In an ideal world, we would have all the time and energy and motivation to write all the practice essays we need to. But sadly, this world doesn’t exist.
So what’s the next best thing?
Write essay planning blueprints!
For many students, the writing part of essay writing is the hardest and most time and energy consuming. But essay writing is much more than just putting pen to paper! You have to make sure you know what the prompt is asking, come up with ideas, link them to each other, break them down, find quotes, the list goes on…
So what we recommend is that students write detailed plans instead. Specifically, our 5 step essay plan:
- Highlight key words
- Rephrase prompt into an actual question
- Brainstorm (key words into big ideas, broken down into smaller ideas, then assign evidence)
- Write contention (1 sentence answer to Step 2)
- Plan body paragraphs and write topic sentences
By the end of these 5 steps, you should have a detailed understanding of what you’re going to write about for the whole essay! And then, of course, if you have time, you should go and write that essay, or at least parts of it.
And hopefully, in your SAC or exam, one of those prompts will be very similar to one of practice plans!
Enjoyed this post?
Subscribe to our social media channels so you don’t miss out on any of our latest content!
And here are our vocabulary packs, filled with essential vocabulary for all levels of high school English!
If you’re looking for ways to help your teen in VCE English/EAL, make sure you join our newsletter! We release 2-3 newsletter each term, packed with advice and strategies to help you support your teen in their English studies.
English Tuition that cares 