If I had a nickel for every time I heard the term “5 paragraph essay,” I’d be rich. First, to be clear, there is a 5 paragraph essay, but there is also a 4 paragraph, 17 paragraph, and a 22 paragraph essay. The number of paragraphs isn’t as important as whether the writing is organized appropriately for the task.
The Common Core requires us to move away from counting paragraphs and instead, teach students to focus on the task, the intended audience, and the purpose of writing. Sometimes it is appropriate to address a prompt using 5 paragraphs, but there is no rule that essays are bound to a scripted format or paragraph count.
Teaching writing is like cooking. It is valuable to start with a recipe, or writing instruction, that outlines predictable formulas, but then provide scaffolding to move students away from those templates. Great writers don’t follow formulas, just as great chefs don’t follow recipes. They keep the recipe in the back of their mind, but then they use their own style to make magic. Wherever you start with students, be sure to provide scaffolding so they know that a 5 paragraph essay is just a starting point and not a rule.
I learned this lesson the hard way as a teacher. During a particular assignment, I asked my middle school students to create an essay with more than 5 paragraphs. One student - a well performing one - fell apart. She was so used to the recipe for writing an essay that she didn't know where to begin when having to think outside those 5 boxes. When she passed in her work, there were only three letters on her essay: "IDK." That is text speak for "I don't know." Oh no...
This was the point when I realized I had failed my students. I had provided them with scaffolding, but I hadn't encouraged them to go beyond formulas and think critically and flexibly, so they had become dependent on recipes. They were in need of some expert learning.
Universal Design for Learning encourages flexible thinking by providing students with options and scaffolds and allowing them to self-differentiate and problem solve to come up with a solution. So, next time you are assigning an essay, think about how you can proactively remove barriers for your students - whether they are academic barriers, behavior barriers, or social emotional barriers. Are there options you can embed to help students challenge themselves when they are ready? Are there ways you can provide exemplars to show how students can be more flexible with their writing.
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