How to Use TEACH to Write Text-Based Essays (ECR)
Essay Writing. It’s the bane of many student’s - and teacher’s - existence.
Some students enjoy writing essays (I did!), but to the majority of students, writing an essay is overwhelming.
Over the years, students learn to write different types of essays: reflective, persuasive, narrative, cause and effect, and many others. However, text-based essays, or extended constructed response (ECR), tend to be the most difficult for students.
Writing an extended response requires students to use higher order thinking skills, including analysis and synthesis. To write a strong essay, students need to first comprehend the reading passage, then they need to apply what they read to an overarching question, which usually either asks them to state an opinion and support it with evidence or to synthesize information in the text into well-written points.
Not to mention students need to do all these things in a short timeframe.
Although text-based essay writing can be difficult for students, it doesn’t have to be. It is important to teach students an easy-to-remember framework for planning and writing their essays, so that they have a method to fall back on when their nerves kick in during testing.
I know many districts use RACE, but I prefer TEACH. The steps in TEACH follow the same steps students would use to create an outline, which helped many of my students to become better writers.
Before we do any writing, we focus on reading the texts. If students cannot read and comprehend the texts, they will never produce a strong essay. After we have read and made notes on the texts, then I begin introducing TEACH one step at a time.
Students write their information in an outline format - not in paragraphs. Start by modeling the outlining process with the class, with them copying your outline. (Involve students by asking them what you should add to the outline, but you demonstrate the process.)
By the end of this post, you will learn the steps of the TEACH analogy and how to explain them to your students.
TEACH Method
T - The Topic Sentence
The T in TEACH is the topic sentence.
You and I have both read essays that answer a question that was NOT asked in the prompt – or only answered part of the prompt. Students should start by reading the prompt more than once. Make your students highlight or underline it.
Once your students have identified the prompt, have them determine the key-words and circle them. Make sure students selected the key-words of the prompt, then have them write the key-words at the top of their planning space.
Taking the time to do this helps students focus on what they need to discuss in their essays.
In this step, students should write their topic sentence. They should review their notes from the text(s) to determine their thesis, then write their statement.
E - Evidence
The E in TEACH is evidence. Having students pull evidence from the reading makes planning and writing an essay easier.
TIP: Students do not believe planning and outlining saves time - they think it is extra work. You have to prove to them that it makes the rest of the work easier. I used to model creating an outline with the students, then I would show them how fast I could write the essay right from the outline. If you can convince your students of the importance of using outlines, they will be better prepared for all of the writing they do in the future.
As I teach my students to read the texts, I show them how to summarize the big ideas in each paragraph. The easiest way to do this is with sticky notes. Have students write the main idea in each paragraph on a sticky note and place it next to the paragraph. Key details can be bulleted beneath the main idea.
Having the evidence on notes makes writing a text-based essay far less stressful for students. They can quickly skim the notes to find the main points, which is especially helpful for weaker readers.
During E, students should do the following:
Determine which main ideas connect to the topic or the prompt.
Underline, highlight, or star any facts that are repeated in the texts.
Strikeout facts that don’t support the topic. (They don’t want to scratch it out so they can’t read it. However, putting a simple line through notes they don’t intend to use in their essay is visually helpful.)
Plan how their essay will be organized by making an outline with the topic and evidence, leaving space for analysis after each piece of evidence. (Each piece of evidence is usually the topic of a new paragraph.)
A - Analysis
The A in TEACH is for analysis. The analysis is usually the trickiest part for students, as students have to figure out how the evidence supports the topic or claim. It isn’t something they can locate in the text - they actually have to think about their thesis and how each piece of evidence supports their claim.
Another way to think of the analysis is it’s where students have to convince the reader their thesis/opinion is correct.
TIP: Their opinion must be based on their research (the texts), not personal experience. Many beginning text-based essay writers use analysis that comes from outside the texts. For example, if they are asked which animal makes the best pet, they will give reasons to support their choice that are not found in the text - it is their personal opinion.
While working on their analysis, students should focus on the following:
Elaborating each piece of evidence by stating how it supports the topic or claim.
C - Conclusion
The C in TEACH is for the conclusion. I never spent a lot of time on the conclusion, especially not in the beginning, because the evidence and analysis is much harder to master.
Since the conclusion is often a summary of your topic statement and opening paragraph, I recommend teaching them to write a simple conclusion unless they have mastered the other steps.
In the meantime, have your students do the following:
Write the word “conclusion” on the outline to remember they need to write one later
Restate their topic or claim
Now students should write their essays using the outline they’ve created.
H - High Five (Editing)
The H in TEACH is for “High Five,” which is just my way of saying it is time to edit! You have five fingers, and there are five edits.
Here in Florida, spelling and grammar errors don’t count for much on our state exam. These errors aren’t less important in life, but they are on the standardized test. Therefore, I focus on having students write a well-organized and supported essay, using whatever time is leftover for editing.
During the time you set aside for H, students should edit the following things:
Capital letters.
Punctuation.
Verbs.
Spelling.
Neatness.
I have found this system to be very successful for my students. It is a method that can be used in higher grades and levels because once students understand what it means, they can take it with them anywhere. Teachers can always adjust what the five things to check are as students improve their writing skills.
How Long Does This Take?
I know what you’re thinking, “Gosh, that looks like it will take time.”
It will. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, either.
Practicing each step is important. Emphasize that preparation is the key to success. The better organized students’ notes and outline are, the less time they will need to write the actual essay.
Once your students understand this method, they will be able to get themselves organized independently and produce solid essays.
When you are ready to practice writing essays in a specific time limit, here is how I recommend chunking a 90-minute writing session.
35 minutes for reading & research
5 minutes for the topic (T)
25 minutes for planning (E, A, C)
15 minutes for writing
5 minutes for editing
Paired Passages Writing Center - TEACH Method
Paired Passages Writing Center: Citing Text Evidence in Essays - TEACH Method
To support my students, I created a Text-Based Essay Writing Center. Our writing test can include multiple passages for a prompt, so I created two introductory text sets, one opinion and one informative, with topic that are student-friendly. The texts are included on three reading levels (approximately 4th, 5th, and 6th grades.)
Using topics that most students have some background knowledge for makes it easier for them to focus on learning the writing skill instead or struggling with the content.
The Writing Center also includes notes, student references, and bulletin board pieces. It also includes reading comprehension quizzes, rubrics, and more!