Formal Essay Modelsâ€Podcast Episode 185

   Now that we are approaching the end of the school year, many students are in the midst of Unit 8, Formal Essay Models. In Podcast Episode 185, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker take some time to highlight these formal essay models and offer some tips and tricks to help the writing teacher present this model to her class. Unit 8 is where the two sides of IEW’s writing models—the fiction and non-fiction sides—integrate. Initially taught as a five-paragraph model, the basic essay can be modified to allow for different extensions out of that, but by teaching the five-paragraph model first, students are able to learn and practice their skills before venturing into more sophisticated structures. During the podcast, Andrew and Julie not only discuss the genesis of the formal essay models; they also touch on potential topics that might be good to teach to various age levels, describe the best approach to writing the essay paragraphs, and distinguish the differences between a report and an essay. Finally, plotting a course from middle school to high school and beyond, Andrew articulates the end goal for essay writing. This is a great podcast to listen if you are about to begin Unit 8 or are already in the middle of teaching it, so please check it out. As a bonus you may even gain some clever ideas for next year’s April Fool’s Day too!