How can written models and templates support students in writing from sources?
Models
Models of well-written essays are absolutely essential for students who are learning to write. Most of us don’t remember, but we learned to write by copying models. The models were the books and scholarly articles we read. Often, adult students do not read a lot. Providing them with models that show the “moves” to make in writing goes a long way in helping them “get it.”
One of the most helpful ways to create a good writing lesson is to write the assignment yourself as you prepare the lesson. Once you do this, you will probably discover that most of the essay you write will consist of introductory or explanatory remarks as well as quotes and paraphrases from the source you are drawing upon.
Graff and Birkenstein, the authors of “They Say, I Say”, point out that this is the essence of academic writing: When you write in an academic context, you are joining a larger conversation. You need to refer to what the other guy said (They Say) and then contribute your interpretation, addition, or revision (I Say).
Providing students with models and asking them to identify the “parts” of a persuasive paragraph can be very helpful. Here is an example:
It is also extremely helpful to include examples of teacher-written models, which can be simpler and tailored to the level of your students and the type of assignment they will to have to do. Click here for an example of a teacher-written response to the essay prompt for the GED 2014.
While models of essay written by professional writers can be inspiring, remember that one of the main purposes of a model is to give students the sense that “I can do it too.” When this technique is used to teach students, it’s best to start with simply worded essays with less complex claims and evidence to start with.
Templates
Templates have been shown to be enormously helpful in providing students with the scaffolding needed to write successful academic essays. If you buy one book to help you prepare students to write from sources, I recommend this one: They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. The authors contend that students do not come to college understanding the “moves” of academic writing, and propose teaching students those moves through templates that will guide them both in the thinking and the language that goes into this kind of writing. Here is a link to the book on Amazon.
For a quick glance at the templates, try this site.
Of course, templates should be used judiciously, not just thrown at students as a list. Certain templates come in especially handy when helping students to begin writing an essay or to formulate a thesis statement.
The following template helps students construct a sentence that includes both argument and counterargument:
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In recent discussions of _______________, a controversial issue has been whether ___________________. On the one hand, some argue that _____________________. Others argue that ____________________________________.
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This template is useful in helping students understand how to write a complex sentence that contains two opposite ideas, and also that, in academic writing, they are often expected to couch their own ideas in the contexts of what other writers have said. Students often struggle with the language of persuasion, and by providing students with a scaffold for this language, they can concentrate on other aspects, such as making sense and using evidence correctly.
The TEAL Guide also provides guidelines for using templates, or frames, to help students write persuasively.
Sentence Starters and Sentence Combining
Another version of templates and that can be helpful to students in formulating their ideas and developing arguments are sentence starters and sentence combining exercises.
Sentence starters are just that…phrases that start off a sentence. Students finish the “idea” of the sentence by inserting their own words. For examples of sentence starters formulated to help students write arguments:
Another skill that students will need to develop in order to write more effectively from sources is the skill of sentence combining. There are several sites that provide guidance in teaching sentence combining:
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