My Student Can Write at Home. Why Do They Freeze During Tests?
My Student Can Write at Home. Why Do They Freeze During Tests?
At home, your student can write a whole paragraph about a book. On a unit test, they work through the shorter questions, turn to the writing prompt at the end, and read it three times. They still haven’t written a word.
Later, when you ask what happened, they say, “I didn’t know where to start.”
By the time they reach the writing section, they’ve already spent most of the test concentrating. They may be tired or checking how much time they have left. Now they have to figure out what the question wants, decide what to say, and get a first sentence down. When they try to make all those decisions at once, it’s easy to end up back at the top of the prompt, reading it again.
The first thing I’d practice with that student is putting the prompt into their own words.
Why does my student keep rereading the prompt?
I’ve seen students read every word of a prompt and still be unsure what they’re being asked to do. Take this one:
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 be thinking, Am I supposed to tell what happened? Explain why the character did it? Which character am I even supposed to write about?
I’d ask, “How would you explain this question to a friend who missed class?”
Their answer might sound like this:
I have to pick a decision a character made, explain why it made the biggest difference in the story, and use a scene from the book to show what I mean.
English teacher Jim Burke recommends teaching students to look for the words in a timed prompt that tell them what to do and what to include.¹ When a student puts the prompt into their own words, I can hear where they’re stuck. If they say, “I have to explain why the character did it,” I can point them back to the question and ask, “What happened because the character did it?” That gives them a clearer idea of what to write.
How can I help my student practice at home?
Pull out one prompt from a recent assignment. Ask your student to tell you, in everyday language, what they’d have to do to answer it. If they say, “I have to write about a character,” try asking, “What does the question want you to explain about that character?” Give them a moment to look back at the directions and try again.
You can stop there. That’s enough for one practice round. Once they’ve done it a few times without a clock, try putting a writing prompt after a handful of shorter questions. Have them practice restating it in their head or jotting down a few words if the test allows notes. That way, they get to practice making the switch from answering short questions to starting a longer response.
Sometimes a student can tell you exactly what the question wants and still sit there thinking, I have three ideas. Which one should I use? That’s the decision we’ll tackle in the next Learning Lab post.
If your student often gets stuck somewhere between reading the prompt and writing the first sentence, I help middle and high school students figure out where they stall and practice that step together. Explore personalized online English tutoring.
¹ Jim Burke, Scholastic Teaching Resources. “Writing on Demand” in Content Area Writing
