how long is an essay in elementary school

How to write a perfect essay

Need to write an essay? Does the assignment feel as big as climbing Mount Everest? Fear not. You’re up to the challenge! The following step-by step tips from the Nat Geo Kids Almanac will help you with this monumental task. 

Sometimes the subject matter of your essay is assigned to you, sometimes it’s not. Either way, you have to decide what you want to say. Start by brainstorming some ideas, writing down any thoughts you have about the subject. Then read over everything you’ve come up with and consider which idea you think is the strongest. Ask yourself what you want to write about the most. Keep in mind the goal of your essay. Can you achieve the goal of the assignment with this topic? If so, you’re good to go.

WRITE A TOPIC SENTENCE

This is the main idea of your essay, a statement of your thoughts on the subject. Again, consider the goal of your essay. Think of the topic sentence as an introduction that tells your reader what the rest of your essay will be about.

OUTLINE YOUR IDEAS

Once you have a good topic sentence, you then need to support that main idea with more detailed information, facts, thoughts, and examples. These supporting points answer one question about your topic sentence—“Why?” This is where research and perhaps more brainstorming come in. Then organize these points in the way you think makes the most sense, probably in order of importance. Now you have an outline for your essay.

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, WRITE!

Follow your outline, using each of your supporting points as the topic sentence of its own paragraph. Use descriptive words to get your ideas across to the reader. Go into detail, using specific information to tell your story or make your point. Stay on track, making sure that everything you include is somehow related to the main idea of your essay. Use transitions to make your writing flow.

Finish your essay with a conclusion that summarizes your entire essay and 5 restates your main idea.

PROOFREAD AND REVISE

Check for errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Look for ways to make your writing clear, understandable, and interesting. Use descriptive verbs, adjectives, or adverbs when possible. It also helps to have someone else read your work to point out things you might have missed. Then make the necessary corrections and changes in a second draft. Repeat this revision process once more to make your final draft as good as you can.

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Few skills are as critical to educational success as essay writing for elementary students, and kids can get a leg up on their craft by exercising their skills in a variety of ways. Learning the basics through simple practices ensures that children understand what makes an essay effective and successful, and prepares them for further development in high school, college and beyond.

Below are five ways that will foster growth and aptitude in essay writing for elementary school students.

The allure of choice

A great way to encourage enthusiastic essay writing is by allowing kids their individual choice of a book assignment for a literary-style piece, or letting them choose an inspiring idea, either from a list or from their imaginations, for a narrative assignment. Following format and structure is still important, but the freedom students have in covering a topic of their choice may result in excellent work.

A question and answer period

Critical thinking is essential for long-term success in any field, especially writing. Teachers can help students develop this skill by hosting a question-and-answer period after students have read a book or written an essay and read it aloud to the class. Promoting confidence in the writer is also crucial. The questions students ask advance critical thinking about point of view, comprehension and analysis, which strengthen the author’s abilities for every type of essay, including expository, narrative and comparative.

Independent proofreading

Learning how to revise work is a process that takes years to master. One excellent way of teaching proofreading and revision command is returning essays after a few days so students may rework them for a second grade. A fresh look, with or without suggestions for improvement, often reveals the flaws missed on the first draft.

Variety is the spice

Repeating format and structure exercise rules for writing multiple times may cause students to lose interest. To rouse interest, incorporate the full spectrum of essay styles, narrative, persuasive, comparative and expository in assignments. Writing in each format helps students solidify their understanding.

The value of outlines

Enforcing rules and standards is extremely helpful for unmotivated writers struggling to complete open-ended assignments. Providing examples and requiring outlines for every written project focuses efforts and clarifies expectations. It also streamlines the process of writing and breaks it down into manageable sections. Once kids realize that writing is as much about organization as it is inspiration, they swiftly begin honing their technique.

There are many many tips available that are helpful for teaching elementary students how to effectively write a standard essay. These five suggestions are a great start, with plenty of room to delve further into style, structure, inspiration and tone.

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Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers

P LANNING, PARAGRAPHING AND POLISHING: FINE-TUNING THE PERFECT ESSAY

Essay writing is an essential skill for every student. Whether writing a particular academic essay (such as persuasive, narrative, descriptive, or expository) or a timed exam essay, the key to getting good at writing is to write. Creating opportunities for our students to engage in extended writing activities will go a long way to helping them improve their skills as scribes.

But, putting the hours in alone will not be enough to attain the highest levels in essay writing. Practice must be meaningful. Once students have a broad overview of how to structure the various types of essays, they are ready to narrow in on the minor details that will enable them to fine-tune their work as a lean vehicle of their thoughts and ideas.

In this article, we will drill down to some aspects that will assist students in taking their essay writing skills up a notch. Many ideas and activities can be integrated into broader lesson plans based on essay writing. Often, though, they will work effectively in isolation – just as athletes isolate physical movements to drill that are relevant to their sport. When these movements become second nature, they can be repeated naturally in the context of the game or in our case, the writing of the essay.

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Planning an essay

The Boys Scouts’ motto is famously ‘Be Prepared’. It’s a solid motto that can be applied to most aspects of life; essay writing is no different. Given the purpose of an essay is generally to present a logical and reasoned argument, investing time in organising arguments, ideas, and structure would seem to be time well spent.

Given that essays can take a wide range of forms and that we all have our own individual approaches to writing, it stands to reason that there will be no single best approach to the planning stage of essay writing. That said, there are several helpful hints and techniques we can share with our students to help them wrestle their ideas into a writable form. Let’s take a look at a few of the best of these:

BREAK THE QUESTION DOWN: UNDERSTAND YOUR ESSAY TOPIC.

Whether students are tackling an assignment that you have set for them in class or responding to an essay prompt in an exam situation, they should get into the habit of analyzing the nature of the task. To do this, they should unravel the question’s meaning or prompt. Students can practice this in class by responding to various essay titles, questions, and prompts, thereby gaining valuable experience breaking these down.

Have students work in groups to underline and dissect the keywords and phrases and discuss what exactly is being asked of them in the task. Are they being asked to discuss, describe, persuade, or explain? Understanding the exact nature of the task is crucial before going any further in the planning process, never mind the writing process .

BRAINSTORM AND MIND MAP WHAT YOU KNOW:

Once students have understood what the essay task asks them, they should consider what they know about the topic and, often, how they feel about it. When teaching essay writing, we so often emphasize that it is about expressing our opinions on things, but for our younger students what they think about something isn’t always obvious, even to themselves.

Brainstorming and mind-mapping what they know about a topic offers them an opportunity to uncover not just what they already know about a topic, but also gives them a chance to reveal to themselves what they think about the topic. This will help guide them in structuring their research and, later, the essay they will write . When writing an essay in an exam context, this may be the only ‘research’ the student can undertake before the writing, so practicing this will be even more important.

RESEARCH YOUR ESSAY

The previous step above should reveal to students the general direction their research will take. With the ubiquitousness of the internet, gone are the days of students relying on a single well-thumbed encyclopaedia from the school library as their sole authoritative source in their essay. If anything, the real problem for our students today is narrowing down their sources to a manageable number. Students should use the information from the previous step to help here. At this stage, it is important that they:

●      Ensure the research material is directly relevant to the essay task

●      Record in detail the sources of the information that they will use in their essay

●      Engage with the material personally by asking questions and challenging their own biases

●      Identify the key points that will be made in their essay

●      Group ideas, counterarguments, and opinions together

●      Identify the overarching argument they will make in their own essay.

Once these stages have been completed the student is ready to organise their points into a logical order.

WRITING YOUR ESSAY

There are a number of ways for students to organize their points in preparation for writing. They can use graphic organizers , post-it notes, or any number of available writing apps. The important thing for them to consider here is that their points should follow a logical progression. This progression of their argument will be expressed in the form of body paragraphs that will inform the structure of their finished essay.

The number of paragraphs contained in an essay will depend on a number of factors such as word limits, time limits, the complexity of the question etc. Regardless of the essay’s length, students should ensure their essay follows the Rule of Three in that every essay they write contains an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Generally speaking, essay paragraphs will focus on one main idea that is usually expressed in a topic sentence that is followed by a series of supporting sentences that bolster that main idea. The first and final sentences are of the most significance here with the first sentence of a paragraph making the point to the reader and the final sentence of the paragraph making the overall relevance to the essay’s argument crystal clear. 

Though students will most likely be familiar with the broad generic structure of essays, it is worth investing time to ensure they have a clear conception of how each part of the essay works, that is, of the exact nature of the task it performs. Let’s review:

Common Essay Structure

Introduction: Provides the reader with context for the essay. It states the broad argument that the essay will make and informs the reader of the writer’s general perspective and approach to the question.

Body Paragraphs: These are the ‘meat’ of the essay and lay out the argument stated in the introduction point by point with supporting evidence.

Conclusion: Usually, the conclusion will restate the central argument while summarising the essay’s main supporting reasons before linking everything back to the original question.

ESSAY WRITING PARAGRAPH WRITING TIPS

●      Each paragraph should focus on a single main idea

●      Paragraphs should follow a logical sequence; students should group similar ideas together to avoid incoherence

●      Paragraphs should be denoted consistently; students should choose either to indent or skip a line

●      Transition words and phrases such as alternatively , consequently , in contrast should be used to give flow and provide a bridge between paragraphs.

HOW TO EDIT AN ESSAY

Students shouldn’t expect their essays to emerge from the writing process perfectly formed. Except in exam situations and the like, thorough editing is an essential aspect in the writing process. 

Often, students struggle with this aspect of the process the most. After spending hours of effort on planning, research, and writing the first draft, students can be reluctant to go back over the same terrain they have so recently travelled. It is important at this point to give them some helpful guidelines to help them to know what to look out for. The following tips will provide just such help: 

One Piece at a Time: There is a lot to look out for in the editing process and often students overlook aspects as they try to juggle too many balls during the process. One effective strategy to combat this is for students to perform a number of rounds of editing with each focusing on a different aspect. For example, the first round could focus on content, the second round on looking out for word repetition (use a thesaurus to help here), with the third attending to spelling and grammar.

Sum It Up: When reviewing the paragraphs they have written, a good starting point is for students to read each paragraph and attempt to sum up its main point in a single line. If this is not possible, their readers will most likely have difficulty following their train of thought too and the paragraph needs to be overhauled.

Let It Breathe: When possible, encourage students to allow some time for their essay to ‘breathe’ before returning to it for editing purposes. This may require some skilful time management on the part of the student, for example, a student rush-writing the night before the deadline does not lend itself to effective editing. Fresh eyes are one of the sharpest tools in the writer’s toolbox.

Read It Aloud: This time-tested editing method is a great way for students to identify mistakes and typos in their work. We tend to read things more slowly when reading aloud giving us the time to spot errors. Also, when we read silently our minds can often fill in the gaps or gloss over the mistakes that will become apparent when we read out loud.

Phone a Friend: Peer editing is another great way to identify errors that our brains may miss when reading our own work. Encourage students to partner up for a little ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’.

Use Tech Tools: We need to ensure our students have the mental tools to edit their own work and for this they will need a good grasp of English grammar and punctuation. However, there are also a wealth of tech tools such as spellcheck and grammar checks that can offer a great once-over option to catch anything students may have missed in earlier editing rounds.

Putting the Jewels on Display: While some struggle to edit, others struggle to let go. There comes a point when it is time for students to release their work to the reader. They must learn to relinquish control after the creation is complete. This will be much easier to achieve if the student feels that they have done everything in their control to ensure their essay is representative of the best of their abilities and if they have followed the advice here, they should be confident they have done so.

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Essays and Text Structures with Elementary Students

What's an essay?

Can we really nail down a definition and explain it in a way that eight-year-olds not only understand it, but also generate on a test? Timed, Typed, Assessed, my data is YOURS (sung to the tune of the Stevie Wonder super wedding song, Signed, Sealed, Delivered).

Tom Newkirk discusses how we kind, sorta’ messed up the idea of the essay with the creation of textbooks in his short, but necessary read, The School Essay Manifesto . Newkirk criticizes the thesis controlled, five paragraph, easily graded, textbook writing and says, “We got it wrong.” Real essayists like E.B. White and de Montaigne wanted the essay to be more of an exploration of thought. Not just proving a thesis.

In Tom Romano’s book, Writing with Passion , the five-paragraph essay is referred to as five-paragraph-you-know-what. He couldn’t even bring himself to write the word essay after the chains of a number is uttered before it. But it’s not only the number that’s a bit unnerving; it’s the required number of sentences for each paragraph, the thesis, the required number of details, etc...

Like de Montaigne, I want to see into the mind of my students when they write an essay. I want thoughts. I want questions. I want opinions. I want stories. I want voice. I want to see and hear a human being in that writing, darn it! It’s an essay. Everything and anything is possible. These are eight-year-olds, dude. They’re kids. It should come out in their writing.

If we teach (and if eight-year-olds can learn) the typical passionless structure of the textbook essay, kids will snag in the thorns of the terminology (thesis, details, paragraphs, etc...) inevitably losing their thoughts on the subject. Instead of getting down to it and answering the question, which they are totally capable of, kids are left wondering, “What’s a thesis again?”

You can find the example text structures at http://gaetanpappalardo.com/post/100020293080/alternative-text-structures-copyright-discover

C- See 3- 3 P- Parts/Paragraphs O- Organized

Link to C3-PO Graphic: http://www.onkidwriting.com/image/100014397760

You know, it’s not going to help everyone. But at least when that tricky essay word shows up, your students can think about a shiny, gold droid, that will help organize their thoughts, write some paragraphs, and maybe even score some points for the good guys.

How do you help kids structure their writing without losing authenticity?

Note: images used courtesy of Discover Writing Press .

This piece was originally submitted to our community forums by a reader. Due to audience interest, we’ve preserved it. The opinions expressed here are the writer’s own.

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Overview of Elementary School Writing Expectations (Grades 1-5)

Looking at the “ English–Language Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools ” one can see why it can be a challenge to figure out exactly what you want your students to accomplish this year.

Notice the writing content standard “Writing Strategies 1.0” is word for word the same in Grade 1 as in Grade 4 . In grade 5 there is a subtle switch to using the word “ essays ”

Grade 1 Writing Strategies 1.0 Students write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Their writing shows they consider the audience and purpose. Students progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g., prewriting, drafting, revising, editing successive versions).

Grade 4 Writing Strategies 1.0 Students write clear, coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Their writing shows they consider the audience and purpose. Students progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g., prewriting, drafting, revising, editing successive versions).

Grade 5 Writing Strategies 1.0 Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays . The writing exhibits the students’ awareness of the audience and purpose. Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions. Students progress through the stages of the writing process as needed.

Elementary School Writing Standards Grady by Grade

When you read most state writing standards it’s often hard to tell exactly what the differences are from one year to the next. True, that when you compare 1st grade to 5th grade you can easily see the differences, but from one year to the next… you have to read carefully.

Each year a few words are changed, a few concepts are made more complex, and a few concepts are added.

The reason the changes are so subtle is that our brains don’t handle “ brand new information ” very well. The majority of a school year is review, along with integrating the new information with the old. (The above example illustrates this point.)

Summary of Elementary School Writing Expectations Grade by Grade

These summaries should provide a good overview of how students progress in their writing year by year.

GRADE 1 WRITING EXPECTATIONS Students write main ideas with supporting details. Students may not have the skills needed to write a closing sentence for their paragraphs. Students experiment with prewriting organizers but there is not a great connection between their prewriting and their writing. Students are able to focus their writing to a prompt and their stories do have a beginning middle, and end. Students use correct simple sentence structure and from time to time you may see new and interesting words in their word choice. Many of their sentences will have the same basic structure. Day by day spelling and punctuation improves. Students need help with editing. They are not very successful at self-editing.

GRADE 2 WRITING EXPECTATIONS Students have added a concluding sentence to the main idea and supporting details creating proper paragraph structure with a beginning, middle, and ending. Students understand prewriting and are able to connect their prewriting to their writing. Their narratives (stories) have a clear beginning, middle, and ending. There is some variety to their sentences, not all sentences start the same. Students are developing skill in applying verbs and adjectives. Spelling and punctuation are of growing importance. Students are using many of the verb tenses correctly. They are capitalizing most proper nouns correctly and using a variety of punctuation. Students can do basic editing. They understand the concept of “trying to make it better.” They also understand the stages of the writing process. Students know how to use a dictionary, but it’s going to take them a while to check all those words they are not sure about.

GRADE 3 WRITING EXPECTATIONS Students’ paragraphs contain more effective details. Details are more specific and provide reasons and facts. Students are getting better at “proving their main idea.” Students use declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences correctly. A lot of their writing is based on personal experience or creative stories. They are not adept at researching. Their narratives (stories) contain some skill in applying story elements including character and conflict/resolution. However, the stories are simple and may not address all the story elements. Students use varied sentence structure and interesting vocabulary. This means a unique voice is starting to develop. Spelling and grammar are now “mistakes” because they have heard the rules before. (Consciously incompetent) Students are skilled at the writing process. They understand that it takes using a dictionary and a thesaurus to make their writing its best. Students also learn cursive this year.

GRADE 4 WRITING EXPECTATIONS Students paragraphs are now becoming purpose specific. Inform, persuade etc. Students are writing multi-paragraph compositions. These are not called essays as there is no requirement for a proper introduction, conclusion, or thesis statement. Students are learning to gather data through research and organize their research before writing. Their narratives (stories) incorporate all the story elements. Students are not writing just for themselves anymore. They write for their audience. Friendly letters sound friendly and reports sound like reports. Students continue to grow in their writing and they now get most of the verb tenses correct. Students use quotation marks… in fact they may use them too often. Students are skilled at using resources to edit their work. Students not only correct spelling but get rid of ideas that don’t work. Students polish up paragraphs and structure.

GRADE 5 WRITING EXPECTATIONS All of their prior knowledge is now being put to use in complete essays. Both the term essay and thesis statement are part of their vocabulary and their writing is expected to have effective introductions and conclusions. Last year students learned how to gather information and now it is expected to have an “academic” appearance to it. Students will use transitions that effectively link paragraphs together in a clear line of thought. Their narratives (stories) contain an attention getting narrative hook, conflict along with those pesky complications, yet all is resolved in the end. Fifth graders use complex sentences and write with a purpose. Can you convince someone at the North Pole to buy snow? Well… let’s give it a try! Students are skilled at using a lot of the punctuation that their own parents may have forgotten. When students edit, along with grammar and punctuation, they are interested in editing the quality of ideas and the flow of ideas.

What the Standards Get Right

The fifth grade writing requirement is right on target. 5th graders are expected to write about as well as their parents. Obviously, not as well as all parents, but note the TV show, “Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?” There is a reason that 5th grade was chosen.

The standards also seem to say, “Don’t let children write grammar the wrong way. We don’t want them to practice bad habits. The standards add a little complexity in grammar and mechanics each year, and it is expected to be done correctly.”

What the Standards Get Wrong

The standards are lacking in how they address proper multi-paragraph writing. 1st graders are expected to write stories with a beginning, middle, and ending, yet the word multi-paragraph is not used until 4th grade.

If students can fill a good part of a page, you have to teach them proper paragraph form with a simple introduction, and a simple conclusion. From what I have seen, year after year of practicing the wrong way makes it more difficult to break the habits in the upper grades.

Many teachers teach “simple introductions, simple conclusions and proper paragraph form” long before the state standards explicitly require it. Why? Because the children are ready for it.

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How to Write an Introductory Paragraph in Elementary School

Susan rickey, 26 sep 2017.

A well-written introductory paragraph hooks the reader, previews the contents of the entirety of the essay in a thesis sentence and lays out the plan for the rest of the essay. When an elementary student accomplishes these elements of the introductory paragraph, the rest of the essay usually falls into place.

Explore this article

• Lure the reader
• Thesis Statement
• Contains the main idea
• Write the Plan
• Write a plan sentence as part of the introductory paragraph
• Other Considerations
• After the introductory paragraph is written

2 Lure the reader

Lure the reader into reading the rest of the essay with a hook. According to Step Up to Writing, strategies to interest the reader include using an anecdote, a startling fact, a quotation, poetry, or humor; starting the paper with a question; relating the essay to literature, the news, history, or movies; and presenting important facts related to the topic.

For example, when writing an essay about shark attacks, hook the reader with startling facts about the number of shark attacks each year, relate the essay to a recent story in the news about sharks or start the paper with a question, such as "Are you afraid to swim in the ocean?" The reader will be hooked and looking forward to the rest of the essay about shark attacks.

3 Thesis Statement

4 contains the main idea.

The thesis statement contains the main idea of the essay. Write the thesis statement as an occasion/position statement. When writing an occasion/position statement, start out with an occasion phrase -- although, while, as if, until, whether, whenever, if, even though or since. Finish the occasion and the purpose for the writing and end with the position. The position is the writer's opinion. For example, "Although there are many great rivers in North America, the Colorado River rushing through the Grand Canyon is one of the most powerful" provides a purpose and the writer's opinion. Proving the Colorado River is one of the most powerful rivers in North America is the purpose of the essay.

5 Write the Plan

6 write a plan sentence as part of the introductory paragraph.

Write a plan sentence as part of the introductory paragraph. The plan names the topics of each paragraph in the body of the essay, which will help prove the position of the writer in the thesis statement. "When Martin Luther King marched in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he showed bravery, dedication and leadership." Each element of the plan is the topic of a paragraph in the body of the essay.

7 Other Considerations

8 after the introductory paragraph is written.

After the introductory paragraph is written, read it aloud. Make sure the thesis sentence states the purpose of the essay. If the purpose is not clear, rewrite the statement until it clearly states the reason for the essay and the writer's opinion.

Once the introductory paragraph is written, write an outline for the body of the essay using the elements from the plan listed in the introductory paragraph. Keep in mind that proving the thesis statement should guide the writer through the rest of the essay.

• 1 Anchorage School District: Introduction
• 2 University of North Carolina: The Writing Center -- Introductions
• 3 Anchorage School District: "Dressing Up" an Introduction

About the Author

Susan Rickey started writing in 1994 with a technology feature article for the "Pioneer Press." She was the writer of the Klamath Forest Alliance newsletter, an environmental organization. Rickey obtained her teaching credential from California State University and acquired her Bachelor of Science from the University of Arkansas.

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When I look back to my first experience teaching five paragraph essays to fifth graders, I can remember how terribly unprepared I felt.

I knew that the five paragraph essay format was what my students needed to help them pass our state’s writing assessment but I had no idea where to start.

I researched the few grade-appropriate essays I could find online (these were the days before Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers) and determined that there was a structure to follow.

Every essay followed the same basic structure. I taught the structure to my students and they did well.

I have been teaching five paragraph essay structure and everything that goes with it for several years now. I hope that after you read this blog post, you will have a good understanding of how to teach and grade five paragraph essays.

Once you’ve learned all about teaching basic essay structure, you’ll be ready to grow your writers from “blah” to brilliant! 

Teaching five paragraph essays is just one part of teaching 5th grade writing. Click here to find out exactly how I teach writing to my 5th graders! 

Start with Simple Paragraphs

We always start with simple paragraphs.

Yes, this is basic, but if your students cannot write excellent paragraphs, their five paragraph essays will be train wrecks. Trust me!

We spend a while cementing paragraph structure:

Topic Sentence

Closing Sentence

I give students topics, they come up with their own topics, we write together, they write with a partner or independently, the more variety, the better.

We have fun with simple paragraphs. Then, it’s time to move on to body paragraphs.

Organize and Write Body Paragraphs

Please refer to my five paragraph essay organizer below.

The three body paragraphs are absolutely crucial to the success of the five paragraph essay.

Some teachers have trouble teaching the structure of five paragraph essays because they start with the introduction paragraph.

Always teach the body paragraphs first!

I had a teacher say to me once, “What’s the point of just writing parts of the essay? They need to write the entire five paragraphs to get all of the practice they need.”

I understand that point. However, think of it as building a house. Should you test out the foundation and make sure it’s sound and sturdy before building on top of it? Absolutely! That’s what we’re doing here.

The three body paragraphs are the foundation of the essay.

Ask students to write out their three body paragraphs just like they have practiced…Topic sentence…Detail 1…Detail 2…Detail 3…Closing Sentence.

I “ooooh and aaaah” over their three paragraphs. Students are on their way to five paragraph essays, so be sure to build their confidence.

Teach the Introduction Paragraph

I have to say, this is my favorite paragraph to teach. The introduction paragraph is what draws readers into the essay and makes them want to read more.

We start with what I call a “hook.” The hook captures the readers’ attention and can come in many forms: asking a question, making a bold statement, sharing a memory, etc.

After the hook, I ask students to add a sentence or two of applicable commentary about the hook or about the prompt in general.

Finally, we add the thesis sentence. The thesis sentence always follows the same formula: Restate the prompt, topic 1, topic 2, and topic 3.

That’s all you need to write an excellent introduction paragraph!

I do suggest having students write the introduction paragraph plus body paragraphs a couple of times before teaching the closing paragraph.

Teach the Closing Paragraph

In the conclusion paragraph, we mainly focus on restating the thesis and including an engaging closing thought.

With my students, I use the analogy of a gift.

The introduction paragraph and body paragraphs are the gift and the conclusion paragraph is the ribbon that ties everything together and finishes the package.

When you talk about restating the thesis sentence, tell students that they need to make it sound different enough from their original thesis sentence to save their readers from boredom.

Who wants to read the same thing twice? No one!

Students can change up the format and wording a bit to make it fresh.

I enjoy teaching the closing thought because it’s so open to however students want to create it.

Ways to write the closing thought: ask a question, personal statement, call to action, or even a quote. 

I especially like reading the essays in which a quote is used as a closing thought or a powerful statement is used.

Example of a full five paragraph essay

Let’s Talk About Color-Coding!

Who doesn’t like to color? This is coloring with a purpose!

Training your students to color-code their paragraphs and essays will make grading so much easier and will provide reminders and reinforcements for students.

When students color-code their writing, they must think about the parts of their paragraphs, like topic sentences, details, and the closing sentence.

They will be able to see if they are missing something or if they’ve written something out of order.

Color-coding is a wonderful help for the teacher because you can skim to ensure that all parts of your students’ paragraphs and essays are present.

Also, when you are grading, you can quickly scan the paragraphs and essays. Trust me, you will develop a quick essay-grading ability.

I start color-coding with my students at the very beginning when they are working on simple paragraphs. I add the additional elements of the color-code as we progress through our five paragraph essays.

This is the code that I use:

Let’s Talk About Grading Five Paragraph Essays!

Imagine a lonely, stressed teacher grading five paragraph essays on the couch while her husband is working the night shift.

That was me!

Seriously, guys, I would spend about ten minutes per essay. I marked every little error, I made notes for improvement and notes of encouragement. I reworked their incorrect structure.

Those papers were full of marks.

On Monday, I proudly brought back the essays and asked students to look over them and learn what they needed to fix for next time.

You can guess what happened… there were lots of graded essays in the trashcan at the end of the day.

I decided that my grading practices had to change. I needed my weekends back and my students needed to find their own errors!

This is my best advice:

STOP correcting every error!

Your students are not benefiting from marks all over their writing. They need to find those errors themselves so that they will remember their mistakes and change their writing habits.

Do a quick scan of each student’s writing as soon as it’s turned in to you.

If there are major problems with a student’s writing, call him/her over individually and show him/her what needs to be fixed or put the student with a competent peer editor who will help them fix mistakes.

If you have several students who are struggling with a skill, like closing sentences, do a mini-lesson on this topic.

You can do a mini-lesson with a small group. However, I prefer doing mini-lessons with the entire class. The kids who need help will get it and the rest of your class will receive a refresher.

It’s OK if there are some small spelling/grammar mistakes!

If the errors are few and they don’t take away from the meaning/flow of the essay, I don’t worry about them.

Our students are still learning.

Even your brightest star writer will have a few spelling/grammar mistakes from time to time.

Don’t discourage students from writing because of small errors.

Students who receive papers back with markings all over them don’t think, “Oh boy, my teacher has made it so easy for me to make all of these corrections.” They are thinking, “What’s the point in writing? I must be a terrible writer. Look at all of these mistakes.”

If your students are taking a standardized writing assessment, the structure and flow of their essays will be worth much more than perfect spelling.

Need more help?

I created this five paragraph essay instructional unit for teachers who are new to teaching five paragraph essays OR just need all of the materials in one place.

“Teacher Talk” pages will guide you through the unit and this unit contains all materials needed to help students plan, organize, and write amazing five paragraph essays! Click here to check it out:

I have a freebie for you! Enter your first name and email address below. You’ll receive three original prompts with five paragraph essay organizers AND two lined final draft pages!

Once your students are good essay writers…

These task cards will help your students stay sharp on their five paragraph essay knowledge. Students will review hooks (attention-getters), thesis sentences, body paragraphs, topic sentences, closings, and more. Each card contains a unique writing example!

I suggest using these task cards as a quiz/test, scoot game, individual review, or cooperative group activity.

Click on the image to view these task cards:

To save this post for later, simply pin this image to your teacher Pinterest board!

21 comments.

Wow! I really enjoyed reading this. I’ve always stressed over the thought of teaching writing, but your blog makes me think I can do it successfully. Putting your writing packet on my TPT wish list!

Thank you, Shannon! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. I am so glad that my blog post was helpful to you!

Thanks for the tips! When I taught 6th grade I taught this same subject matter, but struggled to get started. I wish I had this then!

I appreciate your comment! Teaching was much different before Pinterest, wasn’t it?!?

This helped me so much!🙂 thanks a lot, I imagined being one student of yours. I’d be so smart and good at essays! Would’ve been so much easier in person❤️❤️❤️

Thank you so much, Aizlyn!

Thank you so much for this! May I ask where I can see the rubric for scoring the compositions?

You are so welcome! Click on the resource link. Then, you will see the rubric in the preview!

Thank you so much,I am a parent and this really helped me be clear how to guide my son. God bless you always.,

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

you are welcome!!!

This looks great! Looking forward to using your tips and freebies with my 6th graders. 🙂 THANK YOU.

You are so welcome! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!

Can’t wait to use this with my class tomorrow! Thanks a bunch for sharing!!

You are so welcome, Amy!

Thank you for making it easy to teach an essay with clarity.

You are very welcome, Yamuna! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback 🙂

I am so happy I discovered your blog. I just started teaching grade 5 in September I have been searching for a simple method to hel me in guiding them in writing. I will be putting your method into practice in the coming week.

That’s wonderful, Cherry! Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Welcome to fifth grade 🙂

Beautiful lesson well explained! Thank you so very much .

Thank you so much, Cheryl!

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Essay for Primary School: Simple Guide for Kids [with Samples]

The age of primary school students ranges from 5 to 11 years. At this stage of education, children start developing their writing skills. They make their first steps to analyzing and proving their points of view. Besides, they study how to write an essay for elementary school.

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Correctly preparing all types of homework, from creative to persuasive writing, is something they should learn how to do. Surely, they need assistance in completing the first tasks. Right now, we will present to you the essentials of a good essay for primary school:

• A captivating topic;
• A precise and clear thesis statement;
• Several introductory sentences;
• Several supporting sentences;
• A strong concluding part.

If now you are looking for some hints for writing primary school essays, you have come to the right place. Especially considering the fact that children may approach the task in a variety of ways depending on how they prefer to study (which is easy to find out by taking a learning style quiz for kids). Below, our team has prepared tips and tricks for kids to nail their primary-level academic papers.

💡 How to Write an Essay for Primary School

An essay is one of the first written assignments you may get. So, we advise you to pay special attention to what your teacher says. Before assigning such a task, they give you explanations for preparing a primary school essay.

Usually, elementary school essays are meant to fire up kids’ imagination and expose their writing skills. No matter what the purpose is, you should approach the task with care.

What should an essay for primary school include?

Just in 1 hour! We will write you a plagiarism-free paper in hardly more than 1 hour

• A captivating topic ; Selecting a topic is the first thing you will do after you get your assignment. Carefully examine the task’s details and think about something appropriate for your elementary level. Brainstorming your ideas is an excellent place to start.
• A precise and clear thesis statement; Make sure your thesis statement is accurate and brief. Without a clear thesis, your essay will not have a central idea and will be hard to develop. A precise statement tells the reader what your writing is about. Besides, it exposes how good your grip on the central idea is.
• Several introductory sentences; A great introductory paragraph can help you grab your readers’ attention. You can start by including a quote, telling an anecdote, or asking a question. In the introduction, the author also identifies the purpose of the essay and the topic. The paragraph ends with a thesis statement and prepares the reader for the supporting sentences.
• Several supporting sentences; This part of your essay will include the position you presented in the thesis statement. It will either offer an idea or defend it. It can be done in several ways: you can include reasons, examples, and supporting points.
• A strong concluding part. The conclusion wraps up the essay, but it emphasizes all the principal points you have argued throughout your essay. It is the last chance to sway your reader by explaining why the topic is relevant to them. Ending your essay with a strong concluding part shows that the thesis statement has been defended.

Essays for primary schools do not require research or analytical data. All you need is to present your ideas on the specified or chosen topic. Mind the proverb, “the written word remains” while writing your first elementary level essay.

The thing is:

The essay structure explained above will work for assignment kids will face in elementary school, middle school, high school, and up to college level. Teaching kids to write a traditional five-paragraph essay is essential for their academic success. It helps explain to them how to argue their ideas in a coherent and structured manner.

If you need more help with writing essays or with essay proofreading , you are welcome at our site.

✨ Topics for Primary School Essays

See the primary school essay topics that are manageable for an elementary level. It should be interesting for a kid but also informative and engaging for the readers.

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These topics will get an A+ for your next school assignment:

• Our world in 50 years; 
• My first day at school ; 
• Future profession ; 
• My summer holidays ; 
• My family ; 
• My journey through primary school ; 
• When I grow up … etc.… 

You can find a good topic but have no idea how to write a good paper on it. These five essay prompts can be helpful if you need some inspiration.

• What is your favorite day of the week, and why? Think about a day of the week you enjoy the most. Why do you like it? Most of us wait for weekends to rest and spend time outside and with our families and friends . If that’s your case, describe how your usual Sunday looks and explain why you enjoy it.
• What do you like the most about winter ? This is another great topic to consider, especially for creative writing. Everyone can pick at least several things they enjoy about winter. Whether it’s the snow, the winter sports, the holidays, or the winter break, write about something you like. It’s a fun and engaging topic for everyone.
• Who’s your hero ? All of us have a person they admire. It can be your father, your friend, or a celebrity. Think about the qualities or their actions that make them so special. You can try to tell a little bit about their biography and explain how they influenced you.
• What’s a good friend ? You probably have a best friend. In this essay, you can try to explain what qualities do you personally appreciate in them. If you haven’t found a best friend yet, you can try to think about what kind of people you enjoy interacting with.
• Your biggest dream . People are born with the ability to dream. What is your biggest dream? Is it to learn how to drive a boat or visit savanna and see the big five? This essay lets your imagination and your creativity run wild.
• The car I dream about .
• Explain what friendship means to you.
• Describe your parents .
• How do you understand happiness ?
• Write how you help your classmates with autism to feel included.
• The most important event of my childhood.
• Discuss why physical activity is important for children and what types of activity you like best.
• Do you like to take part in competitive sports ?
• Explain why you like or don’t like figure skating .
• A person who inspires me: my mother .
• What dog would you like to have?
• Describe your visit to Disneyland or any other theme park.
• My travel to Dresden .
• What challenges did you face in primary school ?
• Do you believe in online- friendship ?
• What do you do when you feel stressed ?
• Tell about your puppy and how you take care of it.
• The reasons my teacher is the brightest figure in my life.
• Describe the kindergarten you went to and explain why you liked or didn’t like it.
• How did you deal with bullies in the kindergarten .
• How I won the fight by losing it .
• Write about your favorite primary school teacher.
• Why everyone should have a pet .
• Explain how you interact with other kids at school.
• Tell about the most exciting event in your life.
• Explore how eating healthy food can help you to do better at school.
• Describe your first visit to a museum .
• The difference of being a child in the past and today .
• Write about your trip to Yellowstone National Park and what you liked the most about it.
• What makes a good parent ?
• How does your dream home look like?
• Do you remember what difficulties you faced while learning to write ?
• Tell about your favorite holiday .
• What do you like about Christmas ?
• How I learned to ride a bicycle.
• Describe the lessons you have in primary school and which of them is your favorite.
• Write about your physical education teacher .
• Discuss the pre-school education facility you’ve visited.

Sometimes such prompts can help you better than primary school essay writing samples. First of all, it gives you a direction by leaving you with the questions that only you can answer. Second, it shows you a variety of topics and themes available. Nevertheless, we still encourage you to look at some simple essays for primary school for better results.

All in all:

Essays are the most common academic paper that might seem easy to a writer. Our free tips will help you to get through any kind of paper. Still, if you are stuck on essay writing, you can always ask us for help!

Get an originally-written paper according to your instructions!

Thank you for reading the article! Share it with peers and leave a comment below to let us know your opinion.

Further reading:

• Essay Topics for Grade 8, 9, 10, 12
• What Does an Excellent Essay Look Like?
• 1000-Word Essays: Quick Answers
• Breaking Down the Types of Essays
• A Complete Guide to Essay Writing
• How to Write a Good 5 Paragraph Essay
• The Basics of Effective Essay Writing: Becton Loveless, Education Corner
• 50 Writing Prompts for Elementary School Children: Janelle Cox, ThoughtCo
• Student Writing Models: Thoughtful Learning K-12
• Elementary Archives: JournalBuddies.com
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Being a primary school teacher of English language, I have discovered that many students leave primary school without basic essay writing skills. This is because as teachers, we do less to help and guide the learners in this aspect. We do less because we lack the knowledge and ability to guide the learners perfect this writing skills yet it is considered the production stage of language learning. Kindly help me. Guide me further so that I can also guide my learners.

Thanks for the feedback. Keep up your excellent work!

A great suggestion for primary teachers and parents!

Glad you liked the article, Mung 🙂

This is a very good method to preach the acknowledgments on report writing towards people.

Thanks, Tayyaba 🙂

Thank you for your great effort and help. Your blog has taught me many things! Thanks for this fantastic blog post on writing primary school essays.

Thanks for the post on writing essays for primary schools. It’s a real help for me and my son, who just starts to learn how to write essays.

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How to Write an Essay for Kids? A Complete Guide for all the Basics Steps and Outline

While essay writing is an integral part of your children’s academic life, it also helps them to achieve great heights in the real world. Writing a good piece is a skill for life as it is used in every aspect, whether it be a job resume or an email, and practising essay writing is an excellent way to hone your writing skills.

Before knowing how to write an essay for kids, let’s look at the five benefits of composing good essays that may not be known to you:

Learning courses for your kids! Get free trial here

Improves Reading Ability

Children who show an early interest in writing will ultimately enjoy reading, according to experts. Reading and writing are deeply connected. Early writing instruction helps children learn word arrangement and coherence of thoughts which will pay off while reading.

Brain Development

Handwriting is essential for brain development and cognition, which is why children should be taught to write. The process of writing activates the brain areas responsible for critical thinking, logical reasoning and problem-solving.

Thoughts can be Organised

An organised way of thinking is necessary for writing essays with a clear beginning, middle, and end. So, if a kid sits to write, they will be focusing on organising their thoughts to create a good piece.

Improves Memory

The most effective way for students to learn their material is to write it down on a piece of paper. Your child will be more confident in their abilities to memorise a subject if they are better at writing. Doing writing exercises regularly will improve memory power, and it is likely that their grades also improve in the long run.

Writing Boosts Creativity and Imagination

To write well, your child needs to use both logical thinking and creative imagination. Writing puts both the right and left brain into action as they set out to find a way to create something easy for another person to read and understand. Writing allows them to explore ideas and possibilities, make up new stories, and do anything else they can dream of.

How to Write an Essay for Kids?

Step 1: ask your kid to brainstorm and research.

The first and foremost step to create any piece of good writing is consuming as much information as possible about the topic. This helps them look at different information and analyse things in their own way.Ask your child to brainstorm a few ideas, write down any thoughts about the subject, and look for other ideas in books or videos. Then tell them to figure out their strongest of thoughts that will convey their writing goals clearly.

Also Read: Best Online Coding Classes for Kids: A Complete Guide to Get the Best

Step 2: Tell Them to Make a Rough Outline

The outline is the base of an essay, and it saves a lot of time. It is great for structuring and organising ideas in a thoughtful and sequential flow. This approach allows your child to choose appropriate information or quotes from sources before writing, which gives them a solid foundation for a good writing assignment. Moreover, developing these ideas will make it easier for you to write your essays.

How to Write an Essay Outline for Kids?

If you are confused, then go with these basic rules:

#1. The Introduction

Discuss the topic of your essay and its theme in this part. Giving the views on the theme of the essay is crucial as it helps you support it in each paragraph of your essay body.

#2. Body Paragraphs

The body of the essay will have at least three paragraphs. Each paragraph should contain a topic sentence followed by an argument related to the theme. Here, discuss all the supporting evidence such as data, facts and examples to substantiate the topic.

But, if your kid has just started writing, adding one body paragraph is enough to practice. According to their improvement, they could include as many as they want.

#3. The Conclusion

Last but not least, come up with a conclusion that is the logical outcome of the body of the essay. It is important to end an essay while maintaining the flow. Here, put the finishing touches on the essay. Briefly summarise the topic and the objective of the essay.

Step 3: It’s Time for Your Kids to Write

You should tell them to follow their outline and write down each supporting point in an individual paragraph. Encourage them to use descriptive words to put their ideas across clearly to the reader. Also, going into detail, using specific information to elaborate on a point can help. Introduce your kids to transition words; this helps in maintaining the flow of the structure.

Lastly, staying on track is the key to making sure everything included is somehow related to the essay’s main idea.

How to Write Conclusion for an Essay for Kids?

While writing the conclusion of the essay, your child should keep in mind the following points:

#1. Do not repeat the introduction in this part.

#2. Do not add new content or arguments.

#3. Do not end it too abruptly.

The following points can help them write a good conclusion:

#1. Start by examining the content of each paragraph.

#2. Refer to the introductory paragraph for guidance.

#3. Leaving a note which makes the reader ponder makes the conclusion thought-provoking.

How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay for Kids?

Here is the proper outline of writing a 5 paragraph essay:

1. Introduction

Introduce the topic and explain the theme

2. Body Paragraph One

Write the main sentence by supporting them with examples or facts. Also, explain the logical connection of those examples and facts with the theme of the essay.

3. Body Paragraph Two

Write the other main sentence by supporting them with examples or facts. Explain the logical connection of those examples and facts with the essay’s theme in this paragraph too.

4. Body Paragraph Three

Repeat the process mentioned in the outline for body paragraphs one and two.

5. Conclusion

Summarise all the main points of the essay and write a logical outcome that incites the reader to think.

How Your Kids Can Learn Essay Writing with The Real School Of Montessori?

We hope that this article cleared your doubts on how you can teach essay writing to your kids. For better guidance on essay writing for kids, check out the Real School Of Montessori website.

In this new age school, mentors provide one-on-one teaching and make sure your child receives a comprehensive education in different subjects. What makes Real School Of Montessori unique is that they have real-world goals. This will allow your child to become problem solvers, thinkers, and innovators through personalised,  project-based learning.

Book a masterclass now and give your kid a taste of a fun learning environment.

Also Read: Scratch Coding for Kids: Simplifying the Concepts of Coding for Super Kids

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About the Author

Shilpa is a professional web content writer and is in deep love with travelling. She completed her mass communication degree and is now dedicatedly playing with words to guide her readers to get the best for themselves. Developing educational content for UPSC, IELTS aspirants from breakthrough research work is her forte. Strongly driven by her zodiac sign Sagittarius, Shilpa loves to live her life on her own notes and completely agrees with the idea of ‘live and let live. Apart from writing and travelling, most of the time she can be seen in the avatar of 'hooman' mom to her pets and street dogs or else you can also catch her wearing the toque blanche and creating magic in the kitchen on weekends.

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How Long is an Essay?

10 August, 2021

12 minutes read

Author:  Donna Moores

Making sure that you stick to the recommended amount of words is important for your academic performance. Even the slightest deviation from requirements might reduce your grade. But why let such a nuisance spoil your mark when you can just know what word count for each specific essay type is? So, how long is an essay? This question seems to be the talk of the town among students. As all students know from experience, the higher the academic level and the more specific the study area is, the stricter the course requirements are and the longer the essay should be. In the following guide, we will discuss how essay length varies depending on the academic level and what to do to find out what a proper essay length should be.

Essay Length Tips

Try to stick to the 80/20 rule.

The 80/20 rule indicates that an essay should have the following structure: 80% of the text should be covered in the main body, and only 20% – in the introduction and conclusion. If you want to make sure that your text is easy to comprehend – make use of this rule. Structuring the paper in such a way makes sure that the reader does not lose the key idea of your essay.

Cover a single topic sentence in one body paragraph

Another valuable tip covers the composition of body paragraphs. Namely, keep in mind that each paragraph should reveal only one topic sentence, one point, and one argument. It is inappropriate to discuss two points in the same body paragraph since the whole essay loses its coherence this way. If you feel like you have some extra points to add, it is always better to create a new paragraph for this purpose.

Take spacing into account

Spacing plays an important role in assuring you follow the word count. For instance, a single-spaced page contains 550 words, while a double-spaced page contains 275 words respectively. So, according to the spacing you choose, you can always keep track of your word count. But to make sure you are as accurate as possible, you can always check the number of words right in Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

Five – this is the minimum required number of paragraphs

A basic paper structure requires five paragraphs, where three paragraphs belong to the main body part, and the other two cover introduction and conclusion. Keeping the outlined structure in mind always proves helpful, especially when it comes to sticking to a suggested word count.

Different Essay Length for Different Academic Levels

As a rule, a middle schooler is expected to write way less than a university student. Although the essay length often depends on the assignment type rather than academic level, the difference still exists. Below we will discuss what a recommended essay length for school and university essays is.

How Long is a Middle School Essay?

Middle school is where essay writing skills are being tested professionally. How long should a college essay be? Normally, essays length for middle school students varies between 500 and 1000 words. A typical middle school essay follows a well-known essay structure: introduction, body paragraphs, and summary (five paragraphs). Main body is usually the most informative part of a school essay and takes 80% of the word count. So if your teacher asks you to deliver a 1000-word essay, keep in mind that they expect you to write 800 words of main body text. But how long is a 500 word essay, for example? Well, this wordcount equals a page and a half. Based on this length, you can count the number of pages required for your essay.

How Long is a High School Essay?

There are several things that you, as a high schooler, might want to keep in mind. First of all, the essay structure remains exactly how it was in middle school. The only difference is that your tutor will expect a more profound analysis as well as a bigger essay length. Students need to show a more professional attitude to the topic and write approximately 2000 words for each essay.

How Long is a University (Undergraduate level) Essay

Apparently, the essay length will gradually extend as soon as you enter higher academic levels. At the university stage, students are challenged with complex subjects and are asked to reflect on the knowledge they gained during the course. Usually, Bachelor students write 5-10 page papers.

University essays imply demonstrating not only the knowledge and skills obtained during the course but also showing your writing skills. Students usually get long time frames to write such papers as they require research and extensive analysis.

If you are an undergraduate student, you may expect your professor to assign a couple of 1500 -word essays that explore a particular topic.

How Long is a University (Graduate level) Essay

A graduate level essay is similar to an undergraduate one. Although it often depends on the topic, university, and course, there are a lot of similarities between university essays for students of all academic levels. For a graduate-level student, the word count is somewhere between 3000 and 6000 words. However, courses that also imply other kinds of assignments, such as lab reports or practical exercises, might have looser essay length requirements.

Other requirements apply for those who are about to write their final dissertation or a master thesis. These are assignments that ask you to write 100,000 words or even more. For this type of assignment, you will be given a couple of months to research and write a paper.

How long is each part of an essay?

The length of each essay part usually depends on the general word count for the entire paper. How long is a 1000 word essay then? If the suggested essay length equals 1000 words, then you need to devote roughly 80% of the word count to the main body part, 10% for introduction, and 10% for a conclusion. However, if you are about to prepare a 10-page paper, this does not mean that final remarks and introduction should be proportionally big. Instead, it is always a plus when you keep your introduction short and up to the point. The same concerns the conclusion part. Always make sure you use only the most relevant information and avoid pouring water just to make the text look massive.

How to Manage Essay Word Count

Trying to achieve the suggested essay length might sometimes turn out to be quite a challenge. Here are some tips to make it easier for you:

Create an outline

Creating an outline before starting to write a final draft can do you good. First of all, having a clear plan indicates how many words you should write for each essay part. This approach will prevent you from extra editing work as well as give your text a transparent structure and message. You will get an idea of how to use the space that you have and avoid adding unnecessary information throughout the text.

Review the extant literature

To write better papers, it is always recommended to acknowledge the topic you’re working on. The reason why a lot of essays get poor grades is hidden in the insufficient topic understanding, so make sure you do solid research.

Make use of examples

Using examples in the text always proves to be a good idea. First, this approach enriches the text and gives it a lively tone. Additionally, referring to examples helps a lot when it comes to extending the word count. If you need to write 100 more words but have no idea of  what to add – add examples! Also, you may include some facts, data, or basically any evidence.

Revise your paper

Revising proves helpful when it comes to reducing the essay length. If you wrote 1500 words instead of 1000 – simply review the text and search for the information which sounds extra. Once you take a fresh look at your essay, you will certainly find entire sentences that do not fit in or just don’t make a lot of sense.

Can I go under the suggested length?

Going under a suggested length isn’t a crime as long as you’re close to the suggested word count. In other words, it is fine to write 900 words if the suggested length is 1000, but writing less than 900 words might affect your grade. Nonetheless, we suggest that you try to get as close to the required word count as possible – your tutor will appreciate it. If you are struggling to extend your text, here is what you can do:

• Take a look at your essay points and try to provide more clarifications on their regard.
• Use new paragraphs to shed light on the problem but from a different perspective.
• Search for evidence and add it to body paragraphs.

Can I go over the suggested length?

As a rule, no one expects you to fit into exactly 500, 1000, or 2000 words. The standard acceptable deviation usually equals 10% of the text. This means that if the paper’s instructions ask you to write 2000 words, it will be fine if you go up to 2200 words.

However, this rule might not hold true in some cases, which is why we advise you to consult your professor on this matter.

We also recommend all students make the word count as close to the required one as possible. Exceeding the standard length always equals more time spent on evaluating the assignment, so try to compress your essay by using the following techniques:

• Check whether your arguments are in line with the thesis statement and don’t. hesitate to get rid of extra information.
• Make sure each body paragraph reveals one point only.
• Reduce sentence length so that each sentence fits in a single line.

What if there are no length guidelines?

It might be the case that your paper does not provide any writing instructions at all. In this case, you can manage the situation in several ways:

Simply search for the requirements online

If no strategy seems to work – just google it. You will easily find social media posts and forum answers on how to write a specific kind of essay. Besides, you can visit your chair’s website and look for essay length requirements there. It sometimes happens that professors don’t indicate any word count because the information about it is available on the website.

Make conclusions based on the paper description

Take a look at your essay instructions. If they say that you should write a paper with three brief body paragraphs, it means that each paragraph should equal 150-200 words. If the paper asks you to develop your ideas in well-developed paragraphs, you will certainly need to write at least 400 words for each.

If you aren’t sure – contact the administration

If you couldn’t find the information regarding world limits but still feel like it is important to stick to rules, get in touch with the admissions office. They might not tell you exactly how long your paper should be; but they will tell you what an average, acceptable word count is.

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Short Essay for Elementary

Elementary students are already taught how to make essays in preparation for their high school lives. They are trained how to construct a good essay that might be good enough to be samples used for essay competitions and other related activities. If one of your assignments involve writing short essays , you might feel the ease. It seems like an easy task, right? The truth behind that is it can be harder than you think. Essays allow you to express you own thoughts and what you feel about a particular situation. It is best for a student to be trained as early as possible because knowing how to talk about something, may it be orally or written, is really essential. It helps you to become a good communicator.

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What is a Short Essay?

A short essay is just a typical type of essay that aims to give detailed descriptions of a particular object, even or phenomena, or issue. You can do this by making a comparison or presentation of anything that associates to the object that you opt to describe. Writing short essays could be challenging at times since it is hard to share your thoughts about an issue especially if you are no longer familiar with it.

There are no specific steps in writing short essays. Aside from it is considered as a literary genre, it also requires talent and artistic expertise. Its writing could be simplified as follows:

Choice of subject – this is an essay that could simply address a topic in a way that it can generate more interest to the readers. The topic should be narrow as possible.

Documentation – this means documenting ourselves reading and looking for different reliable sources that would give us a complete thought of the topic.

Preparation – before you start writing, know first the outline of your essay . This will serve as your essay skeleton that tells you what your next move is.

Writing – express your ideas clearly and logically. Make sure that you are stating what you really intend to say.

Short Essay Format

All of the short essay writings consist of the following:

Introduction – this includes the thesis statement and your strategy on how you are going to catch the attention of your target readers.

Body of Paragraph – this is where you are going to share your thoughts about your chosen subject, event and the like. Think of some ways where your readers can engage themselves. This can be in a form of providing an image into the texts.

Conclusion – your conclusion should be approximately fifty (50) words that summarizes all your main points or ideas. Do not present new ideas.

Short Essay Example

This is a Georgetown Short Essay about Favorite Class

“ At St. Albans, especially in our later years, we are given the freedom to choose from a vast array of classes. Using this freedom, I have selected classes which have personal significance to me, regardless of difficulty or appearance on my transcript. However, from these classes, one holds an extraordinary amount of value to me. This course is A.P. Omnibus History, a combination of American and European history. There are several reasons for my great interest in this class. First, I am fascinated by the cyclical nature of the past. I see these recurring political, economic, and social trends as a means of looking forward into the future, while allowing us to avoid the mistakes of the past. Second, history teaches many lessons about the nature of human behavior, both past and present, providing insight into the actions, desires, and aspirations of those around me. Finally, it lays a solid foundation for several disciplines, including political science, economics, and international relations, three fields of great interest to me. ”

infoplease.com

How long is a short essay.

A short essay would vary. It can have 250 words, 500 words or 800 words maximum depending on what is being required. Mostly, it will only consist of 500 words.

What are the three forms of structure in a short essay?

The three forms of structure are the deductive, inductive and framed. Deductive means exposing the thesis and then develops an argument. Inductive means exploring an argument and then recomposing the topic for conclusion. Framed means you start by presenting your thesis, discuss your argument and then elaborates your thesis again.

What qualifies as a short length essay?

A short length essay means that it is only written in short. The guidelines were all just the same except for the length.

When writing an essay, you have to put yourself in your readers’ shoes. It is still important to do research as it will still be useful to gather some facts. Always make you essay authentic as possible and don’t forget to cite your sources . This will add credibility to your work.

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• How to structure an essay: Templates and tips

How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates

Published on September 18, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction , a body , and a conclusion . But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body.

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Table of contents

The basics of essay structure, chronological structure, compare-and-contrast structure, problems-methods-solutions structure, signposting to clarify your structure, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay structure.

There are two main things to keep in mind when working on your essay structure: making sure to include the right information in each part, and deciding how you’ll organize the information within the body.

Parts of an essay

The three parts that make up all essays are described in the table below.

Order of information

You’ll also have to consider how to present information within the body. There are a few general principles that can guide you here.

The first is that your argument should move from the simplest claim to the most complex . The body of a good argumentative essay often begins with simple and widely accepted claims, and then moves towards more complex and contentious ones.

For example, you might begin by describing a generally accepted philosophical concept, and then apply it to a new topic. The grounding in the general concept will allow the reader to understand your unique application of it.

The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay . General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body.

The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis . Ask yourself whether each piece of information advances your argument or provides necessary background. And make sure that the text clearly expresses each piece of information’s relevance.

The sections below present several organizational templates for essays: the chronological approach, the compare-and-contrast approach, and the problems-methods-solutions approach.

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The chronological approach (sometimes called the cause-and-effect approach) is probably the simplest way to structure an essay. It just means discussing events in the order in which they occurred, discussing how they are related (i.e. the cause and effect involved) as you go.

A chronological approach can be useful when your essay is about a series of events. Don’t rule out other approaches, though—even when the chronological approach is the obvious one, you might be able to bring out more with a different structure.

Explore the tabs below to see a general template and a specific example outline from an essay on the invention of the printing press.

• Thesis statement
• Discussion of event/period
• Consequences
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement
• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages
• Background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press
• Thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation
• High levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe
• Literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites
• Consequence: this discouraged political and religious change
• Invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg
• Implications of the new technology for book production
• Consequence: Rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible
• Trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention
• Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation
• Consequence: The large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics
• Summarize the history described
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period

Essays with two or more main subjects are often structured around comparing and contrasting . For example, a literary analysis essay might compare two different texts, and an argumentative essay might compare the strengths of different arguments.

There are two main ways of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay: the alternating method, and the block method.

Alternating

In the alternating method, each paragraph compares your subjects in terms of a specific point of comparison. These points of comparison are therefore what defines each paragraph.

The tabs below show a general template for this structure, and a specific example for an essay comparing and contrasting distance learning with traditional classroom learning.

• Synthesis of arguments
• Topical relevance of distance learning in lockdown
• Increasing prevalence of distance learning over the last decade
• Thesis statement: While distance learning has certain advantages, it introduces multiple new accessibility issues that must be addressed for it to be as effective as classroom learning
• Classroom learning: Ease of identifying difficulties and privately discussing them
• Distance learning: Difficulty of noticing and unobtrusively helping
• Classroom learning: Difficulties accessing the classroom (disability, distance travelled from home)
• Distance learning: Difficulties with online work (lack of tech literacy, unreliable connection, distractions)
• Classroom learning: Tends to encourage personal engagement among students and with teacher, more relaxed social environment
• Distance learning: Greater ability to reach out to teacher privately
• Sum up, emphasize that distance learning introduces more difficulties than it solves
• Stress the importance of addressing issues with distance learning as it becomes increasingly common
• Distance learning may prove to be the future, but it still has a long way to go

In the block method, each subject is covered all in one go, potentially across multiple paragraphs. For example, you might write two paragraphs about your first subject and then two about your second subject, making comparisons back to the first.

The tabs again show a general template, followed by another essay on distance learning, this time with the body structured in blocks.

• Point 1 (compare)
• Point 2 (compare)
• Point 3 (compare)
• Point 4 (compare)
• Advantages: Flexibility, accessibility
• Disadvantages: Discomfort, challenges for those with poor internet or tech literacy
• Advantages: Potential for teacher to discuss issues with a student in a separate private call
• Disadvantages: Difficulty of identifying struggling students and aiding them unobtrusively, lack of personal interaction among students
• Advantages: More accessible to those with low tech literacy, equality of all sharing one learning environment
• Disadvantages: Students must live close enough to attend, commutes may vary, classrooms not always accessible for disabled students
• Advantages: Ease of picking up on signs a student is struggling, more personal interaction among students
• Disadvantages: May be harder for students to approach teacher privately in person to raise issues

An essay that concerns a specific problem (practical or theoretical) may be structured according to the problems-methods-solutions approach.

This is just what it sounds like: You define the problem, characterize a method or theory that may solve it, and finally analyze the problem, using this method or theory to arrive at a solution. If the problem is theoretical, the solution might be the analysis you present in the essay itself; otherwise, you might just present a proposed solution.

The tabs below show a template for this structure and an example outline for an essay about the problem of fake news.

• Introduce the problem
• Provide background
• Describe your approach to solving it
• Define the problem precisely
• Describe why it’s important
• Indicate previous approaches to the problem
• Present your new approach, and why it’s better
• Apply the new method or theory to the problem
• Indicate the solution you arrive at by doing so
• Assess (potential or actual) effectiveness of solution
• Describe the implications
• Problem: The growth of “fake news” online
• Prevalence of polarized/conspiracy-focused news sources online
• Thesis statement: Rather than attempting to stamp out online fake news through social media moderation, an effective approach to combating it must work with educational institutions to improve media literacy
• Definition: Deliberate disinformation designed to spread virally online
• Popularization of the term, growth of the phenomenon
• Previous approaches: Labeling and moderation on social media platforms
• Critique: This approach feeds conspiracies; the real solution is to improve media literacy so users can better identify fake news
• Greater emphasis should be placed on media literacy education in schools
• This allows people to assess news sources independently, rather than just being told which ones to trust
• This is a long-term solution but could be highly effective
• It would require significant organization and investment, but would equip people to judge news sources more effectively
• Rather than trying to contain the spread of fake news, we must teach the next generation not to fall for it

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Signposting means guiding the reader through your essay with language that describes or hints at the structure of what follows.  It can help you clarify your structure for yourself as well as helping your reader follow your ideas.

The essay overview

In longer essays whose body is split into multiple named sections, the introduction often ends with an overview of the rest of the essay. This gives a brief description of the main idea or argument of each section.

The overview allows the reader to immediately understand what will be covered in the essay and in what order. Though it describes what  comes later in the text, it is generally written in the present tense . The following example is from a literary analysis essay on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

Transitions

Transition words and phrases are used throughout all good essays to link together different ideas. They help guide the reader through your text, and an essay that uses them effectively will be much easier to follow.

Various different relationships can be expressed by transition words, as shown in this example.

Because Hitler failed to respond to the British ultimatum, France and the UK declared war on Germany. Although it was an outcome the Allies had hoped to avoid, they were prepared to back up their ultimatum in order to combat the existential threat posed by the Third Reich.

Transition sentences may be included to transition between different paragraphs or sections of an essay. A good transition sentence moves the reader on to the next topic while indicating how it relates to the previous one.

… Distance learning, then, seems to improve accessibility in some ways while representing a step backwards in others.

However , considering the issue of personal interaction among students presents a different picture.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarized in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to.

The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point.

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

• The alternating method, where you compare your subjects side by side according to one specific aspect at a time.
• The block method, where you cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

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How Long Should My Academic Essay Be?

When you're given an academic essay assignment, it's easy to feel overwhelmed—especially if English is your second language or you have limited experience with academic writing. Academic essays can range from a few paragraphs to book-length dissertations, so the scope of expectations varies widely based on the school you're attending, the class you're taking, the departmental expectations, and (most especially) the professor giving you the assignment.

However, if you're new to academic essay writing and are stressing over the length it should be, keep in mind that in most situations, your questions will be answered by your professor or the admissions committee assigning you the essay in the first place. When an assignment is given, some professors are very specific on their expectations, including what they expect the word count to be.

For most assignments, you'll likely be given guidelines based on word count (for example, 1,000 to 1,200 words) or page count (3 to 5 pages, double-spaced). You might also be given guidelines on the citation format to use, how many sources you should have, and even the publication date range of those sources. Some professors like to be extremely specific on their expectations for each academic essay assignment, while others might be more lenient and less structured in their guidelines. And of course, these guidelines will vary based on the type of academic essay and its purpose.

General guidelines for essay length

Middle school.

Academic essay assignments typically start in middle school in the American education system and fall within the range of 300 to 800 words. In these grades, you'll be learning the basic 5-paragraph essay structure, which includes an introduction, a thesis statement, the body, and a conclusion. In the typical 5-paragraph essay format, the first paragraph should be the introduction, the second through fourth paragraphs should be the body of the essay, and the fifth paragraph should be the conclusion. In very rare instances would your introduction or conclusion take up more than one paragraph for these types of essays.

High school

In high school, you'll still likely need to write a 5-paragraph essay, although some teachers (especially English and Language Arts) will start to require longer essays (3 to 5 pages). This is to prepare you for the rigor of academic writing that you'll be fine-tuning in college. In these essays, you will still have the basic format of introduction, body and conclusion; however, you'll expand the body to more thoroughly explore or explain a topic. The conclusion of your 3 to 5-page essay will likely still fall within one paragraph, although the introduction might be more than one, depending on the topic.

University (Undergraduate level)

Once you get admitted into an undergraduate program, the length of your academic essay assignments will vary significantly, depending on the classes you take and the departments you take them in. You'll also encounter classes that require academic essays of varying length as the semester progresses, with a longer essay due as the final assignment for a greater percentage of the class grade. In most cases, these longer academic writing assignments will be structured in such a way in that parts of the essay assignment must be turned in at different times, with all sections being put together as a final paper.

For example, in an advanced-level English class, your professor might assign multiple shorter essays of 5 to 7 pages (or 1,500 to 2,100 words) and one final essay that explores a topic in more depth at 8 to 10 pages (or 2,400 to 3,000 words). Another class, such as a core curriculum survey course, might require fewer essays or more journal prompt-type writing assignments.

University (Graduate level)

Much the same as the undergraduate level of college, graduate-level academic writing assignments will vary based on several factors, such as the professor, the course, the department, and the program of study. One university program might require extensive writing while another might be more lab-based or hands-on experience.

Graduate level is also where you're likely to first encounter "thesis" and "dissertation" academic writing assignments, which can go up to 100,000 words or more. These types of assignments obviously require extensive planning, research, and writing time, but you'll likely be given very specific word count and citation requirements when being assigned the paper to write.

Graduate level writing is significantly more involved than the 5-paragraph essay format and contains elements such as sections related to a review of literature, background of the topic/theoretical framework, methodology of research, and your specific findings. These separate sections might have their own word count limits and requirements, with some requiring significantly more time and writing than others. As with some undergraduate assignments, you might be asked to submit these academic writing assignments in stages or sections, including a proposal, a list of your sources, etc.

Beyond word and page count

Even if you stay within a certain word or page count that is required for an academic writing assignment, you could still receive a poor grade for not using that count wisely. For example, it's possible to write a 3 to 5-paragraph paper that is disorganized and illogical, in the same sense that an 8-page essay might have the same faults.

Here are some important guidelines to follow when writing an academic essay, regardless of the word count required:

• Always carefully outline before you begin writing. An outline will help you cover everything that should be covered and ensure that you've included all of the required parts of the essay (introduction, thesis statement, etc.)
• Never allow your academic essay writing style to appear rambling, off-topic, or full of "filler" words. While the topic you're writing about might be new to you, your professor will likely know it extensively and will be able to tell if you're writing just to fill space.
• Do your best to avoid hedging. Hedging is when you essentially dance around a topic with vague statements but never have an actual stance on it. In most forms of academic writing, you're expected to make a clear assumption or thesis statement and then back up your claim with solid research and/or data.

So, can I go over or under word count?

Ultimately, it will always be in your best interest to stay within word count requirements given to you on assignments. Word count or page count limits are given to you for a reason—your professor knows exactly how in-depth you can explore a topic or topics given that word count restriction. If you find that you are significantly under word count when you've completed your writing assignment, it's likely that you haven't explored the topic to the depth expected of you by your instructor. A poor or failing grade might be the result, as it will be clear to your professor that you either didn't understand the topic or didn't take the time needed to research it correctly.

Some professors will allow word count that is over suggested limits a lot more readily than word count that is under them. However, keep in mind that if you have gone significantly over word count in your academic essay assignment, it's always a good idea to ask your teacher if this is acceptable. He or she might have such a heavy student and research load that they are simply unable to read hundreds of essays that are over the suggested word count limit, and might be forced to stop reading once you've reached it. This means that important parts of your writing will not be read and could affect your teacher's grade choice for the assignments.

This is also true for college admissions essay assignments. Admissions committees might be reading the essays of thousands of applicants and need those writers to stay within word count restrictions for the sake of time and logistics. Allowing one applicant to write extensively more could also put that applicant at an unfair advantage, so word count restrictions should always be followed. For a more in-depth look at what you should and shouldn't do on your college admissions essay, check out this article on writing a college admissions essay that stands out from the crowd .

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How Long is an Essay

How Long is an Essay?

High school essays typically range from 300-1000 words, focusing on a 5-paragraph structure. College admission essays are brief, 200-650 words, showcasing personal interests. Undergraduate essays vary, spanning 1500-5000 words, depending on course and institution specifics. Graduate admissions require more detailed essays of 500-1000 words, while graduate-level essays often extend from 2500-6000 words, reflecting deeper research and analysis.

The question of how long should an essay be– whether you are a pro or not–should come from something OTHER than your liking 💯. 

Sure, you can always follow your heart whenever you want to put your sentiments and purpose into words. It is, however, another truth that there is an external factor that always determines how effective you are as an essayist: the WORD COUNT.

Let us not all lie. No matter how good or bad we are at writing things, word count always matters. This factor may come into play when it becomes one of the criteria for judging one’s written output or a measure of someone’s writing prowess if it is made out of a career. Thus, one thing is for sure: even if it sucks, we always consider how long should an essay be.

But just like any other factor influencing good writing, managing an ideal word count for essays can be quite a breeze. All you have to do is pan out your purpose, know your audience, and be strategic in monitoring your word count. All of the know-how, and many others, will be discussed thoroughly in this blog, so stick around to see the magic!

How Long is an Essay Considering the Factors that I Have to Follow?

Factors everywhere. A good result cannot be determined well and objectively without these factors. Sure enough, good writing, while considering its word count, can be a walk in the park if one considers the following factors that regulate an ideal (or sometimes, required) word count.

Academic essay varies depending on multiple factors. Asking the “WHY” on something provides you with a clear way how you can finish it. In writing, this “why,” which represents your intention or purpose, gives you an outline of how you may navigate the entire process– and manage your word count as well.

Once you have set your writing goals before the writing process, you can prepare the right information that you will inject into the sections of your manuscript, as well as an approach (more than two is fine; do not be shy!) that will serve as your structure. Writers have different purposes– dictated or not, explicit or implicit, thus producing different preferences for word count.

One may have many demands in its purpose, making the word count a bit overboard. Some do not demand that much, translating to a permissible count. One thing is for sure, though: purpose drives your writing journey, so whether you measure your essay length or not, it must be clearly stated on the paper!

When we say that your feelings matter so much in your writing, that has to be minimized considerably because maintaining word count and determining how many words should an essay be sometimes depends on the people who read and use it.

A specific group of people always know what they want in a writing piece– either they like it long and extensive or short yet succinct. With this reality (arguing about it will not give you good marks) in mind, you have to be a sucker for their preferences.

The good thing about this, though, is you already have some ideas on how you will create your piece (versus thinking about it from scratch), and your horizons will widen since you will craft a piece that reflects other people’s liking. A little note when considering the audience as one of your considerations for word count is that they are already giving you a favor.

Nature of the Writing Task

Along with the wish to maintain an average essay word count, you must know WHAT you are writing about. Mostly common among academic institutions, the nature of a writing task may come off as explicit through the name itself (is it a traditional expository essay? A narrative report? A critical essay?) or implicit through the specifications of the task (Should there be an outline to adhere in the task? Should one use a specific structure or approach to the creation of a text?).

Determining how many words should there be in an essay will largely depend on what you are writing about, and the elements and features of these various tasks may shorten or lengthen the word count.

In Studyfy, however, you can see these factors come into play and create a concoction of a text like no other. With a tailor-fit custom essay writing service that offers a variety of academic, business, and personalized research papers that vary in word count depending on your purpose, you can yield personal success in your sheer convenience. 

How Long is an Essay in High School?

In high school, essays typically vary in length based on the assignment type, ranging from 500 to 1500 words for narratives, 800 to 1500 words for expository essays, 500 to 1000 words for reflective essays, and 600 to 1200 words for process essays. Always follow your teacher's guidelines.

High school is the period in education where students’ lower and higher-order thinking skills (LOTS/HOTS) are put into practice, and essays and other related written tasks are manifestations of their learning of these skills.

Although there is a tendency for students to ask someone “to write an essay for me ” because of being overwhelmed with too much information, writing an essay in high school is the best starting point for students to practice writing and presenting information by counting what is important and relevant.

The following is the list of common essay types and their ideal word count:

Narrative Essays

Its primary purpose is to narrate a specific event or describe a scenario using quotations, vivid descriptions, and imagery to convey the situation in writing accurately. Although adjectives, literary devices, and other strategies for vivid conveyance may mean a considerable amount of words to be injected into the piece, the essay length of a narrative text may range from 500-1500 words. 

Expository Essays

Typically following the traditional and rigid 5-paragraph format, these essays present information about a topic or clarify a particular concept, phenomenon, or entity. While some sources may put the count range from 300-1000 words, the extensiveness of this essay type may enlarge the range from 800-1500 words.

Reflective Essays

Also known as reflection entries, these essays are beneficial for developing students’ metacognitive skills, as they are expected to recall personal thoughts and experiences about a certain topic. A typical reflective essay falls within the range of 500-1000 words, depending on how downright or deep your reflection is. 

Process Essay

These kinds of essays are pretty common in Science courses, such as Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Sometimes, coupled with a diagram or chart, a process essay explains how a certain practice, concept, or phenomenon happens step-by-step.

While some process essays may be words because some steps have to be elaborated for clarity, most are straightforward and do not need to be intricate since they are practical and mass-oriented. Because of this, process essays range from 600-1200 words.

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How Long is an Essay in College? Ideal Essay Length and Word Count

In college, essay lengths vary widely. Admission essays are typically 200-650 words, undergraduate essays range from 1500-5000 words, graduate admission essays are around 500-1000 words, and graduate-level essays can span 2500-6000 words. Always adhere to your assignment's specific word count guidelines.

To say that the essays in college get a lot more difficult than in high school, well– it is more complicated than that. Now that you are expected to have harnessed the necessary skills to process and interpret certain information, you now have to deal with types of writing tasks that are often extensive and time-consuming, to say the least.

Admission Essay

Impressing the admissions committee with a personalized essay is the number one goal, and guess what: You do not need a long string of words to do that. How long should essays be without using too many words in a college acceptance letter?

An admission college essay can be as short as a word count of 200-650 words, while graduate admission letters are more detailed with 500-1000 words. A quick tip: Show your personality and make an impact by clinching them with a few yet powerful or attention-catching quips. 

Critical Review Essay

Critiquing a text, film, book, or any other body of literature may require every bit of your research effort and HOTS. You have to dissect the subject into components and make sense of these components while making sure that you find gaps, associations, and relevance to a particular “lens” that helps a seemingly oblivious observation to become apparent.

It is thus safe to say that your word count may go bonkers, with an ideal range of 1500 to 3000 words, depending on the structure of your paper and the approach to criticism.

Persuasive Academic Essay

A persuasive college essay may land you a good harnessing of marketing and sales skills. This essay enables you to take a stand and advocate something for your audience to do the same thing by presenting credible and evidence-based claims and arguments.

A unique thing about persuasive college essays is that they use the technique called “Call to Action” to magically turn readers’ attention to your claim realistically and feasibly. Considering the elements that must be included in this essay, an 800-1500 word count is preferred.

Comparative Analysis Essay

Comparing and contrasting two ideas, phenomena, or concepts may take a while to provide total comprehensibility. Since the points of comparison may exceed the usual threshold, the word count may also swell up. Still dependent on the elements being compared in this analysis essay, the ideal word count is 1800-3000 words.

This writing task encapsulates the various documentation, research, and analysis of a specific case or scenario, most preferably something peculiar or novel. When creating a case study, it is somewhat impossible to be concise in describing the locale of the scenario.

You have to exhaust your vocabulary and presentation skills to convey the case into analysis effectively. With that being said, its ideal word count is 2000 to 3500 words, depending on the case’s complexity.

College Essays: Help is Near

College writeups can be difficult to do, and to pay for an essay may take a bit of shame and courage. However, the feeling of shame will change to relief if you know that a custom writing service that serves personal writing style and needs like Studyfy gets everything covered.

All of the specifications you need to be in the write-up, plus the necessary information that is pivotal to the success of your paper, will be yours if you sign up for a Studyfy service!

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FAQs: How Long Should An Essay Be?

How long is a typical essay if you will be using the ibc format.

IBC format, for starters, is the basic “Introduction-Body-Conclusion” format conventionally used for essays. Just like the IMRAD format in research papers, this format is standardized and widely accepted in academic institutions and other fields.

To determine the typical word count of an essay following this format, you must understand the weight of relevance each section holds. For instance, it is typical for an introduction to weigh less than the body, which should habituate the most significant information in the essay.

The same goes for conclusion. If the IBC format follows a 20-60-20 ratio and you aim for a 150-word minimum count per section, the entire count can be 750 words minimum.

How long are essays in college, considering that it will be a lot more difficult to write one?

Difficulty may translate to a longer word count, and we understand if it has been kept as a notion in your experience as a current or future college student. If you keenly noticed the type of essays presented at the collegiate level, the minimum word count is 250 (for admission essays) while the maximum is 3500 (mostly common among case studies).

Regularly, however, typical essay writing tasks range from 800-1000 words, especially if you are talking about concept, term, or research papers that are being done at the end of a unit of work or as a terminal course requirement.

Whether an undergraduate college essay, research paper, graduate school essays, or any type of academic writing, it's important to adhere to a specific word count and word limit. As college essays tend to be lengthy, an additional challenge is to incorporate all relevant information in a clear and succinct way.

Maximize your chances of admission with our expert admission essay writing service . Take action today to secure your academic future!

‍ How many words should an essay have if I wanted to fill an entire page?

Although this question is a bit practical and unhinged at the same time, we are also guilty about this, as we seldom check the word count of our paper when we finish a page. From our experience, you can fit 500-700 words in a page, but the count still depends on the font size, spacing, justification, and other formatting elements of your document. 

How long is an essay supposed to be in one paragraph?

The answer is invariable since we have to consider lots of factors about the purpose and nature of the writing task. From a general approximation, however, an essay paragraph can be within a hundred words. Exceeding it may render it lengthy and too tiring to read.

How many words should a high school essay be if no one provided an outline to adhere to?

When there is no explicit instruction about the word count of a high school essay task, you might find the 150-word minimum rule per section handy, in consonance with the 20-60-20 rule discussed briefly in the first question (although this is widely used if you are following the IBC format). You may adjust the minimum word limit depending on the difficulty or nature of the task.

How Schools Can Turn the Solar Eclipse Into an Unforgettable Science Lesson

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If the weather cooperates, science students of all ages could be in for quite a show on April 8. The first sign will be a sudden temperature drop. The sky will darken, and winds will shift. A dark shadow will appear on the horizon. Faint waves of light may waft across the ground. A ring of bright light will shine from the outer edges of the otherwise darkened sun. Then the moon will cover the sun completely and, for a few seconds, a thin red layer may appear around its outer rim.

This fantastical display describes a total solar eclipse, which happens in the same place on the planet only an average of once every 366 years, according to experts . It’s also the sort of once-in-a-lifetime occurrence that can get kids super excited about science—a worthwhile goal, especially amid a barrage of reports of disengaged students and sky-high rates of absenteeism .

The impending total solar eclipse raises several questions for educators—from how best to expose students to both its sheer magnificence and its value as a learning tool to, more broadly, how to infuse other ‘real world’ science lessons into the classroom. To get answers to these questions, Education Week reached out to science education guru Dennis Schatz, a senior fellow at the Institute of Learning Innovation, past president of the board of directors for the National Science Teaching Association, and advisor to the Smithsonian Science Education Center.

Schatz advocated for a carnival-like atmosphere to celebrate the coming eclipse; even, as he noted, several school districts will cancel school that day. He also shared his general thoughts on how teachers can generate interest in ‘real-world’ science learning and the obstacles that too often prevent it. Here’s an edited version of the conversation.

What is your overarching philosophy of science education?

A fundamental philosophy of mine is to make science life-long, life-wide, and life-deep.

What do you mean by ‘life-deep’?”

There’s the workforce development focus of this; that is, the demand for STEM professionals. But life-deep also means getting involved and interested in science at a level that’s appropriate for you. You may be an accountant, but you may like to watch the National Geographic Channel or read science books and, if so, that’s an appropriate depth for you.

Where does engagement in science start?

Having been involved in schoolwide reform efforts, I’ve done a lot of work with teachers in the classroom, although I’ve never actually taught in one. Making science more engaging for students is probably the biggest challenge at the elementary school level, because not many elementary school teachers are trained in science. So the real goal, especially at the elementary level, is how to build enthusiasm in teachers so they can then get students excited.

So, what works?

It can start by getting teachers to think about how to use their local environment, or local community, to generate interest in science. For example, in the Northwest, salmon is a big issue [ declining numbers in recent years have been blamed on climate change and human development], so that can be a way to generate interest—either from an environmental perspective or a food perspective. There are a lot of different real-world connections to be made with salmon for people who live in the Northwest.

What about getting students excited to experience the solar eclipse?

Absolutely, the solar eclipse can be awe-inspiring, and it can be fun. I was talking to a teacher recently who said: I don’t want to make it like a fire drill, where you take the students outside, with their glasses, take a look at the eclipse, and go back in. There’s a whole range in how districts are treating the [upcoming] eclipse. It takes two and a half hours, from beginning to end. Watching the eclipse slowly go across the sun is like watching ice melt. So you want to think about ways in which you can make it into a fun experience. Enlightened administrators will encourage building an entire event around it: Think art activities, food, music.

How far in advance would you suggest teachers begin preparing students for the solar eclipse?

It’s about two weeks out, and in the back of my mind, I’m saying: It’s way too late. I guess you could try to cram it all into just one day, but I would recommend spending more time in advance. Ideally, well before the eclipse, teachers will bring some science activities into class that model what’s happening with the phenomenon. There are many other real-life examples to draw from: Every six months, there’s at least one lunar and one solar eclipse somewhere on the Earth.

Will most schools use the eclipse as a learning opportunity?

A huge number of districts are canceling school for a variety of reasons; one is liability. In the Midwest and Northeast, the eclipse happens at the end of the school day, and people are worried about safety issues and higher-than-normal traffic during the point of totality [when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun]. In these cases of school closures, teachers who plan in advance can share information with students about how to experience the eclipse safely , and they can in turn go home and teach their parents.

How do you recommend students experience the eclipse?

I think glasses are overrated. When you look through a pair of glasses, you get this little yellow dot. There are so many indirect ways to view the eclipse. One of my favorites is with a basic kitchen colander . If you stand with your back to the sun and hold the colander so the sun’s light shines through it onto the ground or a wall, inside the colander’s shadow you’ll see many tiny images of the eclipsed sun.

Other tips for good viewing of the eclipse?

You want to find a place in the sun that’s not obscured by shadows, somewhere away from tall buildings. At most schools, this might be a playground area. I recommend going out a couple days ahead of time and finding out where the shadows are going to be, so you can avoid them. And of course, the most important element is clear weather.

When the eclipse is over, how can science teachers maintain students’ excitement about the natural world?

There are so many phenomena to observe and study—certainly in astronomy, from meteor showers to lunar eclipses—and all kinds of weather events, like hurricanes and earthquakes. You have to be sensitized, as a teacher, to think: I’m going to use these events to motivate an interest in science.

What resources do you suggest for teachers who want to stay informed about real-world science lessons?

The NSTA publishes three journals for educators, targeting elementary, middle, and high school students. I also like the New York Times’ science section. There’s also Scientific American magazine, which has moved from being a journal for scientists and now is much more geared for the lay audience.

So, if resources are available, what gets in the way of teaching real-world science lessons?

For teachers, it’s often a matter of figuring out: How do I feel like I have the freedom to move away from what I’m supposed to teach? Things are so standards-driven these days, there’s just no time or ability to deviate. Plus, you’re worrying about how kids are going to do on tests, and so many other things—social-emotional learning, safety. But if you aren’t generating an ongoing interest in the scientific phenomena that you can see and experience, then you’re doing a disservice to students.

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Essay on My School for Students and Children

500+ words essay on my school.

Education is an essential part of our lives. We are nothing without knowledge, and education is what separates us from others. The main step to acquiring education is enrolling oneself in a school. School serves as the first learning place for most of the people. Similarly, it is the first spark in receiving an education. In this essay on my school, I will tell you why I love my school and what my school has taught me.

We have all been to school and we have loved each and every moment we have spent over there as those were the building blocks of our lives. A school is a place where students are taught the fundamentals of life, as well as how to grow and survive in life. It instils in us values and principles that serve as the foundation for a child’s development.

My school is my second home where I spend most of my time. Above all, it gives me a platform to do better in life and also builds my personality. I feel blessed to study in one of the most prestigious and esteemed schools in the city. In addition, my school has a lot of assets which makes me feel fortunate to be a part of it. Let us look at the essay on my school written below.

Why I Love My School?

From kindergarten through primary and secondary school, and subsequently, to faculty, school is a place where we always study, grow, and establish ourselves, socialize, be a friend, help others, and love and be loved. School is a buddy that will accompany us from the beginning of our youth till the conclusion of our lives. At school, we share all of our pleasures and sorrows, and we constantly rely on one another. This is made possible through the friendships we share. They assist us in effortlessly overcoming difficulties, sharing moments of enjoyment together, and looking forward to new paths.

My school strikes the perfect balance between modern education and vintage architecture. The vintage buildings of my school never fail to mesmerize me with their glorious beauty. However, their vintage architecture does not mean it is outdated, as it is well-equipped with all the contemporary gadgets. I see my school as a lighthouse of education bestowing knowledge as well as ethical conduct upon us.

Teachers have the power to make or break a school. The teaching staff is regarded as the foundation of any educational society. It is their efforts to help kids learn and understand things that instil good habits and values in their students. While some concepts are simple to grasp, others necessitate the use of a skilled teacher to drive the home the idea with each pupil.

In contrast to other schools, my school does not solely focus on academic performance. In other words, it emphasizes on the overall development of their students. Along with our academics, extra-curricular activities are also organized at our school. This is one of the main reasons why I love my school as it does not measure everyone on the same scale. Our hardworking staff gives time to each child to grow at their own pace which instils confidence in them. My school has all the facilities of a library , computer room, playground, basketball court and more, to ensure we have it all at our disposal.

For me, my school is more than simply an educational institution; it is also my second family, which I established during my childhood. A family of wonderful friends, outstanding teachers, and fond school memories. I adore my school because it is where I learn how to be a good citizen and how to reach my goals. School is the only place where we make friends without judging them. We feel comfortable spending time with those close friends no matter what the situation.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

What has My School Taught Me?

If someone asked me what I have learned from my school, I won’t be able to answer it in one sentence. For the lessons are irreplaceable and I can never be thankful enough for them. I learned to share because of my school. The power of sharing and sympathy was taught to me by my school. I learned how to be considerate towards animals and it is also one of the main reasons why I adopted a pet.

School is an excellent place to learn how to be an adult before entering the real world. Those abilities pay dividends whether you choose to be the bigger person in an argument or simply complete your domestic tasks. When you open your mind to new ideas, you gain a lot of influence in society. Picking up unexpected hobbies on your own will teach you more about what you like to do than simply completing things for a grade.

A school is a place where I developed my artistic skills which were further enhanced by my teachers. Subsequently, it led me to participate in inter-school completions through which I earned various awards. Most importantly, my school taught me how to face failures with grace and never give up on my ambitions, no matter what happens.

Schools also offer a variety of extracurricular activities such as Scouts and Guides, sports, N.C.C., skating, school band, acting, dancing, singing, and so on. Our principal also used to give us a short lecture every day for about 10 minutes about etiquette, character development, moral education, respecting others, and gaining excellent values. As a result, I can claim that what I am today is solely due to my school, which is the best institution in my opinion.

Teamwork is an important ability that schools teach. Schools are frequently the first places where youngsters have the opportunity to collaborate with children who are different from them. Collaboration is essential for the team and individual success. Students are taught that the success of a team depends on each individual component functioning together.

To sum it up, studying in one of the respected schools has helped me a lot personally. I will always be indebted to my school for shaping my personality and teaching me invaluable lessons. It has given me friends for life and teachers that I will always look up to. I aspire to carry on the values imbibed by my school to do well in life and make it proud.

Here is the list of Top Schools in India! Does Your School Tops the List?

FAQs on School

Q.1 Why must every child go to school?

A.1 It is essential for every child to go to school as the school teaches us lessons that cannot be acquired anywhere else. The experience is one a kind and along with education, we learn many other things like socializing, extra-curricular activities and more.

Q.2 What does school teach us?

A.2 School teaches us some of the great things like first of all, it gives us basic education. It teaches us to develop our skills like art, dance, public speaking and more. Most importantly, it teaches us discipline.

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Regions & Countries

In the u.s., 180 days of school is most common, but length of school day varies by state.

School has started in most of the United States. On average, K-12 public schools will be in session close to 180 days this year, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of  data from the Education Commission of the States .

But as with many things involving public education, there is considerable state-by-state variation in how much schooling children will receive – and even how much time constitutes a day of school.

Every state sets rules for the minimum amount of time school must be in session. The minimum is usually some combination of days and hours per year and hours per day; state policies also establish how much, if any, non-instructional time – such as lunch, recess and class changes – can count toward those minimums. Individual districts set their own calendars based on those statewide rules, unless they obtain a waiver.

The most common way that states regulate instructional time is to set a minimum number of days for the school year; 38 states and the District of Columbia do so. The majority of those states (27 of 38), along with D.C., mandate 180 instructional days, making it the closest thing the country has to a national norm.

To better understand how school instructional time varies across the United States, Pew Research Center analyzed information on state laws and regulations compiled by the  Education Commission of the States , a nonprofit research organization that serves education policymakers throughout the country. We double-checked the ECS data against the relevant state statutes, rules and policies, updating it as necessary.

Many states’ rules differ depending on grade level, so we chose to look at annual and daily instructional time requirements for four specific grade levels: kindergarten (half-day and full-day, when appropriate), fourth grade, eighth grade and 11th grade. The idea was to get a sense for how instructional time at standard, five-day-a-week public schools compares at each of the major levels of K-12 education – kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and high school. That said, states vary considerably in how much, if any, non-instructional time (such as lunch, recess and class changes) can count toward those minimums.

Some states set separate requirements for how many days or hours districts must schedule versus how many they must operate . (The difference often reflects built-in days for teacher training, weather-related closures and the like.) In such cases, we used the minimum number of days or hours districts must schedule to meet their state’s calendar requirements.

While most of this analysis is based on 2023 data, we also examined similar data for five earlier years. The 2013 and 2014 compilations were also published by the Education Commission on the States. Data for 1989, 2000 and 2018 came from the  National Center for Education Statistics . While these earlier datasets provided some illuminating context, they proved too different from one another to permit direct year-over-year comparisons.

Which states require the fewest school days? The most?

Seven states set minimums less than 180 days, with Colorado having the lowest requirement at 160 days. Four states require more than 180 days, with Kansas as the leader. The Sunflower State mandates 186 days for kindergarten through 11th grade (and 181 days for 12th grade). Overall, the average requirement, among the states that have one, is 179 days.

A minimum school year of 180 days has been the norm for a long time. In August 1989, 33 states and D.C. had 180-day requirements, according to  a 1992 report from the National Center for Education Statistics . Only one state required more school days that year (Ohio, with 182), while 12 required fewer. The remaining states either had no minimum day requirement or set a range of 175 to 180 days.

How many hours in a school day – or a school year?

Besides setting a minimum number of days, states can regulate school time by mandating a certain number of hours or minutes per school year. Thirty-nine states have these types of laws or policies, according to the Education Commission of the States. (Some states, in fact, give districts the option of meeting either type of minimum – by days or time per year. Oklahoma, for instance, allows school districts to schedule 180 standard school days or spread out 1,080 hours over 165 days.)

In a majority of those states (26 of 39), annual time minimums vary by grade level. For example, South Dakota sets an annual minimum of 875 hours per year for fourth graders but requires 962.5 hours of school for eighth graders.

Across all states that specify annual time minimums, the average for fourth graders is 997.8 hours per school year. For 11th graders, the number of hours required in a school year ranges from 720 hours (including lunch) in Arizona to 1,260 in Texas (though that state expresses its requirements in minutes, not hours). The average requirement for 11th graders, among the 39 states that have one, is 1,034.8 hours per year.

Another option is to require a certain number of hours or minutes per school day, which 29 states and D.C. do. In 16 of those states, the requirements vary by grade level. In Pennsylvania, for example, the minimum length for a school day is 2.5 hours for kindergarten, 5 hours for first through eighth grades, and 5.5 hours for ninth through 12th grades.

For eighth graders, the school day can contain as few as 3 hours in Maryland and Missouri, or as many as 6.5 in Tennessee. New Hampshire and Oregon, intriguingly, set  maximums  for the length of the school day – in the case of eighth graders, 6 hours in New Hampshire and 8 hours in Oregon. And as with annual time requirements, states vary on how and whether to count lunch, recess and other non-classroom time.

Texas is unique in that it only sets a minimum number of  minutes  in the school year – 75,600, or 1,260 hours, including intermissions and recess – which districts are free to distribute as they choose. In the past, however, Texas mandated 7 hours per school day, including intermissions, recesses and other non-instructional time. If Texas school districts continue to follow that older convention, that would work out to a school year of … 180 days.

Minimum number of hours in a school year, 2023

Minimum number of hours in a school day, 2023.

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‘Back to school’ means anytime from late July to after Labor Day, depending on where in the U.S. you live

Among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Should college essays touch on race? Some feel the affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice

CHICAGO — When she started writing her college essay, Hillary Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. About being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana and growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. About hardship and struggle.

Then she deleted it all.

“I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18-year-old senior at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago. “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.”

When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in higher education, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. For many students of color, instantly more was riding on the already high-stakes writing assignment. Some say they felt pressure to exploit their hardships as they competed for a spot on campus.

Amofa was just starting to think about her essay when the court issued its decision, and it left her with a wave of questions. Could she still write about her race? Could she be penalized for it? She wanted to tell colleges about her heritage but she didn’t want to be defined by it.

In English class, Amofa and her classmates read sample essays that all seemed to focus on some trauma or hardship. It left her with the impression she had to write about her life’s hardest moments to show how far she’d come. But she and some of her classmates wondered if their lives had been hard enough to catch the attention of admissions offices.

“For a lot of students, there’s a feeling of, like, having to go through something so horrible to feel worthy of going to school, which is kind of sad,” said Amofa, the daughter of a hospital technician and an Uber driver.

This year’s senior class is the first in decades to navigate college admissions without affirmative action . The Supreme Court upheld the practice in decisions going back to the 1970s, but this court’s conservative supermajority found it is unconstitutional for colleges to give students extra weight because of their race alone.

Still, the decision left room for race to play an indirect role: Chief Justice John Roberts wrote universities can still consider how an applicant’s life was shaped by their race, “so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability.”

“A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination,” he wrote.

Scores of colleges responded with new essay prompts asking about students’ backgrounds. Brown University asked applicants how “an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you.” Rice University asked students how their perspectives were shaped by their “background, experiences, upbringing, and/or racial identity.”

WONDERING IF SCHOOLS 'EXPECT A SOB STORY'

When Darrian Merritt started writing his essay, he knew the stakes were higher than ever because of the court’s decision. His first instinct was to write about events that led to him going to live with his grandmother as a child.

Those were painful memories, but he thought they might play well at schools like Yale, Stanford and Vanderbilt.

“I feel like the admissions committee might expect a sob story or a tragic story,” said Merritt, a senior in Cleveland. “And if you don’t provide that, then maybe they’re not going to feel like you went through enough to deserve having a spot at the university. I wrestled with that a lot.”

He wrote drafts focusing on his childhood, but it never amounted to more than a collection of memories. Eventually he abandoned the idea and aimed for an essay that would stand out for its positivity.

Merritt wrote about a summer camp where he started to feel more comfortable in his own skin. He described embracing his personality and defying his tendency to please others. The essay had humor — it centered on a water gun fight where he had victory in sight but, in a comedic twist, slipped and fell. But the essay also reflects on his feelings of not being “Black enough” and getting made fun of for listening to “white people music.”

“I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to write this for me, and we’re just going to see how it goes,’” he said. “It just felt real, and it felt like an honest story.”

The essay describes a breakthrough as he learned “to take ownership of myself and my future by sharing my true personality with the people I encounter. ... I realized that the first chapter of my own story had just been written.”

A RULING PROMPTS PIVOTS ON ESSAY TOPICS

Like many students, Max Decker of Portland, Oregon, had drafted a college essay on one topic, only to change direction after the Supreme Court ruling in June.

Decker initially wrote about his love for video games. In a childhood surrounded by constant change, navigating his parents’ divorce, the games he took from place to place on his Nintendo DS were a source of comfort.

But the essay he submitted to colleges focused on the community he found through Word is Bond, a leadership group for young Black men in Portland.

As the only biracial, Jewish kid with divorced parents in a predominantly white, Christian community, Decker wrote he constantly felt like the odd one out. On a trip with Word is Bond to Capitol Hill, he and friends who looked just like him shook hands with lawmakers. The experience, he wrote, changed how he saw himself.

“It’s because I’m different that I provide something precious to the world, not the other way around,” he wrote.

As a first-generation college student, Decker thought about the subtle ways his peers seemed to know more about navigating the admissions process . They made sure to get into advanced classes at the start of high school, and they knew how to secure glowing letters of recommendation.

If writing about race would give him a slight edge and show admissions officers a fuller picture of his achievements, he wanted to take that small advantage.

His first memory about race, Decker said, was when he went to get a haircut in elementary school and the barber made rude comments about his curly hair. Until recently, the insecurity that moment created led him to keep his hair buzzed short.

Through Word is Bond, Decker said he found a space to explore his identity as a Black man. It was one of the first times he was surrounded by Black peers and saw Black role models. It filled him with a sense of pride in his identity. No more buzzcut.

The pressure to write about race involved a tradeoff with other important things in his life, Decker said. That included his passion for journalism, like the piece he wrote on efforts to revive a once-thriving Black neighborhood in Portland. In the end, he squeezed in 100 characters about his journalism under the application’s activities section.

“My final essay, it felt true to myself. But the difference between that and my other essay was the fact that it wasn’t the truth that I necessarily wanted to share,” said Decker, whose top college choice is Tulane, in New Orleans, because of the region’s diversity. “It felt like I just had to limit the truth I was sharing to what I feel like the world is expecting of me.”

SPELLING OUT THE IMPACT OF RACE

Before the Supreme Court ruling, it seemed a given to Imani Laird that colleges would consider the ways that race had touched her life. But now, she felt like she had to spell it out.

As she started her essay, she reflected on how she had faced bias or felt overlooked as a Black student in predominantly white spaces.

There was the year in math class when the teacher kept calling her by the name of another Black student. There were the comments that she’d have an easier time getting into college because she was Black .

“I didn’t have it easier because of my race,” said Laird, a senior at Newton South High School in the Boston suburbs who was accepted at Wellesley and Howard University, and is waiting to hear from several Ivy League colleges. “I had stuff I had to overcome.”

In her final essays, she wrote about her grandfather, who served in the military but was denied access to GI Bill benefits because of his race.

She described how discrimination fueled her ambition to excel and pursue a career in public policy.

“So, I never settled for mediocrity,” she wrote. “Regardless of the subject, my goal in class was not just to participate but to excel. Beyond academics, I wanted to excel while remembering what started this motivation in the first place.”

WILL SCHOOLS LOSE RACIAL DIVERSITY?

Amofa used to think affirmative action was only a factor at schools like Harvard and Yale. After the court’s ruling, she was surprised to find that race was taken into account even at some public universities she was applying to.

Now, without affirmative action, she wondered if mostly white schools will become even whiter.

It’s been on her mind as she chooses between Indiana University and the University of Dayton, both of which have relatively few Black students. When she was one of the only Black students in her grade school, she could fall back on her family and Ghanaian friends at church. At college, she worries about loneliness.

“That’s what I’m nervous about,” she said. “Going and just feeling so isolated, even though I’m constantly around people.”

The first drafts of her essay focused on growing up in a low-income family, sharing a bedroom with her brother and grandmother. But it didn’t tell colleges about who she is now, she said.

Her final essay tells how she came to embrace her natural hair . She wrote about going to a mostly white grade school where classmates made jokes about her afro. When her grandmother sent her back with braids or cornrows, they made fun of those too.

Over time, she ignored their insults and found beauty in the styles worn by women in her life. She now runs a business doing braids and other hairstyles in her neighborhood.

“I stopped seeing myself through the lens of the European traditional beauty standards and started seeing myself through the lens that I created,” Amofa wrote.

“Criticism will persist, but it loses its power when you know there’s a crown on your head!”

Ma reported from Portland, Oregon.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .

Ozark School District says new solar panels will save district money

OZARK, Mo. (KY3) - Two elementary schools in Ozark are getting solar panels installed, something the district expects to save them money in the long-run.

Dr. Curtis Chesick, assistant superintendent of operations, says this is all part of a major renovation, cost-saving project that includes the solar panels, installing LED lights at the schools, and updating the HVAC system at the high school, all in an effort to reduce energy costs. The panels are going in at South and West elementary schools.

“We also chose to examine how we could save money with solar. So we chose South Elementary, which we think we can get close to energy neutral by putting solar panels on the roof. Then ironically, our newest elementary was our highest electrical bill. So we found ways that we could save some money there. And we’re putting in a solar field out back to drive those costs down as well,” said Dr. Chesick.

The district was quoted $2.8 million for the solar panel project, though Dr. Chesick says with rebates, they expect the cost to be closer to $1.8 million. That, of course, could change.

“Right now, there’s a lot of rebates through the federal level, as well as our local power company. We’re gonna get a check presentation from them, I believe next week for some of the rebates that they’re offering as well,” said Dr. Chesick.

The school isn’t sure just how much money it’ll save yet; they’re going through an audit. However, they expect the savings to be enough to pay off the new HVAC system at the high school.

“We’re actually going through the audit right now,” said Dr. Chesick. “There’s enough cost savings that between the next 15 and 20 years, it will actually pay for the replacement of the HVAC system at the high school.”

The district did a lease purchase to buy the panels, which will be paid annually with cost-savings from the new high school HVAC system and the energy savings it expects to see from both the LED lights and solar panels.

“The annual savings that we receive from lowering our energy bills and lowering our maintenance bills pays for the cost of the lease purchase,” said Dr. Chesick.

It is important to note that this will not raise taxes in the Ozark School District. The district will cover the purchase with their current operating costs.

“So this whole project is done within the general operating budget of the Ozarks School District. There’s not an increase to property taxes, there’s not an increase to our operating levy. This is just a way that we can reduce our daily operations with electricity and then help offset for some future expenses,” said Dr. Chesick.

Dr. Chesick says he hopes that with the money the district saves, that there will be more money to contribute to the schools.

“The cost of everything is going up: the operation of the buildings, the electricity, the gas, the water, sewer, all of that goes up. Our funding, we like to spend as many dollars as we can on students. So anytime we can take money out of paying for power, and put it in paying for teachers or paying for the supplies that go into the classroom, that’s great. That’s a great win,” said Dr. Chesick.

The solar panels at West are currently under construction and are expected to be done in June. Construction on South’s solar panels will start after some roof upgrades that are being completed this summer.

To report a correction or typo, please email [email protected]

Copyright 2024 KY3. All rights reserved.

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One Grieving Mother Hasn’t Given Up Hope for a Gun Control Compromise

A year after losing her daughter in the Covenant School shooting, Katy Dieckhaus is speaking about Evelyn, and the changes she wants to see.

By Emily Cochrane

The essence of Evelyn Dieckhaus is still there, captured in the pink Bible where she underlined the word “covenant” in silver ink, and in the beaming photos of her with her family.

It is there in her journal, recovered from the scene of the Covenant School mass shooting, where Evelyn, 9, had copied out by hand a New Testament verse about maintaining sympathy, tenderness and humility.

Her mother, Katy Dieckhaus, has since placed those pieces of her daughter’s memory into what she calls her “little Ev bag,” which she has carried with her as she takes her first steps into the intractable debate over gun control in Tennessee.

“I just thought, ‘O.K., Ev, let’s go — let’s go try something,’” Ms. Dieckhaus said this week, holding back tears as she recalled her first meeting with lawmakers. “Let’s go try to help people work together. Let’s see what we can do.”

Ms. Dieckhaus and her husband, Mike, have rarely spoken publicly since their daughter and five others were killed at the Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, 2023. But they are now stepping forward at a moment when Tennessee remains deeply divided on whether to limit access to guns.

Despite a groundswell of pressure from gun control protesters after the shooting, the Republican-dominated legislature has still proven reluctant to impose new barriers to firearm access. While gun control advocates were encouraged by an August special session called to address public safety, Republicans did not pass any restrictions on firearm access . At the time, State Representative Jeremy Faison, a member of Republican leadership, said “we carried out what we believed the voice of Tennessee was for each one of our districts.”

Lawmakers have shown some willingness to respond to the circumstances at Covenant, including by passing a bill this year requiring schools to establish procedures in case a fire alarm is triggered by a shooter.

A few other bills — a measure that would make it a felony to threaten to commit an act of mass violence and the governor’s proposal to boost funding for the agency in charge of processing background checks — are still being considered.

Yet the chasm between those who see gun rights as a sacred aspect of American identity, and those eager to ban the most deadly of weapons, still yawns in Tennessee, which has steadily loosened its gun laws and rebuffed any perception of infringement on the Second Amendment. That enmity flared into the expulsion of two Black Democrats who had led a gun control protest from the floor of the House.

To shield their family — particularly their older daughter, who survived the shooting — from the debate and hold onto hope for some change, Ms. Dieckhaus and her husband have chosen to focus on modest proposals in their state.

They join a long line of parents, who have suffered the loss of a child in a school shooting and channeled their grief into pleas for change. After Parkland, Fla., parents went to the White House and called to either toughen school security or restrict firearm access. Parents of children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut formed a nonprofit aimed at preventing gun violence. And in Uvalde, Texas, the mother of one slain student mounted a bid , though unsuccessful, for mayor.

In Nashville, the effort has been led by parents of surviving students, some of whom are gun owners and conservatives. They, their friends and other parents have filled the halls of the State Capitol and formed new groups like Rise & Shine Tennessee or Voices for a Safer Tennessee, the nonpartisan nonprofit that Ms. Dieckhaus has joined as a board member.

“We’re in it for the long haul,” Mr. Dieckhaus said. “We’ve lost so much, and we have another daughter who we want to protect, along with all other people.”

On Wednesday, many of those newfound allies and friends joined hundreds in linking arms from Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to the State Capitol more than five miles away, in honor of the three third graders and three staff members killed at Covenant, as well as other gun violence victims in the state. In the cold, they sang “This Little Light of Mine” and hugged, children playing around them.

In taking the first steps into advocacy, the Dieckhauses have been drawn to the policy and focus of Voices for a Safer Tennessee. That nonprofit advocates for toughening background changes and requiring the safe storage of guns in cars. It is also in favor of a law that would allow the temporary removal of firearms from a person who a court finds to be a threat to themselves or others.

Their process, the two parents have decided, will be to speak of their childhoods in small town Missouri, but not divulge any political leaning or stance to avoid taking away from the work at hand.

“We want respectful conversations to happen,” Ms. Dieckhaus said, “and we don’t want people to feel like they have to shy away from that.”

And they will share the memories of Evelyn. To speak of Evelyn in the past is still hard, so Ms. Dieckhaus will sometimes linger on the present tense: she is kind, she gets her work done early, she has a spicy side.

“I have wanted to try to find ways that we can slow down the bleeding and such heartbreak,” Ms. Dieckhaus said. She added, “I have so much to learn still.”

Emily Cochrane is a national reporter for The Times covering the American South, based in Nashville. More about Emily Cochrane

Gun Violence in America

A Grieving Mother’s Hope: Katy Dieckhaus, whose daughter was killed in the 2023 Covent School shooting in Nashville, is pleading for compromise with those who see gun rights as sacred .

A Historic Case: On Feb. 6, an American jury convicted a parent for a mass shooting carried out by their child for the first time. Lisa Miller, a reporter who has been following the case since its beginning, explains what the verdict really means .

Echoing Through School Grounds: In a Rhode Island city, gunshots from AR-15-style weapons have become the daily soundtrack for a school within 500 yards of a police shooting range. Parents are terrified, and children have grown accustomed to the threat of violence .

The Emotional Toll: We asked Times readers how the threat of gun violence has affected the way they lead their lives. Here’s what they told us .

Gun Control: U.S. gun laws are at the center of heated exchanges between those in favor and against tougher regulations. Here’s what to know about that debate .

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Should college essays touch on race? Some feel affirmative action ruling leaves no choice

When the supreme court ended affirmative action in higher education, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions..

By The Associated Press

5:20 AM on Mar 28, 2024 CDT

CHICAGO — When she started writing her college essay, Hillary Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. About being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana and growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. About hardship and struggle.

Then she deleted it all.

“I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18-year-old senior at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago. “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.”

When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in higher education, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. For many students of color, instantly more was riding on the already high-stakes writing assignment. Some say they felt pressure to exploit their hardships as they competed for a spot on campus.

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Related: Gov. Abbott issues executive order fighting antisemitism at Texas colleges

Amofa was just starting to think about her essay when the court issued its decision, and it left her with a wave of questions. Could she still write about her race? Could she be penalized for it? She wanted to tell colleges about her heritage but she didn’t want to be defined by it.

In English class, Amofa and her classmates read sample essays that all seemed to focus on some trauma or hardship. It left her with the impression she had to write about her life’s hardest moments to show how far she’d come. But she and some of her classmates wondered if their lives had been hard enough to catch the attention of admissions offices.

“For a lot of students, there’s a feeling of, like, having to go through something so horrible to feel worthy of going to school, which is kind of sad,” said Amofa, the daughter of a hospital technician and an Uber driver.

This year’s senior class is the first in decades to navigate college admissions without affirmative action. The Supreme Court upheld the practice in decisions going back to the 1970s, but this court’s conservative supermajority found it is unconstitutional for colleges to give students extra weight because of their race alone.

Still, the decision left room for race to play an indirect role: Chief Justice John Roberts wrote universities can still consider how an applicant’s life was shaped by their race, “so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability.”

“A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination,” he wrote.

Scores of colleges responded with new essay prompts asking about students’ backgrounds. Brown University asked applicants how “an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you.” Rice University asked students how their perspectives were shaped by their “background, experiences, upbringing, and/or racial identity.”

Do schools ‘expect a sob story’?

When Darrian Merritt started writing his essay, he knew the stakes were higher than ever because of the court’s decision. His first instinct was to write about events that led to him going to live with his grandmother as a child.

Those were painful memories, but he thought they might play well at schools like Yale, Stanford and Vanderbilt.

“I feel like the admissions committee might expect a sob story or a tragic story,” said Merritt, a senior in Cleveland. “And if you don’t provide that, then maybe they’re not going to feel like you went through enough to deserve having a spot at the university. I wrestled with that a lot.”

Related: Texas colleges risk millions if they break DEI ban, lawmaker says

He wrote drafts focusing on his childhood, but it never amounted to more than a collection of memories. Eventually he abandoned the idea and aimed for an essay that would stand out for its positivity.

Merritt wrote about a summer camp where he started to feel more comfortable in his own skin. He described embracing his personality and defying his tendency to please others. The essay had humor — it centered on a water gun fight where he had victory in sight but, in a comedic twist, slipped and fell. But the essay also reflects on his feelings of not being “Black enough” and getting made fun of for listening to “white people music.”

“I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to write this for me, and we’re just going to see how it goes,’” he said. “It just felt real, and it felt like an honest story.”

The essay describes a breakthrough as he learned “to take ownership of myself and my future by sharing my true personality with the people I encounter. ... I realized that the first chapter of my own story had just been written.”

Ruling prompts pivots on essay topics

Like many students, Max Decker of Portland, Ore., had drafted a college essay on one topic, only to change direction after the Supreme Court ruling in June.

Decker initially wrote about his love for video games. In a childhood surrounded by constant change, navigating his parents’ divorce, the games he took from place to place on his Nintendo DS were a source of comfort.

But the essay he submitted to colleges focused on the community he found through Word is Bond, a leadership group for young Black men in Portland.

As the only biracial, Jewish kid with divorced parents in a predominantly white, Christian community, Decker wrote he constantly felt like the odd one out. On a trip with Word is Bond to Capitol Hill, he and friends who looked just like him shook hands with lawmakers. The experience, he wrote, changed how he saw himself.

“It’s because I’m different that I provide something precious to the world, not the other way around,” he wrote.

As a first-generation college student, Decker thought about the subtle ways his peers seemed to know more about navigating the admissions process. They made sure to get into advanced classes at the start of high school, and they knew how to secure glowing letters of recommendation.

If writing about race would give him a slight edge and show admissions officers a fuller picture of his achievements, he wanted to take that small advantage.

His first memory about race, Decker said, was when he went to get a haircut in elementary school and the barber made rude comments about his curly hair. Until recently, the insecurity that moment created led him to keep his hair buzzed short.

Related: Dallas approves more than $30 million in contracts to improve sidewalks citywide

Through Word is Bond, Decker said he found a space to explore his identity as a Black man. It was one of the first times he was surrounded by Black peers and saw Black role models. It filled him with a sense of pride in his identity. No more buzzcut.

The pressure to write about race involved a tradeoff with other important things in his life, Decker said. That included his passion for journalism, like the piece he wrote on efforts to revive a once-thriving Black neighborhood in Portland. In the end, he squeezed in 100 characters about his journalism under the application’s activities section.

“My final essay, it felt true to myself. But the difference between that and my other essay was the fact that it wasn’t the truth that I necessarily wanted to share,” said Decker, whose top college choice is Tulane, in New Orleans, because of the region’s diversity. “It felt like I just had to limit the truth I was sharing to what I feel like the world is expecting of me.”

Spelling out the impact of race

Before the Supreme Court ruling, it seemed a given to Imani Laird that colleges would consider the ways that race had touched her life. But now, she felt like she had to spell it out.

As she started her essay, she reflected on how she had faced bias or felt overlooked as a Black student in predominantly white spaces.

There was the year in math class when the teacher kept calling her by the name of another Black student. There were the comments that she’d have an easier time getting into college because she was Black.

Related: Federal appeals court questions legality of Texas immigration law

“I didn’t have it easier because of my race,” said Laird, a senior at Newton South High School in the Boston suburbs who was accepted at Wellesley and Howard University, and is waiting to hear from several Ivy League colleges. “I had stuff I had to overcome.”

In her final essays, she wrote about her grandfather, who served in the military but was denied access to GI Bill benefits because of his race.

She described how discrimination fueled her ambition to excel and pursue a career in public policy.

“So, I never settled for mediocrity,” she wrote. “Regardless of the subject, my goal in class was not just to participate but to excel. Beyond academics, I wanted to excel while remembering what started this motivation in the first place.”

Will schools lose racial diversity?

Amofa used to think affirmative action was only a factor at schools like Harvard and Yale. After the court’s ruling, she was surprised to find that race was taken into account even at some public universities she was applying to.

Now, without affirmative action, she wondered if mostly white schools will become even whiter.

It’s been on her mind as she chooses between Indiana University and the University of Dayton, both of which have relatively few Black students. When she was one of the only Black students in her grade school, she could fall back on her family and Ghanaian friends at church. At college, she worries about loneliness.

“That’s what I’m nervous about,” she said. “Going and just feeling so isolated, even though I’m constantly around people.”

The first drafts of her essay focused on growing up in a low-income family, sharing a bedroom with her brother and grandmother. But it didn’t tell colleges about who she is now, she said.

Her final essay tells how she came to embrace her natural hair. She wrote about going to a mostly white grade school where classmates made jokes about her afro. When her grandmother sent her back with braids or cornrows, they made fun of those too.

Over time, she ignored their insults and found beauty in the styles worn by women in her life. She now runs a business doing braids and other hairstyles in her neighborhood.

“I stopped seeing myself through the lens of the European traditional beauty standards and started seeing myself through the lens that I created,” Amofa wrote.

“Criticism will persist, but it loses its power when you know there’s a crown on your head!”

By Collin Binkley, Annie Ma and Noreen Nasir of The Associated Press

The Associated Press

5 Texas Rangers thoughts from opening day: Jonah Heim’s heroics keep the celebration going

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