The Shaffer process is good for beginners, but it lacks the ability to fully challenge students to advance their writing. Limiting writing to a pre-constructed format is not good. Some students may want to write more than how much space can fit into the space of two sentences for their commentary. Or maybe they can get it done in one sentence, but have to then think of some trivial point to put into the paragraph to fill the quota. “Writing formulas are attractive, precisely because they render the ‘messy’ more manageable.” The appeal of the structured writing form makes it easier to grade because kids know what to expect and teachers can easily find a benchmark to consistently grade. And if it is the only system the students know they can be good at it, but they are limited and inefficient when it comes to other writing. Students should know and understand the Shaffer method because it does provide some valid information on structure and id terms, but it they should not limit themselves to just this form.
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