evaluate (Is this good/bad, true/false?)

3. You Can Base Your Purpose on Common Essay Structures

• You want them to compare and contrast something (compare and contrast essay)
• You want them to give information about something (informational essay)
• You want them to describe something (descriptive essay)
• You want them to evaluate something (evaluative essay)
• You want them to give the cause and effect of something (cause and effect essay)
• You want them to tell a personal story (personal narrative essay)
• You want them to tell a story that has a point of view (narrative essay)
• You want them to describe a process (process essay)
• You want them to follow a line of argumentative reasoning through to its logical conclusion (argumentative essay)
• You want them to persuade someone about something (persuasive essay)
• You want them to critique something (critical essay)

Check back to read these upcoming articles on “Writing Prompts.”

1. Easy, Fast, and Fantastic Ways to Create Writing Prompts that Will Engage Your Students
2. Teaching Writing Across the Curriculum: Remembering that a Writing Assignment in Any Subject is a Writing Prompt

The truth is that there is very little difference between a personal narrative essay and a fiction story. After all, who doesn’t look at a fiction story and then look at the author and say, “Oh, I didn’t know…” And the author says, “Oh, no, it’s not autobiographical. It’s just a… story.” And then we think, “Me thinks thou doth protest too much!”

A good story is a good story, whether it’s from real life or the imagination. Many, many (if not most) good stories are told from real life knowledge. The real skill is not in being able to INVENT a good story, but in being able to TELL a good story. That is a skill worth having!

Professional authors largely write about, what they know about. Our students should as well. Natalie Goldberg, author of the classic “Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within” said, “We must remember that everything is ordinary and extraordinary.”

As teachers we need to help students find the extraordinary in their own ordinary lives. Actually, that’s hard! However it is easy to teach kids to see that everything is extraordinary.

Ex. “Strange Happenings at the Dinner Table”

“Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay” does not really get involved with “fiction writing.” It does get quite involved with “story telling” and “creating interest.” Many aspects of the program directly address finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, and that nothing is really ordinary… or extraordinary… (Often when you take something that is “extraordinary” and try to make it sound “extraordinary” it loses its effect and becomes… ordinary. In other words, do you like “hype”?)

However, what I’ve seen is that when students are writing regularly in a way that they take pride in, they often discover this aspect of writing all by themselves.

What happens is that there are days when they must simply write about what they see in front of them. Nothing “extraordinary” has happened recently, so they turn to the “ordinary.” Very often it turns into their most satisfying writing. They start to see the beauty in “The Messy Teacher’s Desk,” or wonder about “The Secret Life of Bobby: Why He is Late to School Every Single Day!”

In short, teach students to use real life to create captivating stories!

A while back I was having some rather annoying dental issues. My dentist, Dr. Karen, had all sorts of ideas. She was saying, “Well, we could try this procedure or we could try that procedure…”

In the end I explained to her that my bottom line was, “I want it fixed. The truth is… I don’t want to do anything if it’s not going to fix it. I want the problem solved.”

She laughed and said, “You are such a guy.”

Teaching Writing Creatively

She’s right, I am. In fact, my teacher credentialing program (many years back) was a bit of a paradigm shift for me with so many new and creative ways of engaging students. In fact it was a seemingly endless sea of creative ideas and creative ways that one could be creative in creating creative lesson plans.

When I began my teaching credential program I had already been substitute teaching for a year and had been quite successful. My philosophy (if I had one…) was kind of old school. School like it was when I went to school. My teacher credentialing program was an eye opening learning experience. It was quite the opposite of what my “current teaching philosophy” was. It was really, really… creative.

Initially, I thought all these wild and creative ideas were the secret keys to student success. True breakthroughs! As I gained experience, I started to move a little bit back in the other direction… to the way I am with my dentist.

I began to hear exciting and enticing ideas and think, “Sounds great… but wait a minute. I want something that’s going to work. I have a lot to cover and I would need an extra hour every day just to get in everything that I want to get done. Now is this thing going to work? I want a guarantee!  It sounds good… but is it going to work?  Will it be AT LEAST somewhat practical and somewhat time efficient in a classroom of 30-36 students?

A Compromise

I like the Six Traits of Writing model. Makes sense to me! It lets me clearly see what I’m teaching in my writing instruction. But at the end of the day I’m not sure I really look at whether I have been successful at teaching the Six Traits of Writing. I look at my students’ writing and the state standards to determine if I have been successful teaching my students to write.

Here are just a few of the questions I ask:
1. Do I clearly understand what my students have written?
2. Do I like what they are saying?
3. Is what they have written enjoyable to read?
4. Do I like the way they have said it?
5. Have my students met the standards?

Now much more than ever I determine if the writing instruction has been successful by the students’ reactions to their own writing. I expect students to be thrilled and blown away with their own progress. (If you haven’t heard by now… Pattern Based Writing…Quick & Easy Essay…)

Teaching Writing Videos

Here are two videos on the Six Traits of Writing. One is on organization and the other is on ideas. I find the videos interesting. In fact I find them fascinating. Mastery of teaching writing is always fascinating to me.

However, the part of me that was a frustration to my dentist is also saying, “Look, I want something I know is going to work. What exactly have you said that my students need to understand in order to write well? And how exactly am I supposed to make them understand this?”

After you watch these, compare them to this video on the five paragraph essay that I have posted here. This is the video from Ashworth University that is designed for high school students.

Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay is kind of like “The Six Traits Lady” meets “The Ashworth University Lady.” (Actually, it’s a much more visual and kinesthetic version of the two…)

The term “essay,” can be a little confusing to many students (and teachers.) What exactly is an essay?  There is also a little confusion as to when and how to teach essay writing. The truth is much of what students write in both elementary and middle school can be considered an essay.

Aldous Huxley, a famous essayist said, “The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.”

That’s quite a… vague, yet accurate description. Essay writing is a little easier to understand when you see what it has in common with reports and stories.

Here are Five Common Types of Writing that Students do in School

1.     Essay – From the author’s personal point of view 

2.     Report – Based on research

3.     Fiction story – Story from the imagination

4.     Short answer – Usually gives an answer to a specific question; a short answer can be anywhere from one word to possibly a couple paragraphs

5.     Poetry – Artistic use of language

There are Lots of Different Kinds of Essays

Here are just a few: Narrative essay, personal narrative essay, cause and effect essay, descriptive essay, compare and contrast essay, argumentative essay, definition essay, 5-paragraph essay, expository essay, evaluation essay, persuasive essay. A general guideline for the term “essay” is:

v An essay is written from the author’s personal point of view.

v An essay discusses, explores, describes, or analyzes one subject or topic.

v An essay is a multi-paragraph piece of writing.

Is an Essay a Story? AND Is a Story an Essay?

Let’s Take a Look:

v Personal Narrative Essay – Narrative story from the authors point of view based on the author’s personal experience

v Fiction Story – A narrative story that comes from the author’s imagination

These are both “stories.” One is a true story, one comes from the imagination. Though they are both stories, they are not both essays. Notice that the “Fiction Story” is not an essay.

Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay does teach essay writing. However, when looking at the Aldous Huxley definition of what an essay is, I think you will find that the program greatly improves all writing that elementary and middle school students will do, including both stories and reports.

The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.

Aldous Huxley – Famous essayist