Teachers don’t like assigning essays. Students don’t like writing them. But it doesn’t have to be a no-win situation. Nothing works like repetition. Students need to write fairly lengthy essays (minimum 2 typed pages) frequently throughout high school. Although most essays are written out of class, a few should be written in class so that the teacher can regularly assess each student’s writing ability. A good procedure for essay writing is to assign the topic, discuss it with the class, and clarify misconceptions. Students always ask about length. Their writing skills will improve. And they will thank their teacher, some of them years later, for having to grind through the process of becoming a proficient writer. Many of them will skim through college courses and enjoy a rewarding career.

Organization

Students should be required to respond to many of the literary pieces they read, more or less, in essay form. An essay by definition is an organized, well-developed discussion of one subject dealt with at some length. Students’ typed essays should be at least two pages long. One should remind them of a good essay’s structure and provide a handout with this basic information:

1. Brief opening paragraph with a clear thesis statement usually at the end of the paragraph.
2. Several half-page body paragraphs each of which includes a topic sentence that introduces one aspect of the thesis.
3. Brief concluding paragraph that gives closure to the essay but does not restate the thesis.

In addition to these organizational criteria, essays should include transitional devices that link paragraphs.

Model essays

Display and review previous students’ well written essays with names erased. Annotate each essay so that the thesis, topic sentences, conclusion, and transitional devices are identified. Do this frequently.

Note taking & outline

Before writing an essay, students should organize their ideas by taking notes. They then develop an outline of key ideas. It’s helpful for younger students if the teacher assigns an essay then divides the class into small groups. They exchange and write down their ideas.  As a homework assignment, they organize their ideas in note form then write a minimum of five paragraphs including introduction, body, and conclusion. They must proofread their work.

Grammar & mechanics

Essays should contain minimal grammatical or mechanical errors. And, yes, spelling is important. Students must own and use a dictionary to correct misspelling. One simply cannot rely on Spell-Check. Spelling errors should be corrected in class to avoid students making corrections merely via other students.

Grading

How does a teacher constantly assign essays throughout the year and manage the grading? Grading essays is time consuming and difficult. It’s not like grading math tests since essay writing is extremely subjective. We want to be fair to each student.  One has to bear in mind that poor penmanship, or poor class participation can affect a teacher’s response to an essay; after an hour’s reading, the teacher gets tired and crotchety. So, in order grade fairly, use this workable procedure: quickly read a set of essays, assign a temporary grade, and place the set in piles—A essays, B essays, and so on. Then reread each essay more carefully and note errors in the margin for students to correct. Make sure that all essays in each category–A, B, etc.–are of the same caliber.

Corrections

Students absolutely must correct their writing errors after their essays are returned.  While reading a set of essays, the teacher notes errors in the margin with a red pen—sp, cs, frag, and so on. (One can distribute a handout of abbreviations for writing errors on the first day of class. See my blog on this topic.) Students correct their errors on each essay. How does one ensure that this is done? By having students correct errors during class. Does this procedure mean that teachers get to take home the same set of essays again? No, abolutely not! Check every students’ corrections during class. Incomplete corrections result in grade point deductions. Nothing works like the gradebook!

Display

Display well-written corrected, retyped essays on a school-wide bulletin board for others to admire. Students will surreptitiously reread their own essays and bask in the publicity!

“Writing maketh an exact man.”

Sir Francis Bacon

If your students are writing fiction, pass along this advice:

“Jump right into the deep end of the story; don’t hang about on the edge.”

(C. Day Lewis, The Otterbury Incident)