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Many writers are ill-equipped to write an introduction to an essay, article, formal research paper, or business letter. All too often, students only received this limited instruction about how to write an introduction: “Introduce the topic in one sentence; write another sentence that has a “hook” or “lead”; then end with a thesis statement.” Not much to go on with that limited instruction…

The following strategies will help you write an introduction leading up to your thesis that will be appropriate to the writing task, engage the reader, and show off your writing skills. The BAD RAPS memory trick will help remind you of your introduction strategy options on timed writing tasks. Not every introduction strategy fits the purpose of every writing task, so learn and practice these options to increase your writing skill-set.

BAD RAPS Introduction Strategies

• Background—Sentences that briefly explain the setting or help your reader better understand the thesis statement. (B)
• Question to be Answered—A sentence worded as a question that asks either a question needing no answer (rhetorical question) or a question to make the reader think of a question that will be answered in the essay. (A)
• Definition— Sentences that explain the meaning of a key word that may be unfamiliar to the reader or help to narrow the focus of the subject. (D)
• Reference to Something Known in Common—Sentences that refer to a fact or idea already known by most people, including your reader. (R)
• Quote from an Authority—Sentences that quote an authority in the subject of the essay. It must list the name of the authority. (A)
• Preview of Topic Sentences—Sentences that list the subjects of each body paragraph topic sentence in the order that they appear in the essay. (P)
• Startling Statement—Sentences that are designed to startle the reader with an emotional response or a controversial remark to help support the thesis statement. (S)

For short essays (such as on the SAT®), college applications, business letters, etc. I suggest that two of the strategies listed above, leading into a concise thesis statement will be more than adequate. Flesh out each strategy in a compound-complex sentence or two separate sentences and then finish the introduction with a one-sentence thesis statement that makes good plagiarized use of the writing prompt. For longer writing tasks, such as research reports, a few more of the introduction strategies, developed in separate paragraphs will be appropriate. The writing rule of thumb is 10% of the writing task as introduction paragraph(s), 80% as body paragraphs, and 10% as conclusion paragraph(s).

Think of writing an introduction much as a prosecuting attorney uses an opening statement to convince a jury that the defendant is guilty of the crime. Connect your introduction strategies and thesis statement with effective transition words to maintain coherence. The introduction should flow together as one whole. Every word should move the reader toward the demanded verdict, which is your thesis statement. Always place your thesis statement at the end of your introduction. Writing research indicates that the thesis statement is placed at the end on the introductory paragraph most of the time in published works, so don’t re-invent the wheel. Write in the way your reader expects to read.

I suggest that you take the time to pre-write before drafting any writing task. Compose your thesis statement first; then, brainstorm the body paragraphs. Next, draft the body paragraphs, skipping space to later write your introductory paragraph. Then, write the introduction. Finish the writing with your conclusion paragraph.

Now you have the right strategies to make your case in your opening statement, by using BAD RAPS to write an introduction. All you have to do is to convince your jury.

Find 42 sequenced writing strategy worksheets and quickly move students from simple three-word paragraphs to complex multi-paragraph essays. With 64 sentence revision lessons, additional remedial worksheets, writing fluency and skill lessons, posters, and editing resources, the teacher can differentiate instruction with no additional prep with Teaching Essay Strategies.

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Very few writers have learned how to write a conclusion to an essay, article, formal research paper, or business letter. All too often, students only received this limited instruction about how to write a conclusion: “Re-state the thesis; write another sentence that summarizes the body paragraphs; then ‘give a finished feeling’ to the writing.” Hard to write an effective conclusion with that kind of limited instruction…

The following strategies will help you learn how to write a conclusion that will be appropriate to the writing task, convince your reader, and also show off your writing skills. The GQ SALES memory trick will help remind you of your conclusion strategy options on timed writing tasks. Not every conclusion strategy fits the purpose of every writing task, so learn and practice these options to increase your writing skill-set.

GQ SALES Conclusion Strategies

• Generalization—Sentences that make one of your specific points more general in focus. (G)
• Question for Further Study—Sentences that mention a related subject or question that is beyond the focus of the essay. (Q)
• Synthesis of Main Points—Sentences that pull together the points proven in the essay to say something new. (S)
• Application—Sentences that apply the proven thesis statement to another idea or issue. (A)
• Argument Limitations—Sentences that explain how or why your conclusions are limited. (L)
• Emphasis of Key Point—Sentences that mention and add importance to one of the points of your essay. (E)
• Statement of Significance—Sentences that discuss the importance and relevance of the proven thesis statement. (S)

For short essays (such as on the SAT®), college applications, business letters), I suggest that two of the strategies listed above, following a concise thesis re-statement will be more than adequate. Flesh out each strategy in a compound-complex sentence or two separate sentences. For longer writing tasks, such as research reports, a few more of the conclusion strategies, developed in separate paragraphs will be appropriate. The writing rule of thumb is 10% of the writing task as introduction paragraph(s), 80% as body paragraphs, and 10% as conclusion paragraph(s).

Think of how to write a conclusion much as a prosecuting attorney uses closing arguments to convince a jury that the defendant is guilty of the crime. Connect your conclusion strategies and thesis re-statement with effective transition words to maintain coherence. The conclusion should flow together as one whole. Every word should move the reader toward the demanded verdict, which is your thesis statement. 

Take enough time to pre-write before drafting any writing task. Write your thesis statement first; then, brainstorm the body paragraphs. Next, draft the body paragraphs, skipping space to later write your introductory paragraph. Then, write the introduction. Finish the writing with your conclusion paragraph. 

With GQ SALES, you have the right strategies to make your case in your closing arguments. Now that you know how to write a conclusion, all you have to do is to convince your jury.

Find 42 sequenced writing strategy worksheets and quickly move students from simple three-word paragraphs to complex multi-paragraph essays. With 64 sentence revision lessons, additional remedial worksheets, writing fluency and skill lessons, posters, and editing resources, the teacher can differentiate instruction with no additional prep with Teaching Essay Strategies.

Writing conclusion, essay, essay strategies, introduction, teaching strategies, teaching writing, writing style

Using numerical values to identify and apply expository writing structure has proved an effective tool in identifying expository text structure and helping writers organize essays. The numerical values eliminate the writing jargon that varies from teacher to teacher and curriculum to curriculum. Instead, writers simply apply the implicit hierarchy of the number system to that of reading and writing. Writers just seem to intuitively “get” the idea of a number system applied to their expository writing in essays.

The Teaching Essay Strategies curriculum uses following number system:

(1) for the introductory strategies of an essay introduction—for example, a definition or a preview of the topic sentences.

(2) for the thesis statement that “talks about” the introduction strategies.

(3) for the topic sentences that “talk about” the thesis statement.

(4) for the major details that “talk about” the topic sentence. 

(5) for the support details that “talk about” the major details. 

(6) for the conclusion strategies—for example, a thesis re-statement or summary.

For Developing Recognition of Text Structure

Try analyzing expository reading by numbering the sentences. Critique the writing by analyzing the structure and whether there is sufficient evidence, e.g. enough (5s) to back the (4s).

For Essay Writing

Using your own writing prompts, practice varying sentence order within the numerical hierarchy to help students develop a flexible writing style to address the demands of the writing prompt and improve the quality of your essays. Try the following paragraph organizations and watch your students improve their writing structure and recognition of text structure at the same time.

1. (3)-(4)-(4)

2. (3)-(4)-(4)-(4)

3. (3)-(4)-(5)-(4)-(5) 

4. (4)-(5)-(3)-(4)-(5) 

5. (4)-(5)-(4)-(5)-(3) 

6. (4)-(5)-(4)-(5) 

7. (3)-(4)-(5)-(4)-(5)-(4)-(5) 

8. (3)-(4)-(4)-(4)-(5)

9. (3)-(4)-(4)-(5)-(4)-(5) 

10. (3)-(4)-(5)-(4)-(5)-(5) 

11. (Transition Statement)-(3)-(4)-(5)-(4)-(5)

12. (3)-(4)-(5)-(4)-(5)-(Concluding Statement)

13. (1)-(1)-(2) added to any two of the above body paragraphs

14. (6)-(6)-(6) added to any two of the above body paragraphs

15. (1)-(1)-(2) added to any two of the above body paragraphs (6)-(6)-(6)

Find 42 sequenced writing strategy worksheets and quickly move students from simple three-word paragraphs to complex multi-paragraph essays. With 64 sentence revision lessons, additional remedial worksheets, writing fluency and skill lessons, posters, and editing resources, the teacher can differentiate instruction with no additional prep with Teaching Essay Strategies.

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Many writers have not learned how to write body paragraphs for an essay, article, formal research paper, or business letter. All too often, students only received this limited instruction about how to write body paragraphs: “Write a topic sentence; write major detail sentences; then, support the major detail sentences with minor detail sentences.” Not much help with that limited instruction…

The following strategies will help you write learn how to write body paragraphs that will be appropriate to the writing task, provide pertinent evidence to prove your thesis, and also show off your writing skills. The CeF SCALE memory trick will help remind you of the evidence strategies you need to use on timed writing tasks. Not every evidence strategy fits the purpose of every writing task, so learn and practice these options to increase your writing skill-set.

CeF SCALE Evidence Strategies (Think Centigrade Fahrenheit)        

1. A comparison means to show how the subject is like something else in a meaningful way. (C)
2. An experience used as evidence may be a commonly known event or an event of which there is limited knowledge. (e)
3. A fact means something actually said or done. Use quotes for direct or indirect quotations. (F)
4. A statistic is a numerical figure that represents evidence gained from scientific research. (S)
5. A counterpoint states an argument against your thesis statement and then provides evidence against that argument. (C)
6. An appeal to authority is a reference from an authority on a certain subject. (A)
7. Logic means to use deductive (general to specific) or inductive (specific to general) reasoning to prove a point. (L)
8. An example is a subset typical of a category or group. (E)

Body paragraphs are organized around the topic sentence, which is the main point, reason, or argument to prove the thesis statement. Always place your topic sentence at the beginning of each body paragraph. Writing research indicates that the topic sentence is placed at the beginning of the body paragraph 80% of the time in published works, so don’t re-invent the wheel. Write in the way your reader expects to read.

Then, use the CeF SCALE evidence strategies to provide the evidence you need to support your topic sentence. Think of writing body paragraphs much as a prosecuting attorney uses evidence to convince a jury that the defendant is guilty of the crime. Connect your body paragraph evidence strategies with effective transition words to maintain coherence. The body paragraph should flow together as one whole. Every word should move the reader toward the demanded verdict, which is your thesis statement.

Use a variety of evidence to support your topic sentence in each paragraph. I suggest that two or three types of evidence per body paragraph is most effective. A good attorney uses a wide variety of evidence. Limiting evidence to one form will weaken your overall argument and not win your conviction. Think of the O.J. Simpson’s “Trial of the Century.” The prosecution overly relied on DNA evidence and failed to convince its jury. All it took was “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit” to provide enough doubt to the jury to acquit the defendant.

After composing the topic sentence, flesh out each evidence strategy in a compound-complex sentence or two separate sentences. Then, analyze the evidence in another sentence. Of course, sometimes it is also appropriate to do the reverse: state a major detail that addresses the topic sentence and then provide the evidence strategy to support that detail.

A good body paragraph might be structured in this way:

• Topic Sentence
• Evidence Strategy #1 Sentence
• Analysis Sentence
• Evidence Strategy #2 Sentence
• Analysis Sentence
• Major Detail
• Evidence Strategy #3 Sentence

Generally, avoid concluding statements in short essays. Concluding statements are helpful when used in longer research papers, following several paragraphs organized by one umbrella topic sentence.

I suggest that you take the time to pre-write before drafting any writing task. Compose your thesis statement first; then, brainstorm the body paragraphs. Next, draft the body paragraphs, skipping space to later write your introductory paragraph. Then, write the introduction. Finish the writing with your conclusion paragraph.

Now you have the right strategies to make your case, using a variety of effective evidence. Using the CeF SCALE evidence strategies will help you convince your jury.

Find 42 sequenced writing strategy worksheets and quickly move students from simple three-word paragraphs to complex multi-paragraph essays. With 64 sentence revision lessons, additional remedial worksheets, writing fluency and skill lessons, posters, and editing resources, the teacher can differentiate instruction with no additional prep with Teaching Essay Strategies.

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With the inclusion of essays on high-stakes tests such as the SAT® and ACT®, as well as many state standards tests and high-school exit exams, the need to improve writing fluency has recently surfaced as a desired goal. Which approaches to writing fluency work best?

1. Teach students to read a variety of writing prompts. Expose students to different content area and writing domain prompts. For example, using social science, literature, and science content with informational, expository, analytical, and persuasive domains. Teach students to read the writing prompt twice—the first time for understanding and the second time to circle the subject and highlight key words. 

2. Give students ample practice in turning writing prompts into effective essay topic sentences. “Thesis Turn-Arounds” can be a productive “opener” to any lesson in any subject area. For example, if the prompt reads “Analyze the causes of the Civil War,” students could begin their theses with “Many causes contributed to the Civil War.”

3. Give students practice in developing quick pre-writes to organize a multi-paragraph writing response. Teach a variety of graphic organizers and review how each is appropriate to different writing prompts.

4. Give students practice in writing introductory paragraphs after pre-writing. Give students practice in writing just one timed body paragraph to address one aspect of the essay after pre-writing.

5. Provide immediate individual feedback to students with brief writers conferences.

6. Use the overhead projector to use critique real student samples. Write along with students and have them critique your writing samples.

7. Teach how to pace various allotted essay times. For example, the SAT® essay is only 25 minutes. Most state tests allot 60 minutes. Brainstorm and allocate times before a full essay writing fluency for the following: analysis of the writing prompt, pre-write, draft, revisions, editing.

8. If a brief reading passage is part of the background for the writing task, teach students to annotate the passage with margin notes as they read.

Find 42 sequenced writing strategy worksheets and quickly move students from simple three-word paragraphs to complex multi-paragraph essays. With 8 writing fluencies, 64 sentence revision lessons, additional remedial worksheets, and skill lessons, posters, and editing resources, the teacher can differentiate instruction with no additional prep with Teaching Essay Strategies.

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