Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan
Teaching students how to write essays in a
secondary classroom is a crucial ability that can aid in the development of
their analytical, communication, and critical thinking abilities. Yet, I
frequently find it difficult to teach my twelve-year-old students how to write
essays because they lack the abilities needed to do so, including critical
thinking, organization, coherence, and effective communication. I observe that
many of them have little to no prior experience writing essays and struggle
with fundamental writing abilities like syntax, punctuation, and sentence
structure, which makes the task appear impossible. As a teacher, I believe that
I need to employ certain strategies that work most effectively in teaching
essay writing to my students in the classroom. The two most effective teaching
strategies I believe I can use in my classroom to help my students are as
follows:
Scaffolded writing process
I think that scaffolding the writing process for
students is a good strategy for teaching essay writing, especially for those
who have difficulty with it because it will help them gradually develop their
abilities and knowledge throughout the process (Wray, 2005). This method
entails dissecting the essay-writing procedure into manageable steps that
students can adhere to over time. Instructors should help students as they
steadily increase their knowledge and skills. The process may involve
preliminary exercises including outlining and brainstorming, producing a first
draft, editing, peer reviewing, and eventually submitting the completed
document.
During pre-writing activities, I usually make my
students brainstorm ideas to activate their prior knowledge (Heather, n.d.),
choose a topic, and write a thesis statement. After that, I instruct them to
draft, during which they will produce a preliminary draft while concentrating
on the structure and content of their ideas. In doing so, students are taught
the basic essay format and handed an outline template to follow. Students are
also urged to connect their concepts with transitional verbs and nouns. After
the drafting is finished, before they begin the revision process, I teach them
how to analyze their work. Next, they are requested to assess and revise their
work using a specified rubric or checklist. Once the self-evaluation is
finished, they are also given peer review opportunities to get comments from
peers because it gives them an unbiased assessment of their work (Warren,
2022). Students are urged to concentrate on developing their arguments,
offering support, and ensuring that their writing is coherent throughout the
entire process. Next, before they finally publish their work, they are required
to edit it by going through it and fixing any grammar, punctuation, and
spelling mistakes using the fundamental standards they have already learned.
They will be given the chance to review and revise their work during peer
reviews after they have concluded self-editing. Lastly, they write a polished
final draft for publishing with suitable assistance from their teacher so that
they can share it with the class or publish it online.
Students can gradually develop their skills and
confidence in essay writing as they obtain a deeper comprehension of the
writing process and grow more self-assured in their writing abilities by being
required to scaffold the writing process in this way. Also, it improves essay
quality and cultivates a love of writing among students.
Using peer review and feedback
Peer review and feedback are effective
instructional methods for essay writing because they let students benefit from
one another's experiences and develop their writing abilities through
constructive criticism. Peer review and feedback are the main teaching
strategies I employ because, by getting students involved, I think I can give
them the chance to read each other's writings, offer helpful criticism, and
learn from each other's mistakes. This is especially true when teaching any
type of writing. It entails students presenting their work to their peers, who
then offer helpful criticism on the essay's advantages and disadvantages. This
criticism may include ideas for enhancing the essay's structure, use of
evidence, and argument. To ensure they receive a variety of comments and
recommendations, I normally ask my students to have a review session with at
least three peers for each piece of work. I've discovered that these techniques
encourage critical thinking and active learning. Receiving input from others
also helps students become more objective about their writing. To structure
this session, I normally require my students to use a checklist or rubric and
invite at least three of their peers to read their work. With the help of such
a method, students can be inspired and motivated to write with assurance, feel
devoted to their work, and worry less about whether or not their writing would
be considered correct or incorrect (Faraj, 2015).
Peer review and feedback are firmly thought to
be excellent techniques for teaching essay writing since they give students
insightful comments, encourage teamwork, and aid in the development of critical
thinking abilities. Also, by allocating peer reviewers with better writing
abilities to students who require more assistance, I can use peer review to
diversify education.
Challenges associated with implementing
the scaffolded writing process and using peer review and feedback
I may encounter several difficulties while
putting the scaffolded writing process, peer review, and feedback into
practice, even though they are good tools for teaching essay writing. Firstly,
as scaffolded writing and peer review demand a large amount of time, I may
experience difficulty later in covering the given curriculum. To ensure that
these strategies are included in the curriculum, I think I may need to give
them a higher priority. Students who struggle with writing may find these strategies
more difficult than others, in which case I may need to provide more support to
help them succeed. On the other hand, the scaffolded writing process and peer
review and feedback need a certain amount of writing ability. I occasionally find
myself helping each student individually in the classroom, which can be busy
and time-consuming. However, some students might not be willing to share
constructive criticism and may opt to simply accept what their peers have
written. For this, I might need to keep an eye on things constantly to make
sure that students are giving and receiving feedback comfortably, staying on
topic, and providing constructive comments. Finally, I think that some students
may not understand the value of peer review or may be opposed to the idea. I
might need to explain to my students the advantages of these techniques and
stress the value of feedback for them to adopt a more positive attitude about
it and act as their classmates' social support system in completing the
language goal (Casinto, 2023).
To sum up, scaffolded writing, peer review, and
feedback can be effective strategies for enhancing students' writing abilities
and encouraging active learning in the classroom despite these difficulties.
Teachers may overcome these difficulties and foster a supportive and fruitful
writing environment for their students with careful planning and
implementation.
References
Casinto, C. D. (2023). Scaffolded Peer Feedback and
Second Language Writing Proficiency: Implications for Inclusive ESL Teaching
Practice. The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language. Vol. 26,
No. 4. Retrieved from
https://tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume26/ej104/ej104a8/
Faraj, A. K. A. (2015). Scaffolding EFL Students’
Writing through the Writing Process Approach. Journal of Education and
Practice. Vol.6, No.13. Retrieved from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1080494.pdf
Heather. (n.d.). 6 Ways You Should Be Scaffolding
Student Writing. Retrieved from https://itslitteaching.com/scaffolding-student-writing/
Warren, J. (2022, January 30). Essay Feedback: Why
It’s Important, Where to Get It, and How to Use It to Improve. Bar Exam
Toolbox®.
https://barexamtoolbox.com/essay-feedback-important-get-use-improve/#:~:text=Getting%20feedback%20on%20your%20written,and%20weaknesses%20as%20a%20writer.
Wray, D. (2005). Teaching and learning literacy:
Reading and writing texts for a purpose. Retrieved from eBook Central
(accessed through LIRN).
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