Best resources for handwritten essays

[chiguirre]

Trinqueta has become a capable writer using Word but she finds it almost impossible to hand write an essay especially under time pressure. I'd like to work on this skill over the summer. What's your go to resource for learning to crank out a handwritten essay for a standardized test like the ACT with writing or the AP free responses?

 

Thanks!

[Serenade]

I feel reluctant to post because my high schooler is also a slow writer, but what has helped him this past year is practice, practice and more practice.  Not always essays, but even just paragraphs and such.  The more he writes, the easier it seems for him.  He is still probably not where he should be for a 10th grader, so  I'm probably not the best person to offer advice.

[Lori D.]

Starting when DSs were 8t & 9th grades, we used 8FillTheHeart's idea of a weekly essay from a writing prompt. We started small (1 complete paragraph) and short (10 minutes), and slowly over the next year and a half worked our way up, adding a new element every so often (a hook; more time/longer essay; a solid conclusion; taking the last 3-4 minutes to re-read and fix and errors; etc.). We used past SAT essay prompts from Online Math Learning's SAT Test Preparation web page (scroll down about 1/3rd down the page).

 

For more details on how we built up slowly to the full 25 minutes, see post #5 of "Preparing for Essay Exams". Also see post #8 for suggestion of Brave Writer, and post #11 on prepping for essay writing by thinking in terms of types of questions (archetypes), and formulating in advance types of responses to fit with the different archetypes.

 

The best advice I have heard about writing the essays for the SAT/ACT came from James Stobaugh, author of several homeschool programs, and an SAT essay grader on the side. Here are the tips he gave us at a homeschool convention session:

- most critical is to have a *completed* essay (better shorter and complete than longer and unfinished)
- be sure to include very specific examples to support your contention (the more the better)
- if possible, use at least one example from *Literature* (the vast majority of the graders are English teachers, and will unconsciously feel more friendly toward a Lit. example than a history, science, or current events example  ;))
- when you make a mistake or a change, DON'T erase -- cross it out with a line and then keep writing in the blank space after it (the graders are given *copies* of the original essays, and any erasing and rewriting on top comes out as an indecipherable smudge on the grader's copy)
- the grader only has 30-45 seconds *per essay*, so handwriting, spelling, and punctuation DO sway the grader a bit, even though it is not supposed to (so better to be a bit slower and have a shorter essay, but one that is clear and legible)

 

Here are some additional helps on essay writing for the SAT/ACT:

- "SAT essay?" - past thread with great tips; this is an older (2011) thread, so the new (2016) SAT essay may be a bit different...

- "ACT essay tips?" - past thread with great tips

- About the ACT Writing Test - Sample Essays, Scores, and Tips -- directly from ACT

- How to write an ACT essay -- detailed pdf, with explanation, showing the essay structure, and an example essay

 

Good luck in practicing essay writing by hand for test taking! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited June 5, 2016 by Lori D.