Writing, teaching writing and reading

Do we need writing or even writers? Me, I think scribblers are going down the tubes. Students have always written atrociously--check years of bad writing scores on the NAEP.

If you must write, try the 5-paragraph all-American essay--the favorite of many high school English teachers. I liken it to a cheeseburger:

#1. Introduce what you are going to say. Example: The Boston Red Sox will never win a world series and list 3 sentences telling why: curse of the Babe, cheap management, inept players. (Akin to top bun of cheeseburger)

#2 Curse of the Babe paragraph—3-4 sentences what this means and so on. (The tomato part)

#3 Cheap management--spell this out in 3-4 sentences--the cheese part)

#4 Inept players--the ball-droppers, steroid-batters, sore-arm pitchers. 3-4 well honed sentences--the meat of the burger.

#5 Rehash, conclusion, summary and review- 5 sentences. "So, as you can see the Red Sox are a bunch of losers because of ....” The bottom bun of the burger.

There you have it! A winning essay, one that can be used in college and on the job. Keep the Red Sox as a topic or move on to the Chicago Cubs.