Tenth Grade: Work on whatever type of writing is needed for your student next.

Usually at this level, a student has decided whether or not he will go to college. For the student who is planning to go to college, the writing pressure is really on by tenth grade—because of the dreaded SAT/ACT Essay (and the verbal part in general).

It is obvious that a college-bound tenth grader needs to work on the SAT or ACT Essay and the portions of an SAT/ACT preparatory book that will help him with the verbal parts of these exams.

So what types of writing should a trades student or non-college-bound writer work on? It is sometimes thought that if a student isn’t going to college, he doesn’t need that much writing instruction. However, there is so much writing that an adult needs in order to be an adult! Regardless of future plans, we want all graduates in our care to know how to write business letters, persuasive essays (and how to spot poorly-supported ones online), how to write/create stories for their own children or for those who might work with children in the future; how to write/give instructions (for those who might have employees some day; for those who might be parents someday; and for those who might want to write out recipes or other instructional types of writing); and much more.

These types of writing require many of the skills that college-bound students need to learn: persuasive writing, quotation inclusion, story plot and character development, proper paragraph formation, etc. When I think of “consumer writing,” I think of recipe, instructional, story, blog, retelling (Bible lessons), devotional, research (original documentation and studies—not blog reading!), letter writing. And more! Detailed writing lessons are not only for the college-bound student!

Additionally, there is the possibility that the student might change his mind/occupation goals in the next couple of years. So there is no reason to stop writing!

Note: The trades type student will need to touch on many different types of writing projects (as opposed to spending a great deal of time on one or two types). Check out my first semester books up to and including Meaningful Composition 9 I. These books have various types of projects (and many “how to” lessons) as opposed to second semester books, which often focus on a certain type of writing. Go to here to see (and print/use) two week samples of my Meaningful Composition series.. Also, keep your eyes on my stores (Teachers Pay Teachers, CurrClick, Teacher’s Notebook, and our own store, Character Ink Press) as I put up various writing project downloads that are in my longer books.

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Tenth Grade: Work on whatever type of writing is needed for your student next.

In high school, writing demands should be based, in part, on what the student needs at that time. I often have students who are writing for me in class as well as writing college entrance letters, SAT essays, contests projects, and more. If at all possible, we should focus on the type of writing that the student needs next. These tips explain this further..

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Ninth Grade: Teach pre-writing skills that are needed for the type of writing your student is doing.

Besides the aforementioned “writing idea” problem we sometimes create when we do not direct our students in their writing, another difficulty is that of not equipping the student with the skills necessary in order to write what we are asking him to write. It is so difficult for a student to complete a project if he has not been given/taught the skills that are needed in order to write that project well.

Just like we teach our child how to pass, dribble, and shoot before we send him out to play a real game of basketball, so we should teach our students (especially high schoolers) the skills they need before we send them out to write the paper.

For example, various types of writing require various skills that we should give them:

1. How to write quotes before they are asked to include them in a research report

2. How to craft a descriptive setting before we ask a student to write a story

3. How to write dialogue before they write a story in which the characters speak to each other

4. How to gather evidence for writing persuasive essays

5. Much, much more!

While it is often advantageous to go through a grammar book in the order that the book is laid out, you can certainly jump ahead (or backtrack) to a certain skill that might be needed in his essay, report, or story assignment this week. Grammar handbooks (like Write Source) can also be amazing sources for the various skills that your student might need to know in order to write well in each writing type.

If you are using my writing or language arts materials, these mini-lessons will often be indicated with labels “Pre-Writing” or “Write On!”

Note: Go here to see (and print/use) two week samples of my Meaningful Composition series. These samples have, for the most part, complete writing projects. Thus, you can see sample papers of most projects there. Note the various types and how each one has its own outlining type and the various pre-writing and “Write On” lessons will give you an idea of how to introduce some of these skills for various writing project types. Also, keep your eyes on my stores (Teachers Pay Teachers, CurrClick, Teacher’s Notebook, and our own store, Character Ink Press) as I put up various writing project downloads that are in my longer books.

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Ninth Grade: Teach pre-writing skills that are needed for the type of writing your student is doing.

I cringe when I see a writing project that requires various skills without the lessons on those skills as well. (Check out our Meaningful Composition samples to see how skills should be taught with every writing lesson, especially involved skills such as quotations, dialogue, scene setting, researching, and citing sources.) This next tips explains this more fully…. Read more →

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