Most writing prompts across all of the 50 states look very much alike. They have a similar structure, they use similar language, and they involve similar situations. While it’s true that writing prompts do change across grade levels, it’s also true that fourth grade writing prompts looks quite similar to high school writing prompts. In fact, the “writing situation” may be exactly the same, but with more complex language and writing requirements for high school students.

After learning some tips and tricks regarding the writing prompts found on state writing assessments, be sure to get 114 pages of free State Testing Released Writing Prompts here. Also, if you are looking to bring about true writing success for elementary students or struggling middle school writers, be sure to check out the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” page.

State writing assessments usually ask for one of these eight types of writing:

1) Narrative (A realistic story or an imaginative story)

2) Expository (Explain + Inform = Expository)

3) Persuasive (This is expository writing with an agenda.)

4) Inform (The facts… just the facts!)

5) Imaginative (This is actually a narrative.)

6) Descriptive (Descriptive writing tasks are less common than the above types of writing.)

7) Summarize (Read a passage and then summarize what you have read.)

8) Respond to Literature (Read a passage and then answer the question using evidence from the text. This kind of writing is usually a little bit expository and a little bit persuasive.)

Note: In the collections of released writing prompts mentioned above, there are few examples of prompts for “Summarize” and “Respond to Literature.” As such, I have provides a couple samples of these prompts at the bottom of this page.

Prompt Length and Structure

Most state writing prompts will be two or three sentences. (This is especially true in elementary school.) Even though the prompts are quite short, they are often written in multi-paragraph form. Each sentence is written in a separate paragraph. In other words, each sentence will be written on a separate line.

Naturally, the wording and the requirements of the writing tasks get a little more complex with each grade. That being said, most prompts can be used across many different grades with only slight modifications to the language of the prompt.

The Two Parts of the Writing Prompt

Most writing prompts contain two parts. These two parts are:

1. The writing situation – The writing situation gives a little background on the topic that students will be writing about. Example: Many people own pets.

2. The writing task – The writing task contains the specific directions. These directions will often include keywords that identify the “mode of writing” being asked for. Example: Write a persuasive essay convincing your principal to extend recess time.

Some states have short 1-2 sentence prompts, while other states have longer 5-8 sentence prompts. Here is a fourth grade writing prompt from the Kentucky state writing assessment. It is six sentences, which is quite long for a fourth grade writing prompt. Kentucky seems to have longer prompts than most states. (Note: Even in high school, few writing prompts are longer than 6-8 sentences.)

Example: Kentucky – 4th Grade Writing Prompt (6 sentences)

Situation: The local newspaper is having a “Good Friend” contest.  To enter your friend, you must think of an event in your life when your friend did something with you or for you that showed what a terrific friend he or she is.

Writing Task: Select your friend.  (Remember, a friend could be a child your age or a grownup.)  Choose an event that shows how your friend is a good friend to you.  Write a letter to the newspaper that tells about that event so that people will know why your friend deserves to win.

Keywords for Writing Prompts

As mentioned, most writing prompts have a similar structure and use similar language. As such, certain words will be found in most every writing prompt. These words are almost always performing the same job. For example, if you see the word “principal” in a writing prompt, you can be 99% sure it is going to be a persuasive writing task.

We all know that keywords are often used to trick students, so don’t read too much into them. However, at least one of the keywords below will be found in most every prompt. It is worthwhile to point out these types of words and phrases and have students learn to spot them.

Writing Situation Keywords

• Imagine one day (Narrative)
• Imagine that (Narrative)
• Imagine you have (Narrative)
• Think about (Narrative or Expository)
• Think of someone (Inform or Expository)
• Think of a time (Narrative)
• What is your favorite (Expository)
• Your school principal is considering (Persuasive)
• Your school has some (Persuasive)
• Your school is (Persuasive)
• It is important that people (Persuasive)
• Sometimes classrooms (Narrative or Expository)
• You suddenly realize (Narrative)
• Pretend that (Narrative)
• Have you ever (Narrative)
• Everyone has a favorite (Inform or Persuasive)
• Your school newspaper is (Persuasive)
• Your parents want to (Persuasive)
• If you could be (Narrative or Expository)
• Select a (Inform)
• Identify a (Inform)
• Most people (Inform)
• Many public places do not permit (Persuasive)
• Do you agree or disagree? (Persuasive)
• Suppose that you (Narrative)
• Most students have a (Expository)
• Everyone enjoys (Expository)
• Think about the kinds (Inform)
• You have been named (Narrative)
• Your principal (Persuasive)
• The students at your school (Persuasive)
• Based on the story (Respond to Literature)

Writing Task / Writing Directions Keywords

• Write a story (Narrative)
• Describe it (Descriptive)
• Your assignment is Write about this person (Inform or Expository)
• Write to explain why (Expository)
• Explain what animal (Expository)
• Make up a story (Narrative) Tell a true story (Narrative)
• Explain the (Expository)
• Write an article for (Inform or Expository)
• Write a persuasive letter (Persuasive)
• Write a narrative about (Narrative)
• Write to persuade your classmates (Persuasive)
• Write a letter to (Persuasive)
• Write a persuasive essay (Persuasive)
• Write a speech to convince (Persuasive)
• Urge your readers (Persuasive)
• From your own experience, tell about (Narrative)

Intended Complexity and Confusion

Memorizing keywords is rarely a good use of time. State tests are usually sophisticated enough to discourage these types of shortcuts. For example, narrative writing prompts often use the word “imagine,” however, many other kinds of prompts also use that word as a set up for the situation.

Example: Imagine you have just been elected class president. Write a letter to your fellow students urging them to keep the schoolyard clean.

This example shows a persuasive writing task, yet uses the word “imagine” in describing the situation. Many students associate the word “imagine” with a story. One can be sure the wording is no accident.

Another monkey wrench thrown at students is that writing prompts in state writing tests often have students write for a transactive purpose. A transactive purpose is authentic writing with a real-world purpose.

For example, many state writing tests require students to write a letter to someone or write an article for the school newspaper. (Note: The prompt above asks students to write a persuasive letter. Many teachers may teach letter writing and they may teach persuasive writing, however, it never occurred to them to have students write a persuasive letter. Of course, it shouldn’t make a difference, yet it does.) Transactive purpose!

Response to Literature and Summarize Writing Prompts

As promised, here are a few examples of “respond to literature” and “summarize” writing prompts. Be sure to get the 114 pages of State Testing Released Writing Prompts here. Once again, you won’t find many examples of “respond to literature” and “summarize” writing prompts even in those 114 pages.

Respond to Literature Prompts

Here are three examples:

1) Read the story. What lesson does the author want the reader to learn? Be sure to use specific examples from the passage to support your answer.

2) Based on the story “When the Tiger Comes Home to Roost,” how can the reader tell that life in the jungle is dangerous? Use specific examples from the passage to support your answer.

3) Do you think “The Most Important Question” is a good title for this story? Why or why not? Use details from the story to support your answer.

Write a Summary Prompt

Write a summary of the article. Be sure to:

• state the main idea or ideas of the article
• tell the important details that support the main idea
• use your own words when writing your summary .

If you want your students to be prepared for state testing – this year and every year – check out Pattern Based Writing: Writing Success for Elementary and Middle School Students!

Most people don’t really understand what a thesis statement is, and even the people who do know what a thesis statement is don’t really understand why it is important.

Until a few years ago, I didn’t really get them. I didn’t think they were important.

I did get straight A’s when getting my teaching credential and I can honestly say I never thought about the term “thesis statement” while getting them. How important are thesis statements if this is possible? In college, getting good grades was just one of my many interests, but I’m quite sure I cared even less about thesis statements in college than when I got my teaching credential… and I did just fine.

To me, the word thesis statement was simply a term that English majors liked to use.

Thesis Statements in Elementary and Middle School?

The 5th grade California State Writing Standards state:

Grade 5 Writing Strategies 1.0 – Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays.

By definition, an essay has a thesis statement. Okay, so thesis statements may be important. HOWEVER, when elementary and middle school students are struggling with paragraphs and grammar, thesis statements can SEEM unimportant.

In fact, when one considers Piaget’s constructivist learning theory, thesis statements can seem like a waste of time for students still grasping “the simple concepts.” In short, you don’t want to spend a lot of valuable time teaching students concepts that may take them backwards. You don’t want students to get to the point where they think, “Okay… I admit it… I don’t understand writing and I never will.” Thesis statements can have that effect. So don’t teach them?

Wait a Minute!

What I have now come to see is that you can use thesis statements as a tool for achieving many different writing and reading comprehension results.

Thesis statements have become a coat rack on which I hang many concepts. I’ve come to the conclusion that the most important thing about thesis statements is the “THESIS THINKING” that goes along with them.

Here is Why Thesis Statements are Important

Here’s what a great screenwriting teacher said. The way he uses the term “premise” is what I have learned to teach my students about “thesis statements.”

The very first step in creating a good comedy script is to figure out a great premise. Your premise is your story stated in a single line. It’s probably the most important element in any script, because if it’s not a good premise there is very little that you can do to make the overall script work, make the overall script something that people will want to read. So it’s very important that you start with a good core idea.
John Truby (Screenwriter, screenwriting teacher, director)

Thesis is very closely related to premise. Let’s substitute thesis for premise and essay for script and see how it reads.

The very first step in creating a good essay is to figure out a great thesis. Your thesis is your essay stated in a single line. It’s probably the most important element in any essay, because if it’s not a good thesis there is very little that you can do to make the overall essay work, make the overall essay something that people will want to read. So it’s very important that you start with a good core idea.

In other words, this kind of “Thesis Thinking” is important in all kinds of writing.

NOW, thesis statements and “Thesis Thinking” help students:

• Find main ideas
• Write with a purpose
• Master different modes of writing
• Summarize
• Narrow down a topic
• Develop clear and concise thinking and writing
• Understanding the purpose behind all the different types of essays
• Write stories which have a premise

By the way, in the next few months I have a new program coming out. The working title is, “Thesis Statements, Vision, Subject and Topic.” It’s exciting and has a lot of deep, deep thinking skills. I’m not sure if I am going to offer it only to current users of PBW, or if I am going to make it a standalone program.

I’m pretty secure in my belief that all students need to understand what is inside “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” before tackling more complicated concepts. Sure, some students just naturally understand what good writing is. They understand how it is all put together. If your students don’t… check out the homepage.

Piaget, Pattern Based Writing, and Thesis Statements

I think Piaget would have liked Pattern Based Writing. With PBW you can teach your students to construct their writing knowledge correctly the first time around. If it’s too late for that and your students are getting kind of old and still don’t get it, you can use PBW to scaffold the instruction and get them up to speed quickly.

Here’s what one 7th grade teacher said about Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay:

I was describing it to a colleague a little while ago as, “the basics made clearer.”  I have taught many of these ideas but not as an organized structure. 5 paragraph essays just make sense, but I had no formal way of getting that idea to be part of their natural writing process. Thank you for this opportunity to enjoy teaching my students writing.

That’s Piaget’s model in a nutshell!

The main issue with journals is “time.” Is it worth the time? There are so few hours for all we need to accomplish, are journals a good use of time?

Truth is, teachers need to use precious classroom time wisely. I’m going to give you a lot to think about in order to make sure you create a fantastic journaling system for your classroom. Journal usage can be VERY different from grade to grade, and from teacher to teacher. There is no “right way” to use a journal, but there are a few “wrong ways” to use them.

In some upcoming posts I am going to outline a couple fantastic journals I have used over the years. However, even if you decide one of them is the greatest system ever, you will still need to make a lot of the hard decision on how you will be implementing it. You know your students, and you know yourself. Make your decisions based on what you are likely to follow through on.

If you are looking to teach your students to write, and you are feeling a little lost, please go to the homepage and check out the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program. I guarantee if you teach grades 2-6, or remedial writing in middle school, it will help you maximize any goals you hope to achieve with journals.

Journals – First off, you can make them a good use of time. In fact, you can make them a fabulous use of time, but you have to develop a strategic plan as to:

1. What your expectations are.
2. How it fits in within the curriculum.
3. How you will implement it.

Harmful Unmonitored Journals in the Classroom

Unmonitored journals can do harm. Kids see them as busy work. Since no one cares, they will practice “sloppy, sloppy copy.” Unmonitored journals can send a mixed message as to what is important about good writing. Unmonitored journals can erase a lot of hard work that went into getting students to write correctly in the first place. Practice makes perfect, and if students spend too much time practicing writing incorrectly, they will get perfect at it. (On the other hand, for very reluctant writers, any writing is better than no writing…)

(One last note, many kids always do their best. They take great pride in their work, and as such, any journal, even an unmonitored journal can have great benefit for these kids.)

Issues Surrounding Journals and Questions for You To Answer

When it comes to using journals in the classroom, think before you act. I have seen, and participated in more abandoned journals than I can count. You can read all about “Abandoned Journals in the Elementary and Middle School Classroom” here.

Before you hand out a journal, think about the following list of considerations. Take out a piece of paper and make a plan. You will be thrilled you did! 

1. Grade / Don’t grade / How to grade
2. Share / How to share / With whom to share
3. Time / Results / Writing goals / Grade level writing standards
4. Prompted writing / Unprompted writing
5. Quick writes / Journal entries / Free writes
6. When to journal / Why journal
7. How will you interact with the journals?
8. What kind of journal? What’s the purpose of the journal? How many journals are you going to use? (There are lots of different kinds of “journals” and lots of different ways to use them! I will be posting a few different journal models I have used, so be sure to check back.)
9. Is it timed writing? Does everyone get to finish every journal entry? Does everyone have to finish every journal entry?
10. How do you handle multi-paragraph writing in the journal?
11. How do you handle spelling and grammar issues?
12. Where does journaling fit in with the “writing process?”
13. Privacy and sharing. How “personal” do you want your students to get? Do you want them to write in such a personal manner that they are then embarrassed to share it with the entire class? Kids will get very personal in journals. At times it can boarder on the catch-phrase, “Uhh, that’s a little bit too much information.”
14. How do you communicate your expectations? Checklists? Rubrics? Where are the checklists and rubrics located? On a poster? In their journal? Copies passed out?
15. Will you have students decorate and personalize their journal? How?
16. Grade level and language fluency determines a lot about how you want to use journals. Align the journal with state writing standards.
17. Will you evaluate each journal entry thoroughly, quickly comment on all, or comment after a certain amount of time has passed?
18. Multi-purpose journal or single purpose journal? Will you have one type of writing in the journal or many different types of writing in the journal?
19. Is the journal’s main goal “improving and exploring writing” or “reflecting on learning?”
20. How often will students write in the journal? Daily? Couple times a week? Couple times a day?
21. Do you schedule a different type of entry on different days of the week?
22. What do you do while they write? Do you also write?
23. Is this connected to any other writing curriculum? Is it connected to all of your curriculum?
24. How much of your intent is to provide a fun safe place to explore writing? This will greatly affect how you structure the journal writing.
25. How do you wrap up the journal writing session? Do you give advanced notice to “wrap it up” or do you require a certain amount of writing?
26. Do they write in it after they finish their work? Is it part of their homework?
27. Do you treat journal writing just like a regular classroom assignment? Is the only difference that the writing just happens to be in a “journal?” Do all your regular classroom writing rules apply?

Here is a quick rundown of some reasons teachers love journals, and some reason teachers don’t use journals.

PROS OF JOURNALS:

• You get to know your students. It’s good relationship building and community building.
• Safe place to write. This is especially important for beginning writers, reluctant writers, remedial writers, and ESL students.
• Helps support “maximum writing opportunities.” 
• Can use as homework.
• When students come into the classroom it gets them focused on work.
• Helps build a “community of writers.”
• Helps create fluent writers.

CONS OF JOURNALS:

• Takes time. (When combined with silent reading, that’s a pretty big chunk of time without “instruction.”)
• If you let students write whatever they want, however they want, you are unlikely to achieve your goals.
• How thoroughly will you read them? Could your time be better spent doing something else?

Be sure to read the upcoming:

• Explorations: The Ultimate Journal
• The Goals Journal for Kids

Can you find the abandoned journal?

Elementary and middles school classrooms is where this habit begins, and with each new year, with each new journal, a commitment is made that this time will be different.

“Okay kids, the word journal comes from the word journey. We are going to take a journey into the world of writing and discovery. This new journal is where you will explore and discover the vast depths of knowledge found within the universe and within your mind… in fact, within the universe within your mind.

This journal will be a safe place where you will feel free to explore your thoughts and insights, as well as develop new thoughts, new ways of thinking, and new insights into your new thoughts.”

Two weeks later… tick-tock, tick-tock tick-tock. “Excuse me, teacher… I thought we were going to write in our journal.” “Billy, not now. We simply must… we have too much to do… we will get to that… someday…”

The lingering journal, abandoned, but not forgotten, a sad reminder to all that the teacher… may not know what they are doing.

Discovering the True Power of Journals

Worse yet, the teacher who has recently attended an in-service on writing instruction has come to see that journals are the solution to all the ills of her classroom.

• Students don’t like to write = Journals inspire children. They love to write in journals.
• Students need to reflect on their learning = Journals are a safe place to explore their understanding.
• Students are not engaged in their learning = Journals connect students to their own learning and learning style.
• Students are noisy and distracted = Get them writing in a journal. They like to do this. They will focus and engage in exploring their thoughts in writing.
• Students are troubled = Get them to connect with their thoughts and feelings in a journal.
• The reading writing connection = Read and then write in a journal. Sounds simple.
• ESL learners = Are you having luck with any other type of writing? Use a journal.
• Creative writing = Journals are made for inspired creative writing. They are a gateways and a safe haven for student creativity.
• Students need lots of daily opportunities to write = Have students write in lots of journals, daily.

Extreme Abandonment

The most extreme case of journal abandonment I have personally witnessed is four abandoned journals in a single desk.

“Oh, that’s not a journal. That’s a reading log. We reflect on our innermost thoughts about how we connect with our reading. Reading is so true to life, and we connect the written word with what we experience in the world and in life.”

Oh, I see. Hmm… well, it seems this “reading log” has been abandoned. Am I correct in saying that? “Oh yes, we wrote in it once… the first day… and then again two months later. A couple weeks later Billy asked the teacher if we were ever going to use it again and he ended up on the bench. No one has mentioned it since.”

Do you have any more of these “reading log” types of journals? “Oh yes. We have the Science Exploration Experiment, we have the Deep Thoughts journal, and we have the Deep Connections Connector journal.” “Have all of these been as successful as the “reading log?” “Some have been as successful, some less successful.”

Are all of them abandoned? “No. No. We’re going to get to them. They are going to take us on a journey… at least that’s what our teacher says…”

Abandoned journals in students’ desks are a sad reminder of something started and not finished. This sad reminder is something students interact with daily as they sort through their desks looking for that very important misplaced worksheet. “If only I didn’t have this collection of abandoned journals in my desk, I would have been able to keep track of that important worksheet!”

The Journal, Quick Writes, and Note Taking Connection

Tune in to the next few posts where we explore how to give students MASSIVE opportunities to write using journals, quick writes, and note taking.

I’ve found connecting and combining all three strategies into one journal:

1. Solves a lot of problems.
2. Greatly reduces the likelihood of abandonment. 
3. Improving usability and effectiveness.

Stay tuned in order to learn how! Also, be sure to check out the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program on the homepage!

P.S. Kids, okay, it’s summer vacation. I want you to take this collection of abandoned journals and continue the journey without me. We began it… but I’m afraid I can’t continue it with you. I’m too… old and too tired to go on. Please, go on your journey… and remember me from time to time. Write a little passage remembering your former teacher… and traveler. Promise me… promise me you will continue the journey… all summer long.

“We promise! We promise!”

This is how these journals begin round two in the life of the abandoned journal. “The Abandoned Journal Part 2 – The Abandonment Continues: Abandoned in the Heat of the Summer, on a Hot, Hot Day for a Cool, Cool Popsicle and a Pool.”

The sequel to the sequel (Part 3,) to be continued… next year.

1. The topic has not been assigned. Students choose the topic.

2. The topic has been assigned. Students must follow the directions and stay on topic.

Teachers must find the right balance between these two methods when giving assignments.

These ideas will help when you do assign the topic… however they are especially helpful when your students’ topics have not been assigned. These methods are great for eliminating that sinking feeling that students feel when they do not know what to write about.

The Topic has Been Assigned

This is covered extensively in Pattern #13 and Pattern #14 of the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program. Students learn TWO specific strategies for making sure that their writing starts “ON TOPIC” and finishes “ON TOPIC.” Students learn to focus on and follow DIRECTIONS.

The Topic Has Not Been Assigned

Freedom! Students have more freedom, and that means students have a lot more decisions to make. Students sometimes are not quite so thrilled when they discover that the responsibility for these decisions is… theirs.

If the topic has not been assigned, how are students supposed to come up with a topic? Where do good ideas come from? Will any idea do? Or does it have to be a great idea? All of these will be answered below and in the process… your students will become idea machines.

How to Come Up with Great Ideas: It Just Came to Me

Many of the world’s greatest ideas have come to people when they were not trying to come up with them. People ask, “How did you come up with that idea? It’s amazing!” And the other person replies, “It just came to me.”

Here Are Some Places Where Ideas May Just Come to Students

• hiking in the mountains
• taking out the trash
• taking a shower
• laying in bed right before falling asleep
• walking their dog
• grocery shopping with their mom
• stuck in traffic
• cleaning their room
• doing chores
• running an errand
• eating breakfast
• sitting in their backyard looking up at the stars
• daydreaming in class (It happens from time to time, so let’s put it to use.)

Each of the above activities is an activity that keeps a person busy, but does not require great focus or concentration. Often when a person is faced with a difficult decision or problem, someone will say, “Just sleep on it.” It is very likely the next day they will have come to a decision. This shows how so many of the great ideas come to us when we do not have the pressure or stress of trying to come up with a great idea.

The mystery writer Agatha Christie once said, “The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” I rest my case!

Three Ways to Save that Great Idea for Later: Harness Those Quiet Times and Harvest a Bounty of Great Ideas!

What will students want to save? Here are a few ideas!

• Interesting words or phrases
• Colorful descriptions
• Things that happened
• Things people said
• Things they saw
• Ideas for stories
• Inventions
• Things they wonder about
• Things that seem impossible
• How they or someone else felt
• How to solve a problem 
• Something that was strange
• Something that was incredible

1. Scratch It

Many, many writers always have a pen and some scratch paper close at hand. Most any movie or television show where a writer is on screen, sooner or later, you will see the writer reach into his or her pocket, take out a pen and paper, and say, “Oh, I have got to write that down.” They know they can’t afford to wait until it is time to write, to come up with those great ideas.

Provide students with a “Scratch It Idea Sheet.” This is a handy way to make sure students always have a piece of paper handy to get down those great ideas.

One of the best places to keep a pen and paper handy is right next to the bed at night. The poet Carrie Latet said, “If I’m trying to sleep, the ideas won’t stop. If I’m trying to write, there appears a barren nothingness.” In other words, get students in the habit of not waiting until it’s too late. Let’s see how many of those great ideas your students can save.

What do students do with their collections of great ideas? They can create a piggy bank of sorts for great ideas. “The Idea Bank” Use a box or container and cut a slit or hole in the top. Have students decorate them to reflect their unique personality. At the end of the day, slide all of those scraps of paper with all those great ideas they have collected throughout the day in through the top. They will be amazed at how many ideas they have collected when they sort through them a month, or even a week later.

In order to save these great ideas for eternity, have students transfer them to the computer. Have students list the ideas in the order they get them, or they can organize these great ideas into categories using “a table.”

2. Record It

Another common way to capture all those great ideas is it to carry around a voice recorder. These days many cell phones and mp3 players also have the ability to be used as a voice recorder to store all those great ideas. Have students transfer these to paper or the computer.

3. Journal It

One last and very common technique that writers use is to keep a “Writer’s Journal.” In this journal they write down great and even not so great ideas that come to them. The journal gives the writer plenty of space to explore their many ideas. This then helps them decide which ideas they would like to turn into essays or stories. It also provides a writer a safe place to write in freedom, freedom from evaluation, judgment, and grades. It’s a place to write, but not a place where one must be correct. It’s a place for ideas!

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!