Helping dd improve her essay writing skills

[Notcontent]

Dd is in year 9 and I think she needs some help with essay writing. The odd thing is that she is pretty bright (I think) and has been doing really well in all her subjects but the one thing that I think might cause issues in the future is her essay writing. The other odd thing is that she has always read a lot and is really good at creative writing, but somehow her thoughts get really muddled. She also sometimes still makes silly spelling mistakes.

I am looking for ideas to teach her to keep her mind focused on her writing (I think that’s one problem) and also maybe some books of essays she can read. Any suggestions?

Make a plan before she writes. e.g. a mind map or just a list.

What is the main 'point' of each paragraph. What quotes/examples does she have to back it up.

Follow a structure in each paragraph e.g PEEL - point, example, explanation (of the example), link (back to the question and to the next paragraph).

Thanks. She has been taught these techniques at school and they obviously do help, but not completely.

Try to get her reading newspaper articles regularly. It doesn’t have to be hard going. Buy a paper and she can read any articles that appeal to her.
This will help to mature her writing and vocabulary and get her used to more informative writing.

Lots of practice and good feedback from her teachers will help.

Ask the school to assess her for dyslexia. My dd v bright, but only got diagnosed in year 12. (processing, & short term memory issues) Struggled with essay writing but a voracious reader who could explain everything verbally but struggled to get it down on paper in a coherent way. V hard to spot if a child is bright. Be warned that the school may try and put you off!

Get the school to provide your DD with a WAGOL (what a good one looks like) so she can see how it is structured. As a parent I found this invaluable when helping Ds1 with History and he went from a 6 in both year 11 mocks to a 9 on the exam. It wasn't ever his lack of knowledge but his technique.

Also understanding what they get marks for, so again school provided us with an exam script which showed what had been given marks for.

Ds1 had his English language things marked by his teacher who underlined the things that got him marks, plus why, so it would say A01 and Level 5 in the margin. Plus double ticks, "good points" etc through his work.

I go against the grain a bit and tend to find bright students are hindered by formulaic structures.

With my bright students I get them to generate their main idea/interpretation/argument, then they have one main sub argument to a paragraph with supporting evidence.

Unless the school are teaching GCSE questions in y9 (where they may have an infinite number of letter combinations to memorise), then I find clarifying understanding helps improve the essay.

I think teaching's improved enormously since my day but I somehow got through O levels without really being taught to write an essay properly. I did get a B in History, but it was my A level European History teacher who really taught me where I was going wrong (and History was my only A at A level - a European History paper and a British History paper - I was a bit bored by 18th century political history compared to 19th/20th century European, but at least I had some idea of the technique for putting forward what I'd managed to remember)

The main thing is to really be clear about what the question is, and start with answering it, and also to see if she has gaps in spelling and grammar which are bringing her marks down in writing essays.

Also, what are teachers for essay subjects saying? Have they expressed concerns about aspects of her essay writing? Has she started on GCSE work? Have you looked at feedback on her marked written work, rather than current actual marks? From year 9 she has plenty of time to learn from constructive feedback etc from teachers.

Split the assignment into three parts

introduction

middle section (discussing your introduction/answering the question)

conculsion

if you make you introduction concise then you can keep referring to it when writing your main body. She can keep asking herself have I discussed and analysed the things I have talked about in my intro

Key to a good essay is:

• read the essay question/requirement very carefully, underlining key words
• decide what your answer is going to be; often a good approach is to challenge the terms of the question a little bit so if the essay title is "will BoJo be remembered for his great deeds or great mistakes?" You could answer, "if he is remembered much at all, it will be for his mistakes but it is unlikely he will be remembered much at all, like so many mediocre prime ministers if the past." It does matter what you argue as long as you argue it strongly.
• then write your essay plan on a separate page. Depending on word length requirement decide how many paragraphs you will have and what each one is about. Don't forget to mention some counter-arguments and try to knock them dead, or allow them to slightly modify your initial premise.
• add some key vocabulary/adjectives or quotes into your plan.
• strong intro; set up your argument directly in relation to whatever question/theme you've been asked to explore
• strong conclusion that refers back directly to the question, and a killer last line always helps.
• refer back to plan frequently while you write. A common mistake is to plan then ignore or deviate from the plan you've written!

I would spend 20 mins on the essay plan, minimum.

Is she allowed to do type the essay? Sometimes she could do that as it will help her practise ordering her thoughts.

If she can do creative writing, she can write essays!

Does your DD want to improve her essay-writing? Has her teacher given her any guidance?

i liked this book, you might be able to use this or something similar. www.amazon.co.uk/Write-Great-Essays-Student-Friendly-Guides/dp/0335237274

Use a highlighter on the question and highlight key words.

'How far do you agree that the Treaty of Versailles was the main cause of WW2?'

She needs to consider three different aspects in one question and this could be the problem. There's a lot to weigh up!