My Student Has Three Ideas and Still Can’t Start Writing. What Can They Do?”
My Student Has Three Ideas and Still Can’t Start Writing. What Can They Do?”
Your student understands the writing prompt. They have three possible answers. They can even tell you something about each one.
Then they sit there trying to decide which one to use.
On a timed writing test, one question can help them choose:
“I have three ideas. Which one would be easiest to explain and prove?”
The proof could be a line from the book, a detail they remember, or something a character says or does. Looking at what they could actually use gives them a way to choose an answer and start writing.
That decision can feel bigger when the clock is running. A student might worry that they’ll get halfway through a paragraph and realize another idea would have been easier. So they keep going back and forth, using up the time they need to write.
As a parent, it can be hard to watch this happen when you know your student has something to say. You’ve heard their ideas. You want to help them get started, and you also want them to be able to do this when you’re sitting somewhere else.
Here’s something you can practice together.
How can my student choose an idea for a timed writing test?
Start with the question they’ve been asked. Each idea they’re considering needs to answer it.
Let’s use a familiar story, The Three Little Pigs, with the same prompt from our earlier post:
Which choice made by a character had the biggest effect on the story? Use a specific moment from the story to support your answer.
A student might have three ideas:
Building the straw house.
Building the stick house.
Building the brick house.
They could spend several minutes going back and forth. Or they could ask themselves, “Which one can I explain and prove most easily?”
For the brick house, they might think:
The wolf blows down the straw and stick houses. The brick house stays standing. I could use that to explain why building with bricks made the biggest difference.
They have an answer, something from the story to support it, and an explanation of why it matters. That gives them enough to start a paragraph.
The same question works when they’re writing about a novel, a play, or a poem. Which idea can they explain clearly, and what evidence can they use to prove it?
How can I help my student choose without giving them the answer?
When your student asks, “Which one should I pick?” it’s tempting to choose for them, especially when you can see that they’re getting frustrated or you’ve both been working on this for a while.
Try asking them to talk through one idea.
“What could you use from the book to prove that?”
Give them time to think. They might remember a line, an important detail, or something a character does. Then ask:
“How would you explain that?”
If they can tell you how that detail supports their answer, they have something to write. If they’re struggling to find proof, they can try another idea. Sometimes talking it through is how they find out which one they can write about.
You can also tell them what you hear them doing. “You’ve got an answer, you’ve remembered something that supports it, and you’ve explained how they connect. Write down what you just told me.”
That gives them a reason to trust their choice. They still get to make it.
What should my student write down before starting their answer?
Have them jot down three things:
Their answer to the question.
The proof they plan to use.
What they want to explain about that proof.
For the brick-house idea, their notes might look like this:
Answer: Building with bricks.
Proof: Other houses blow down. Brick house stays standing.
Explain: Gives the pig protection when the wolf attacks.
A few words for each is enough. They don’t even have to write complete sentences. Now they have something to look at while writing the first sentence.
Try this with one prompt at home, when there’s time to talk it through. Let your student suggest a few answers, work out what they could use to prove each one, and choose. As the process gets more familiar, have them try it with a timer.
And if they’re still unsure what the question wants them to do, start by having them put the prompt into their own words. I walk through that first step in My Student Can Write at Home. Why Do They Freeze During Tests?
If your student regularly gets stuck choosing an idea or figuring out how to support it, we can practice those steps together in tutoring. Explore personalized online English support.
