The Pre-Test

The students were given this prompt for an in-class writing assignment at the start of the writing month in order for me to gauge where they stood with their writing.

I was pleased with many of the students' essays. Below are examples from two students.  Click on the pictures to see a larger image.

Essay I

Essay II

As a teacher reading these essays made me excited for the writing month to come.  The students responded to the prompt fully and wrote well, which was a positive start.  The pre-test asked students to  write an outline and then their essay.  This helped to keep the thoughts of the students organized.  I am certain my students' writing was the most clear and concise with this writing assignment due to the outline.

Some students wrote very detailed outlines as the second example displays, while other students write more basic outlines.  I would have liked to see more outlines like the latter outline, but I am also aware that many of the students do not have too much practice with outlines.  A basic outline is a great start to the outline-writing process.