Have you ever wondered if you are adequately preparing your child to write successfully for college English classes? I know that I worried a lot about that. The first college class my oldest child enrolled in was Composition I at the local community college. He was a senior in high school at the time, participating in the dual enrollment program. As it turned out, college composition classes hadn’t changed that much from what I remembered teaching years ago when I was a college writing instructor. The writing assignments were similar, and students still struggled with the same issues. In the list below, I’ve identified five common problems that appear frequently in student essays, along with ways that you can get in front of these problems and help your high schoolers prepare for college composition.
Students rely too much on the five-paragraph essay
The problem: Formulaic essays such as five-paragraph essays often stifle creativity and limit critical thinking. At the college level, instructors expect students to investigate a topic beyond a superficial level. Students should be asking “why” questions and then attempting to answer them.
The fix: Encourage students to explore their ideas creatively without being constrained by the form of the essay. Of course, they need to practice making and supporting logical arguments, but there are many ways to accomplish this outside a five-paragraph essay.
Students don’t read the assigned texts carefully
The problem: Many writing assignments require textual analysis, an exercise that is almost impossible without close reading of the text.
The fix: Train students to overcome their laziness, lack of interest, or poor time management so they can focus on the details of their reading. Taking notes, asking questions, and tracing themes are all ways to stay engaged with the text.
Students use unreliable sources and incorrect documentation
The problem: Students rarely have much experience writing research papers using multiple sources, so they have trouble choosing credible evidence. They also depend too much on online materials and fail to consider print sources. In addition, they are confused by what they need to document and how to write citations.
The fix: Help students learn to use the library, so they can take advantage of the many books, journals, and reference materials that usually serve as quality supporting documents. It is also a good idea to have students write at least one research paper in high school, so they can practice evaluating the credibility of online sources as well as following a documentation process. The Purdue Online Writing Lab is an easy-to-use resource for learning exactly how to write citations.
Students forget to consider the audience for their writing
The problem: Students either fail to remember that their writing has an audience, or they write to the wrong audience. For example, they might make the mistake of a writing science report in the same casual style that they would use for an email message. This is a particular problem for homeschoolers who are used to writing only for Mom.
The fix: Train students to be mindful of audience every time they write. For example, have them practice writing about the same topic for different audiences, such as describing a vacation at Niagara Falls to someone who has never been there, and then describing it to someone who used to live there. Lead them to discover how the writing choices (such as which details to include or exclude) change depending on audience.
Students skip over essential parts of the writing process
The problem: The writing process has five steps—prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publication—but students usually focus only on drafting part while ignoring the others.
The fix: Emphasize the importance of the other steps—not just writing the draft. Require students to show you their prewriting work which should include brainstorming ideas, developing a thesis, and arranging details to support a thesis. If proper attention is paid to prewriting, the draft should be easy to write. Have students write their drafts in one sitting without any revising or editing and then set the papers aside for at least a day. At that point, they should read them again, looking for areas to improve. Some students mistakenly believe that revising a paper means sticking in a comma or two and maybe changing a verb tense. However, that is editing, not revision. Revision involves rearranging sentences, adding and deleting content, and making different word choices. Students’ revised papers should look substantially different from their drafts. Once the revision is complete, then students can look for places where they need to insert commas or make other edits.
Following these tips will help students improve their writing skills and be better prepared for college-level classes.
For more ways to help students practice writing, see the Writing Plans.
