Audience Trumps Structure Every Time
Last week, in my reading of Kate Glass’ article at ASCD Express “ReThinking Five Paragraphs,” I related to much of what Kate portrayed in her writing. The staid structure of writing that we’ve all been exposed to as students, and perhaps perpetuated as teachers needs some close scrutiny. When, other than on standardized tests, do we read arguments that wrap up neatly in five formulaic paragraphs? This is, as Dan Meyer put it in his 2010 TEDxNYED talk, akin to an impatience with irresolution. And Glass notes that:
Freedom can be a little scary. Kids sometimes even panic when they are told they can decide how