Student writing has become substantially more important under the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). For years, writing has been a neglected subject. In fact, the National Commission on Writing has called writing “The Neglected R.” Here are a few reasons why writing has been so frustrating for students and neglected by teachers:
1. Writing is an art. As such, there is no easy answer key for the writing teacher—or for students.
2. The way writing is taught can seem esoteric to children. It seems to them that the rules of good writing sure do seem to change a lot. “The teacher liked what I wrote yesterday, but today the teacher says it’s not good. I don’t get it.”
3. Staying on top of student writing is hard work for teachers. As such, students have more opportunities to slack off and practice writing the wrong way.
Without a doubt, Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay has addressed of all of these issues. I will admit, the Pattern Based Writing program does not teach every aspect of what creates good writing. However, what it completely and absolutely solves is what this video below talks about.
Elementary School Essay Writing vs. High School Essay Writing
What’s shocking about this video is that it is from Ashworth University and is designed for high school students. (It’s an excellent video on the five-paragraph essay. The teacher is very clear and concise.)
As you watch it, imagine an entire class of third graders sitting there watching this video and saying, “Yes, we can do all that. We learned that last month. We can organize and write one of those five-paragraph essays in 30-minutes or less.”
The third graders I’m talking about are from the inner city and their teacher had become ill early in the school year. This began a long string of substitute teachers. I came in at the end of their school year and took them from unorganized sentences to excellent five-paragraph essay in just 37 days.
Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay solves the essay problem. Whether your students are in elementary school or middle school, you can revolutionize their writing quickly and easily. This should not be an issue in high school.
