GED Essay Writing

Writing essays can be intimidating for adult learners. Writing one that can determine your next steps in life can be terrifying. So how do you approach this subject with your students? At the beginning, of course! But you need a plan. Here are five steps to essay writing (plus a video to see it in practice!) for the 45 minutes allotted by GED.

1. Brainstorm! Organize your thoughts clearly. Then prioritize your best three ideas, or the ones you can write the most about. Put your ideas in order. The rule of thumb is to put your strongest point last, but if you feel that there is a more logical order, go for it.

2. Add details to your ideas. As you’re writing, you’re likely to forget all the reasons why something was a great idea, so add your supporting points underneath your argument or main point.

(Complete the first two steps in less than 10 minutes)

3. Develop a topic sentence. Take the prompt and turn it into a sentence, no need to be creative. Then, create subsequent topic sentences for your three main arguments. Brainstorm different ways of saying common adjectives and phrases so you don’t lose points on word choice. (ex: good can be great, fair, helpful, etc.)

4. Start writing! Put your ideas into sentences. Remember, you don’t have to start with the introduction. Write what you are most confident with first to get the ball rolling.

5. Review your work. If you have time, go over your essay to make sure it is clear and concise.

GED Five Paragraph Essay Video

For more videos and resources available to print, visit Brenna’s MLoTs page.