Lesson 1: Brainstorming

Time Required: 40 minutes

Materials: Brainstorm Your Ideas student reproducible 2 (PDF), Outline Your Essay student reproducible 1 (PDF), pen

Directions:
1. Review the qualities of anecdotal writing with students (autobiographical writing using vivid, specific detail that focuses on one important event). If possible, review examples of anecdotal writing from newspaper columns, memoirs, or autobiographies.

2. Distribute Brainstorm Your Ideas Student Reproducible 2 and read the introduction together. Give students 10 minutes to complete section “A.” Then discuss what was easy, challenging, fun, or unexpected about responding to the prompts.

3. Explain to students that scholarship and college essay topics are often broad; it’s challenging to respond in 500 words, but the use of key words can help. As a class, make a list of the key words in each concept or idea on Brainstorm Your Ideas Student Reproducible 2. Together, discuss why these particular words are “key” (allow for a wide range of answers, encourage a particular type of answer, etc.).

4. Provide five minutes each for students to complete sections “B” and “C.” Discuss students’ reactions between each section.

5. Distribute Outline Your Essay Student Reproducible 1. Instruct students to use the outlining tool and what they have learned about brainstorming to outline an essay on the topic provided.

Other brainstorming ideas:
Instruct students to try writing a college essay in a journal format: Students can set aside 5–10 minutes a day to write about topics that are related to the question. At the end of a week or two, they should easily be able to cull material for the body of a strong personal essay from the journal entries.

Encourage students to interview other people if they’re having trouble deciding how to answer a question. In listening to responses, students will discover their own opinions in relation to them, deciding whether their feelings are similar or different.