English Department Guidelines for
Adult Assistance in the Writing Process
The English department writing objectives, of all the skills in the English courses of study, have typically posed the
greatest challenge to Madison students. The department seeks to produce writers who tackle essay tasks with the
confidence that stems from mastering the thinking tactics of prewriting (brainstorming, forming a central idea and
supporting points, deciding upon order of ideas), composing (completing a rough draft according to the directions given for
the task) and polishing through revising (rewriting content where necessary) and editing (correcting grammatical and
mechanical problems). In developing classroom procedures, the English Department has garnered the latest research on
writing. For information from one key source, please refer on line to The Report of The National Commission on
Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges: The Neglected “R” and the Need for A Writing Revolution - April
2003. A copy of the report is also available in the high school library.
We are proud that Madison is known, in higher academic circles and in the world of work as well, for graduating
students who possess strong writing skills. Thus we are pleased that parents seek to help their children master the critical
writing stages noted above. Parents who are concerned about their children’s writing progress and who seek to play an
active role in it, are a great asset to all M.H.S. teachers
However, not all adult input results in writing growth on the part of the student. Some adult help can result in the
student becoming totally reliant upon assistance or in writing which is not original enough to be called the student’s. The
guidelines below identify the appropriate ways in which parents or tutors can have truly effective input in helping children
improve their writing and thus face writing tasks with confidence. The point to keep in mind is that too much adult input
(whether parent or tutor) of an inappropriate nature can harm this student growth, not aid it. It is very appropriate and
helpful that parents or tutors read essays and react, but they must insist that the students themselves play the active role
in the prethinking, composing, revision, and editing processes. This active role will result in the student “weaning”
him/herself from reliance upon adult help and internalizing the strategies that produce effective writing.
It will not help students to grow as writers if adults have too great an input into any of the stages noted above; the
key is in effective supervision of what the child is writing, not in an adult’s writing or revising/editing the essay for the child.
According The National Commission on Writing, “If students are to make knowledge their own, they must struggle with the
details, wrestle with the facts, and rework raw information and dimly understood concepts into langugage they can
communicate to somone else. In short, if students are to learn, they must write” (9). Much writing in English is done in
class, including the Summer Reading essay in September and the final exam in June. Thus teachers have a “baseline”
that they go by when evaluating out-of-class writing which seems too mature for the student to have completed alone. If
there is too great a gap between the two types of writing turned in by the student, as far as sentence structure, level of
vocabulary, organization of paragraphs and maturity of ideas, then a problem arises as to the nature of adult input into
that particular piece of writing, and ultimately, whether the piece is going to be graded as original.
Below are some approaches devised by the English department and grouped by writing stages, that are effective
adult approaches to aiding student growth in writing. These approaches have been phrased as comments that an adult
would pose to the writer. They are followed by various statements in italics that reflect adult assistance of an
inappropriate nature, assistance that will not help the student to internalize writing skills and become an independent
thinker.
Prewriting Stage:
When is this essay due? When did you get the assignment? Where is it noted in your homework pad?
What is your essay supposed to be about? What is the assignment? Do you have notes or a handout from the
teacher? Let me see them.
P. 2. Adult Assistance in the Writing Process
[I think you should write about...let me write down an idea you could use...that idea’s not good; use this
one... you tell me your idea and I will put the words on this paper/screen.]
What is the central idea or main point of your whole essay--tell me in your own words? OK, write that down.
Read it back to me aloud--does it make sense? Does it match the teacher’s directions? I’m still not clear what your
overall point is. Tell me/rewrite it again. [I can’t understand your idea. Say it this way, it’s clearer. Let me write it for you.
Is this what you mean? ]
What’s one point you could use to support/prove that idea? Write that down, it would make a good Roman
numeral. What’s another idea? Write that down. Where in the book could you find a quote to back up that supporting
point? Let’s write some more points down. OK. Which points are the 2-3 best? (depending on extent of the writing
assignment). What else did that character--or another character--do that relates to this idea? Where in the book is that?
[You tell me the ideas and I’ll type/write them as you dictate. Here’s a good supporting idea--why don’t you use it? Here’s
what I’d say. Here’s another point you could use.]
OK, you have good ideas here. Is this the best order to deal with them in the paper? Number them in the order
you want to discuss them. Are there teacher directions about the sequence of ideas? Is this idea weaker than the
others? Shall you discard it...replace it...rewrite it? [Put your ideas in this order. Cut this one out--I’ve just thought of a
better one.]
Composing stage
Make this Roman numeral idea into your first topic sentence and put the other related ideas in the same
paragraph. Do the same for the other Roman numerals. Show me those paragraphs when you are done and take a
break. [Here’s a good topic sentence for that point. Now you should say this..and this..and this. Let me type it, I’m faster.]
As you write, check every topic sentence against your main idea. Are you sticking to the subject? Keep in mind
how many quotes you are supposed to be including. [You’re off-subject now. Change that sentence to say....and cut out
this point.]
Revision of Content
Ok, I’ve read your rough draft.
Now read your body paragraphs aloud to me.
OR
Listen as I read your body paragraphs. When I’m done,
you tell me which one of your paragraphs is off the main idea of the essay. It’s way out on a tangent or it’s just reciting
plot. What can you do about that? [I’ll delete this paragraph.]
How many quotes from the literature were you supposed to have? How long are they supposed to be? Does this
quote relate to your major idea? Why did you pick this quote? Are there any other quotes that would be better, that you
recall the teacher talking about in class or that you took notes on?
I’ve checked in the margin three sets of sentences of this page that aren’t related; can you relate them better?
should you delete them? Two quotes are good; a third is really not that related to the idea in your paragraph. Can you
find the weak quote and get a better one? [Let me use the keyboard/pen. You should say this, not this. Here’s a better
way to join those two ideas. This quote is a problem--let me see if I can find a better one on that page.]
In the margin, I’ve put a check next to some paragraphs that contain sentences that are illogical or goofy. Read
each paragraph aloud to me, find the weak sentences, and reword those. Can you spot the sentence(s) that is/are a
problem? OR Let me read this paragraph aloud back to you. Listen for weird sentences; you have several. [Let me
read your essay to find the problems. This sentence should be reworded like this. Take this out. Here’s a better way to
say that.]
P. 3. Adult Assistance in the Writing Process
Underline your clincher sentences that wrap up your major sections. Are you sure this is a clincher?
Perhaps you’re missing one and need to write it at the end of the paragraph. [Here’s what your clincher should say....]
Circle all the transitions you have used. Is that enough? Do you see that you are jumping from one
sentence/idea to the next with no linking words? Where is your grammar book--what page are transitions on? [You need
a transition here, here, here--say this, this, this.]
I’ve put a check next to any line that contains weak vocabulary, like good, bad, nice, wonderful. Reread those
lines and find the weak word in that line and replace it with a more mature word; use the dictionary/thesaurus. [These
words need to be replaced by THESE words.]
Are you sure that your intro and conclusion have followed the directions of the teacher? Doublecheck. [This
intro/conclusion needs to say this.... That’s not the way to write a conclusion. Do it this way.]
Now go back and make a clean copy of this draft that you’ve corrected and show it to me.
Revision of Mechanics
Run this through a spellcheck. Careful of homonyms; the machine doesn’t know the difference basically. OR
Here’s the dictionary; read your essay aloud again, look up words that don’t look right.
Circle every comma; do you need it? Should it be a semicolon? Are there commas, periods, question marks,
missing?
I found three fragments; find them and join them to other sentences or make them into complete sentences.
This is about literature; you should stay in present tense, not jump back and forth; I found several examples of
tense shift that you need to correct.
[You have a lot of misspelled words and some grammar problems. I corrected them.]
As you can see from the above scenarios, the effective approach for adults to use when helping students
with writing is the one that focuses the student on applying previous learning and on doing the thinking steps
him/herself. Solutions to revising and editing writing weaknesses must come from the student, not from the
parent or tutor seeking to offer assistance. The more students actively devise their solutions to their writing
weaknesses, the faster the internalization of effective writing techniques and the growth of confidence in the
capacity to write.
“Writing is both a ‘marker’ of high-skill, high-wage, professional work
and a ‘gatekeeper’ with clear equity implications.”
Bob Kerrey, president of New School University in New York and chair of the
National Commission