5 Steps to Essay Teaching Success


So, the new term is here. You’ve met your classes, prepped your room and (just about!) got used to those early alarms again, and now it’s time to get down to the serious business of lesson planning.

One of my absolute favorite topics to teach in the first term is essay writing. The 5-paragraph essay is an essential skill in English; teach it right at the beginning of the term and you set your students up to do well for the rest of the year. As an English teacher, it’s not often I use math, but a better essay technique = better grades + fewer corrections to mark each time. A win-win for every teacher out there who doesn’t still want to be correcting students’ uses of topic sentences and paragraphs come next June!

Teaching essay writing doesn’t need to be boring or time-consuming. You don’t need to spend hours preparing resources or scouring the internet for good example essays. And you definitely don’t need to take home stacks of marking at the end of the week!

The Essay Writing Scavenger Hunt pack has been designed to keep things as easy as possible. These are real, tried-and-tested resources used for essay writing every day in my classroom. Resources that I know work. Use them alongside the 5 steps and watch essay writing become a topic you love to teach too!

STEP 1: Teach the features

If you want students to structure their essays correctly, then first you must teach them what a good essay looks like. I like to start by giving students a list of the different features typically included in an essay:


The first step is for students to work out what these features actually mean! There are loads of different ways to do this. Got a really energetic class who loves to be active? Hand out a blank answer sheet and hide the printed definitions around the room. Then, ask students to find and match the definitions to the techniques on their sheet. You can make this more competitive by putting a countdown timer on the board; students enjoy the challenge of trying to finish first and in the time limit!

Do you have access to technology? This activity works really well as an independent research task- great for those lessons when you need a bit of quiet time (Friday afternoon lesson anyone?) Simply hand out the worksheet and ask students to research the different techniques. Save yourself even more time and get students to self-mark and extend their answers once finished using the official answer sheet.

For lower ability classes, hand out the glue sticks and get students to match the techniques to the correct definitions.  This is a great activity for reluctant writers too!

STEP 2: Crack out the colors!

Once students know what the features are, the next step is to see them in use.  

Is there any age group that doesn’t appreciate a bit of coloring-in time? Students follow the instructions on the worksheet to identify and color the different techniques in the example essays. No need to spend hours searching for the perfect model essays or writing out your own! This works great as an individual, paired or group activity, or can even be set as homework to reinforce the learning in class.

No colors in your classroom? No problem! Students can identify and write out examples of the different features instead.

STEP 3: Encourage students to argue (no, really!)

This part is my favorite! Now students know how to structure an essay, they need to choose an essay topic. Whether I’m teaching persuasive or argumentative essay writing, I always start with a discussion-based activity to get my students thinking. A good way to do this is to display on the board a number of controversial statements and ask students to argue their opinion in small groups.  

Pick your topics right and students get really into this! Some of the most successful discussions in the past have focused on the need for homework; whether football players are overpaid; whether the school curriculum should be remodeled; and whether it should be compulsory for everyone to give 10% of their earnings to charity. Hot topics of debate for sure!


With your students all riled up and passionate about changing the world, this is the time for them to choose and plan their own essay topics. I always like to give my classes a free rein on what they argue. Firstly, this means they are more passionate about a topic and work harder on constructing their argument and researching supporting evidence. Secondly, it helps me to get to know better my students and what really matters to them.

The rule in my classroom for planning is simple. Students can plan their ideas however they want to, but no writing takes place until they can explain clearly to somebody else in the room their three different supporting arguments, and what they will include in their introduction and conclusion to grab and hold the reader’s attention. If they can’t do that, they’re not ready to write!

Step 4: Writing the right way

In my classroom, we take writing seriously. Dim the lights, put on relaxing music, get out headphones, insist on silence…. do whatever you need to do to create a calm working environment.

The key to good essay writing is structure. What you don’t want at this point is for your students to get so passionate about getting their argument down on paper that they forget to include the features they’ve been taught!


A good way to avoid this is to make sure students have their plans with them as they write and a checklist of features that you want them to include.  Ticking off ideas and essay features as they include them in their writing means they should end up with a perfectly structured five-paragraph essay. You can grab a FREE copy of this Essay Editing Checklist, HERE!

If not, there’s always step number 5….

Step 5: Check and change

Final stop… editing. Rather than allowing students to hand in their essays as soon as they’ve finished, insist that they first check and improve their work. As teachers, we spend enough time marking; what’s the point in giving feedback on work that isn’t even the students’ best work?

Of course, this is easier said than done: we’ve all got students in our classroom who will give their work a cursory flick over and announce it’s perfect exactly as it is!

Peer-assessment using a checklist makes the process a whole lot easier. Using the same colors as before, students can color code the features used in their partners’ essays, making it easier to see if anything has been missed.This checklist is included in the Essay Writing Scavenger Hunt activity!


Once they’ve checked the accuracy of their writing and included any missing features, students are ready to hand in their work.

And voila! As promised, in 5 easy steps, you’ve got yourself a class set of beautifully structured, checked and improved five-paragraph essays ready for marking. No hours of preparation or resource-hunting required.

Whether you’re teaching essay writing for the first time to your students, or refreshing what they’ve learned in previous years, I hope these tips help to make the process both fun and hassle-free. Let me know in the comments any other tips you’d like to share!

35 comments

  1. Essay Writers for Students
    technical means: earpieces, phones, etc. Maybe at some stage these tools were good, and brought the expected result. But at the moment, to pass the exam, they are useless. In many universities, stubs are placed during exams, and You simply can't use them. take a chocolate bar with you for the exam. Before you go into the office, eat a little. Chocolate stimulates the brain, forcing you to concentrate on your tasks.

    Visit for more info: dg5wrt--imalexw.repl.co

    ReplyDelete
  2. Learning to write an essay should not be boring or time-consuming. But all the same, practice and certain knowledge are needed. Services like Theinvest.info help but only if you want to learn. And so they just help to finish school or college.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Today due to competition there is a high expectation from students. With the burden of academic subjects, students often become careless about essay writing. essay writing service

    ReplyDelete
  4. Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your site. You have some really great posts and I feel I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me an email if interested. Thank you! uspeha

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have to search sites with relevant information on given topic and provide them to teacher our opinion and the article. bed time bronzie

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wanted to leave a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuation. Wishing you the best of luck for all your blogging efforts. Neoprene Sauna Waist Trainer Body Shaper

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a really awesome post this is. Truly, one of the best posts I've ever witnessed to see in my whole life. Wow, just keep it up. Automatic Smart Robot Vacuum Cleaner

    ReplyDelete
  8. Excellent effort to make this blog more wonderful and attractive. PET TOOTH CLEANER TOY

    ReplyDelete
  9. Going to graduate school was a positive decision for me. I enjoyed the coursework, the presentations, the fellow students, and the professors. And since my company reimbursed 100% of the tuition, the only cost that I had to pay on my own was for books and supplies. Otherwise, I received a free master’s degree. All that I had to invest was my time. online clothing stores for women

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have to search sites with relevant information on given topic and provide them to teacher our opinion and the article. Omega 3 fish oil supplements

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is my first time visit to your blog and I am very interested in the articles that you serve. Provide enough knowledge for me. Thank you for sharing useful and don't forget, keep sharing useful info: essay typer real?

    ReplyDelete
  12. CBSE 2011 board exam is an important examination at the school level. A huge number of students across the country take the CBSE examination every year. Assam HS Model Paper 2021

    ReplyDelete
  13. If it is argumentative, you must collect enough data to make it genuine. To improve on these points you must read many editorial sections from magazines or newspapers. dissertation writing services

    ReplyDelete
  14. There are two mindsets: right-mindedness and wrong-mindedness. When we are in our right minds, we think with the Holy Spirit and bring wisdom, love and forgiveness. acim

    ReplyDelete
  15. Today's content is being outsourced, but employing the best article writing service can make all the difference. With the rise of commercial blogs and content providing websites, these online services are quickly becoming some of the most profitable business ventures nowadays. best essay writing service reddit

    ReplyDelete
  16. The entire body of your essay retains the largest chunk of information. Start each and every paragraph with a matter sentence that highlights the crux of it. Upcoming, current your arguments or supporting strategies suitable to the matter and justify them with the i need someone to write my paper assist of illustrations.

    ReplyDelete
  17. CPS pay slip online using the online web portal, So if you are a retired employee of Tamilnadu State Government under Contributory Pension Scheme, then just take a print out of annual pay slips in online at any time with new process. cps online We all know that there exist different Pension schemes all across India and in Tamilnadu, the government released the CPS scheme in 2003, and CPS stands for Contributory Pension Scheme is a State Government-owned pension scheme and is very similar in method to any other scheme of such sort and all the money that is saved during the period can be retrieved at the end of retirement or during some special circumstance.

    ReplyDelete
  18. When you obtain involved with a Quaker parrot, Birds for sale online

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hello I am so delighted I located your blog, I really located you by mistake, while I was watching on google for something else, Anyways I am here now and could just like to say thank for a tremendous post and a all round entertaining website. Please do keep up the great work. how to come up with a title for an essay

    ReplyDelete
  20. A very awesome blog post. We are really grateful for your blog post. You will find a lot of approaches after visiting your post. Homework market reviews

    ReplyDelete
  21. The best essay writing service yahoo answers You made such an interesting piece to read, giving every subject enlightenment for us to gain knowledge. Thanks for sharing the such information with us to read this...

    ReplyDelete
  22. When you obtain involved with a Quaker parrot, parrotlets

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ambra Research provide high quality and customized research support, while offering lower fixed costs. Innovation in technology solutions enables to easily outsource to other geographies.outsource equity research

    ReplyDelete
  24. Used to do like analyzing articles and reviews released on this web site. They are really spectacular and allows a whole lot of invaluable tips. satta result

    ReplyDelete
  25. Essay writing has become more useful in academics to score good grade. In Essay all contents must be added according to the topic; also it should be genuine with best quality. Essay must be useful for future-reference. So it should not be contain any spam work. Essay writing is difficult for most of the students to essay writing service, this task made the students more worried about their academic life. They need a helping hand to write an essay to make the essay.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Really I enjoy your site with effective and useful information. It is included very nice post with a lot of our resources.thanks for share. i enjoy this post. 英国论文代写

    ReplyDelete
  27. Essay writing remind my childhood hard experience. I was getting troubled in essay writing, the most part is beginning part of the essay i.e. how to start. The above 5 essay writing tips will helps a lot to the students. Thanks admin for this post. Regards - satta matka

    ReplyDelete
  28. I found your this post while searching for information about blog-related research ... It's a good post .. keep posting and updating information. Digital Global Times

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow, What a Excellent post. I really found this to much informatics. It is what i was searching for.I would like to suggest you that please keep sharing such type of info.Thanks Business Planers

    ReplyDelete
  30. https://kingpure.in/news-events/ your website is very nice.

    ReplyDelete

  31. Thank you for taking the time to publish this information very useful! Web Development company in delhi

    ReplyDelete
  32. Learning to write an essay doesn't have to be boring or time-consuming. But all the same, it takes practice and some knowledge. Services like www.google.com/! help but only if you want to learn. And thus they only help to finish school or college.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Students can plan their ideas however they want to, but no writing takes place until they can explain clearly to somebody. Thanks for sharing this article. Now it's time to avail limo service west palm beach for more information.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Being a teacher this article is very helpful for me. Thanks for sharing the valuable information with us. I will share this article with my friends. Now it's time to avail airport transfers manchester for more information.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Your post is really great! the video, the images and the description within really catches my attention.
    IB Extended Essay Writing

    ReplyDelete