Literacy Strategy #12

Name of strategy
ABCD Essay Strategy

Brief description of the

strategy
 Students can use the ABCD strategy for prewriting to plan out
how they will take on a timed essay. They break their prompt
down to solely the requirements that are needed in their
essay. They then determine how they will meet those
requirements in their content. They take their ideas and
organize them and then use that to begin writing. They then
revise their paper and resolve any errors.

Explanation of how it can be

used Students can use this to help them gain a procedure/idea of how to
approach timed essays.

 A stands for Attack the Prompt. In this part, they cross out
parts of the prompt solely meant to make it larger but have
little to nothing to do with what they need to write. They
circle words that ask them to do something (e.g. analyze,
persuade, defend, etc.). Take the circled words and use them
to create a mini-checklist for the essay.
 B stands for Brainstorm. Students begin generating ideas for
possible responses to what exactly the prompt is asking them
to do in their essay.
 C stands for Choose the Order. Students take the ideas they
gathered, create some sort of map/chart, and use it to
establish an order in which they want to discuss their ideas.
 D stands for Detect errors before submitting. Students revise
their paper as carefully as time allows and identify and fix any
errors they made.
Source (doesn’t need to be The English Teacher’s Companion – Jim Burke
APA)