essays in middle school

[Guest Barb B]

Just wondering - do you teach the 5 paragraph essay when dc write essays in middle school. Do you never teach it. Do you teach it then move away from it?

 

Wondering myself and wondering what others do.

 

Barb

[Pamela H in Texas]

I think there are benefits to formalic writing lessons. In time, students will develop their own style, but they will have some idea that there has to be structure within the writing. Additionally, many professors prefer the structure of formalic writing rather than searching for knowledge of the information in a [admittedly] better and mature structure of writing. Formalic writing lends itself well to shorter pieces and I personally have found it useful for up to 5-7 page papers. 5 paragraph papers are only one formula available. Following the outline of a detailed task is another common one and one my university prefers (something that really took me some time to get use to).

 

Anyway, I think that learning several formulas can be helpful in a student finding what works for them, gives them the opportunity to learn styles so they can give professors what they want, and gives students the opportunity to pick the best formula for an assignment. It also gives them a basis to develop their own structure and style.

[KAR120C]

Just wondering - do you teach the 5 paragraph essay when dc write essays in middle school. Do you never teach it. Do you teach it then move away from it?

 

Wondering myself and wondering what others do.

 

Barb

I know it's formulaic - I've made it even more formulaic by snagging another idea, for an 8-sentence body paragraph, from another thread here. (Which of course I can't find to link now...)

 

We don't actually move away from it as much as discuss when it is and isn't necessary. An introductory paragraph of some kind is necessary no matter what you're writing -- it's where you tell your readers all the things they need to know before they'll understand the rest. And some kind of conclusion is necessary for closure and to "tie it all up". The conclusion also serves to sum up your answer to whatever question was asked, and brings the narrow topic back to the wider world. Like if it's a question about a book, no matter how narrow the question, the conclusion brings it back to the major themes.

 

The body is where I think you get a lot more flexibility. It could be three paragraphs, it could be two, it could be four.... If it's one I would start asking whether you could either divide it up or flesh it out more. If it's more than four I'd start asking whether some of those needed to be combined, or if you were casting your net too wide. Not that any number of paragraphs is necessarily "wrong", but that having that model of three gives you a place to start those discussions.

 

The 8-sentence body paragraph is similar... it's based on the idea that in any body paragraph you have your introductory sentence and your concluding sentence, and they suggest two examples (each a sentence) and for each example two sentences of discussion. Absolutely not set in stone here... but again a good place to start talking about it. Sometimes more examples are good, but if you have a ton, it might be time to cull or it might be time to split off to another paragraph. If you only have one? Hm. Well again, it's not necessarily wrong, but consider whether that one is sufficient, if you can find another, or if you really don't have enough evidence to make that point. Again for the two sentences of discussion on each example - I don't really care that there are two sentences, but if you can only come up with one, you might need to think about it some more. (Or take a look at that one... it might be two run together!)

 

I don't think anything DS has written for me was a perfect example of The Model. I don't ask for it to be! But having that model to start with makes him think about the choices he's making and whether he can justify those choices.

[ColoradoMom]

The 5 paragraph essay has never let me down. I've used in on the GRE, in college, and in grad school and my writing was always considered above average. So - don't be afraid of formulas.

 

We do use the 5 paragraph essay for 8th grade and my son is not the world's most enthusiastic writer by any means. But this makes his task easy to put together and execute. Which is just about all I can ask for. We also use topics that he's interested in and chuck the history/literature essays for now. This is the first year I could even get him to pay attention to writing so you gotta take what you can get with some kids.

[Ester Maria]

I teach it, but don't obsess it. It's a handy formula which they need to master at some point, but not the ultimate be all end all of all writing and, in fact, I'd prefer them, with them, to "grow out" of it, for their writing not to be "enslaved" in a rigorous form. But, for middle school, it's perfectly fine, handy tool and usually adds to the writing being more coherent.

[Sunshine State Sue]

I am certainly no expert on teaching writing. We used Write Shop in 6th-7th-8th grade. We used Lightning Literature in 7th & 8th grade. Both worked on 5 paragraph essays in 8th grade.

 

HTH!

[Beth in SW WA]

Yes, the 5-para essay is a staple in our writing plan here. Dd just wrote a cause/effect essay (on China's one-child policy) for her Potters School comp class.

[8filltheheart]

Just wondering - do you teach the 5 paragraph essay when dc write essays in middle school. Do you never teach it. Do you teach it then move away from it?

 

Wondering myself and wondering what others do.

 

Barb

 

If they are ever going to take the SAT, they better be able to write one quickly on inane topics. :tongue_smilie:

 

I teach my kids to write 5 paragraph reports in late elementary/early middle school (depends on the abilities of the child). Once they have mastered structure and can focus more on argument, then we move toward the 5 paragraph essay.

 

Once the 5 paragraph essay is pretty much mastered, I never connect paragraph and paper assignment together. They write whatever it takes to prove their argument.

[angela in ohio]

I teach 4-7 paragraph essays. The length depends on the amount of information to be conveyed. I've never really stuck with 5 paragraphs, because sometimes it is hard to pin down exactly 3 topics, and you end up writing about something pointless on the one hand or having to cut out important details on the other. My dc do know that it is a common writing formula, though.

 

I also teach SAT writing to my dc, which is basically a 5 paragraph (sometimes 4) essay. I have told them that what they write for the SAT needs to be less creative and more 'obvious' than what I would normally want them to write.

 

Dh also uses the 5 paragraph essay to churn out article reviews for his post-grad work. It's great when you aren't really trying to defend or convey much, and you need to just "get it done."

 

I assume my dc will need to know how to do it for college, and I want them to have it as a tool, but we are definitely moving past it for their high school writing.

[Night Elf]

I don't know any other way to write! :tongue_smilie: Really though, I have my children use that style because I've taught them they should write from an outline which is very structured. Each paragraph of the body has a point. There is always an introduction and conclusion. So far, they have never written more than a 5-paragraph, so I'm not sure how to structure a thesis statement without mentioning each point to be discussed in the paper.

 

Ds14 will be starting a History research paper soon that must be 3 to 5 pages in length. I'm nervous about helping him structure it. I think I need to get a book from the library on how to write reports.

 

Most of his writing in his Keystone classes are short answers, asking for one to two well developed paragraphs on a particular question. When he writes essays for our Literary Lessons from The Lord of Rings program, he keeps to a 5-paragraph essay.

[regentrude]

I taught my DD to write 5 paragraph essays in 7th grade because she took the SAT.

I think it is highly overrated - I never had to write one in my whole life and career (I did not have to take standardized tests in my home country before moving to the US).