So I was listening to SWB highscool writing and

[Free Indeed]

she mentioned in there about NOT teaching the standard 5 paragraph essay, that no one ever actually asks for those, and it was not productive to learn that "form". So, do you teach it or not? Is it useful somewhere or is it an artificial form of writing we made up? What are your thoughts? I ask because I was about to start concentrating on teaching this! :D

[Mandy in TN]

she mentioned in there about NOT teaching the standard 5 paragraph essay, that no one ever actually asks for those, and it was not productive to learn that "form". So, do you teach it or not? Is it useful somewhere or is it an artificial form of writing we made up? What are your thoughts? I ask because I was about to start concentrating on teaching this! :D

I don't know about five paragraphs, but I do think that it is important to teach different types of essays.

 

My oldest used primarily IEW, but we did keep Writer's Inc on hand to discuss different types of writing. When he wrote his essay for college admission, all the info we found online said not to write a standard five paragraph essay, because admissions wouldn't read past the first paragraph where you basically tell them what you are going to write. He actually used his grade school copy of Writing in Narrative (WIN) The 7 Sentence Story as a flow chart to write his admission essay.

 

Ds #2 is a junior and I am lucky to get him to write anything! He is going to an IEW class this year. I honestly just hope that he will apply himself to write any kind of academic paper- 5 paragraphs or otherwise!

 

I plan to also use IEW with the little man next year in 3rd. I like ds#2's teacher so much that if she is teaching an elementary class next year the little man will be there!

 

HTH-

Mandy

[Free Indeed]

I was actually debating the use of IEW (we have used the theme books here, and like them) for next year, but then I was wanting to use more of the outlining that SWB talks about as opposed to KWO. I understand KWO more, it makes better sense to me. However, if Susan prefers the 3 level outlines, so I thought they must be important. I am just a little confused right now and trying to sort out what it is I need to do to continue my son's education. :tongue_smilie:

[Ohdanigirl]

I remember most exams in college were short essay questions and included a longer essay that would fit under the 5 paragraph essay. It varies from one university to the next, but it helped me.

 

Danielle

[Aludlam]

I was a science major in college. So, I only took the basic English classes required for graduation ..... but they were 5 paragraphs only! I guess everybody is different.

[mom31257]

I've looked online for SAT writing information. Everything I've found says to do a 5 paragraph essay. It seems like a very good format to get the essay done in the alloted time.

 

Does she specifically address SAT writing? What types of essays does she recommend?

[Free Indeed]

She does not specifically address SAT writing. She said form should be directed by topic and she has never been happy to see a 5 paragraph essay when they were turned into her.

[Jen in PA]

I teach the 5-paragraph essay to middle schoolers, high schoolers, and remedial college students. It is an effective structure to use for answering basic essay questions, but it works best after it has been mastered -- meaning that the student feels confident enough in it that he can comfortably add a paragraph or two that extends the topic in a meaningful way, or even cut it down to just 4 paragraphs that have better flow and consistency than 5 weaker ones.