Getting Started

As an English teacher, things just happen sometimes when it comes to teaching writing, but the college pays me to think a lot about writing. It should come as no surprise that writing instructors can sometimes pull good writing prompt out of our brains at a moment's notice. However, we also need to realize that the same is not true for everyone, and even we get stuck once in a while.

There are a number of ideas about how and why to create good writing prompts. One philosophy that might work well for you is to give students specific parameters about the intended topic and allow them to craft their own individual prompt. Of course you need to teach them how to craft those prompts, but then you are fairly well assured that you will receive essays that address a variety of issues from different points of view.

In order to teach students how to craft a prompt you need to be able to do it yourself, which takes time, thought, and revision. Here are some things to consider:

1. What is the theme or topic you want your students to address? This makes the presumption that you are teaching a topic or theme, but since there is probably some theme being presented in class, build upon it. Use this as a parameter for their essays. If the class is studying the topic of family dynamics, make students write about family dynamics. Don't let them whine or wriggle their way out of it. If that is what is being taught, then that is what they should write about.

2. Is this theme or topic too broad or too narrow? The topic of family dynamics is a too broad of a topic because a lot of students will just get lost in the idea. On the other hand, sibling rivalry between adolescent sisters in second generation Mexican-American households in west Chula Vista might be too narrow.

3. If it is a broad topic, is there a way to break it into smaller components so students are better able to focus on a specific issue? Most themes can be broken down to help students. We can look at family dynamics from a number of perspectives and students can even narrow their topic to address a group they personally belong to. An example of this might be: Describe three ways that sibling rivalry between adolescents manifests itself in Mexican-American households. Even that might be too narrow, but a prompt such as this acts as a guide and allows students to do first-hand research, including interviews, to complete the project. Another example might be: Discuss five (positive/ negative) affects of growing up in a two parent household. This might be a great topic for students who grew up in a traditional, nuclear family or for someone in a serious relationship considering getting married. Either way, students learn something about the world and about themselves.

4. What do you really want your students to learn from this process? If you don't teach composition then you might want them to learn content, so make sure they learn something about the content. If you want them to learn how to research, then be sure to focus on how to do good research. If you want them to learn how to do analysis, be sure to teach it to them. You should also have a focus in regard to what you expect from students so you know what to teach.

5. What format do you want students to use? Most likely you will want the format that is most popular within your discipline. It doesn't take much to teach the basics of how and where to place headings, page numbers, titles, number of pages, and any other details in regard to formatting. If you don't teach them, then you might get no formatting at all.

Once you can answer these questions try crafting a couple prompts and even put together a quick outline of how you would organize your ideas for the prompt. Look at the prompt critically to see how it can be improved and make the adjustments. After going through the process yourself, you will be better equipped to teach the process to your students. You will probably even use some different questions than the ones mentioned above, and that's good because then you are thinking about writing.

Take some time and look at the themes in your classes and consider how they can be broken down. You can even write out specific prompts for students who cannot create their own, so when they say, "I can't come up with anything," then you can say, "No problem, I already have a prompt for you." Honestly, it does create a little more work in the beginning, but we are in the business of teaching students to think for themselves so let's transfer some of the thinking responsibility to them.

As you are considering that big research paper, the next essay, or that mid-term exam question consider trying this. You just might get some surprising results.

Have a good rest of the week.