How to Write an Essay Outline for Kids
Knowing how to write an essay outline for kids enables you to write one or to teach a kid how to outline an essay before he/she starts writing. An essay outline can be defined as a way of organizing information and ideas- awc.ashford.edu. Most essays have a basic pattern. This pattern includes the introduction, body and the conclusion. However, there is information that should go to each of these sections.
An outline indicates the main ideas for each section and subsidiary ideas. Basically, an outline indicates the basic overview or important details of the essay. There are teachers who require the outline to be in form of a sentence while others require just the main points presented in a chronological order. Your teacher can also specify the requirements of your essay outline.
A basic form of an outline that shows how to write an essay outline for kids
There are many ways of outlining an essay. They include mind maps, blocking, free-writing and formal outlines– trentu.ca. However, there is an outline form’s synopsis. In this form, the main ideas are listed in numerals. The sub-points come below the main ideas in capital letters. They are also indented. The sub-points beneath them are listed in italic numbers if they are there and they are indented further as follows:
- Main Idea
- Supporting or subsidiary idea to I
- Supporting or subsidiary idea to I
- Supporting or subsidiary idea to B
- Supporting or subsidiary idea to B
- Supporting idea to 2
- Supporting idea to 2
- Main Idea
- Supporting or subsidiary idea to II
- Subsidiary or supporting idea to II
- Supporting or subsidiary idea to II
- Main Idea
The number of main ideas as well as the supporting ideas to include in the essay depends on the writer. However, a good essay has adequate main and supporting ideas to support the argument or to describe the topic or subject. Nevertheless, if the outline has I, it should have II. And if it has an A, it should have a B. Similarly, if it has a 1, it should have a 2 and so on- lib.jjay.cuny.edu.
Before writing an essay outline
There are things that anybody who knows how to write an essay outline for kids does before writing the outline.
For instance, before writing the essay outline, you need to:
- Determine the aim or purpose of the essay
- Determine who will read your essay
- Develop a thesis statement for your essay
- Brainstorm for ideas that you will include in the essay
- Organize the ideas depending on how they relate to each other
- Order materials into subsections from the general view to specific view or from abstract viewpoint to concrete.
- Label the sections with main headings and sub headings
Always remember that the main reason for writing an outline is to enhance the organization of thoughts and ideas. With an outline, your essay will depict logical ordering or hierarchical organization of information. The outline will also keep you focused while writing- owl.english.purdue.edu.
A basic guide on how to write an essay outline for kids
The essence of writing an outline for an essay is to present your ideas in an orderly manner so that you can give your essay a logical and meaningful structure. Using the basic form of an outline as indicated above, you can create an outline that enables you to focus on the process of writing the essay without being worried about its structure.
To write an essay outline, follow these guidelines:
- Write the topic of your essay
Start by writing the topic of your essay in a single concise statement. This should keep you focused as you write the outline of the essay. In every step of writing the outline, ask, “What would readers like to know about the topic of my essay or what can support my main argument in the essay?”
- Write the introduction
The introduction is the first paragraph in the essay. You do not write the entire introduction while writing the outline. You simply write sentences that will hook your readers. These can be one or two sentences. The thesis statement of your essay should be included in the introduction. Therefore, you can include it in the outline too.
- Write the body
In the body of the essay, list the main ideas and their supporting ideas. The main ideas and their supporting points are what make the essay. They are the centerpieces or building blocks of your essay. Your main ideas must be specific and supporting the topic. However, they should also be general so that they can merit development.
- Include supporting ideas or details
For every main idea, include details or supporting ideas as indicated in the basic form of an outline. To have main ideas and their supporting ideas, you need to conduct research and brainstorm for more ideas. Your supporting ideas can also include examples to illustrate something or to support your argument in the essay. This way, your essay will have a logical organization with ideas flowing smoothly- google books.
- Write the conclusion
Write the main points that you will include in the conclusion. The points should enable you to sum up the entire essay. Note that you do not write the conclusion but the main points to include in it.
Use a sample outline to know how to write an essay outline for kids with ease
Using a sample essay outline enables you to master the steps of writing an essay outline for kids with ease.
Here is a sample essay outline for writing a kids essay on the topic, “Kids’ Sports and Parental Conduct”.
Kids’ Sports and Parental Conduct
- Introduction
- Coaches and parents break kids’ sports when they scream abusively, fight on sidelines, model unsportsmanlike behaviors and encourage physical violence.
- Physical and verbal abuse, lack of sportsmanship and civility are some of the factors that are making young athletes below 12 years discouraged and eventually abandon organized sports rather than lack of adequate knowledge or physical limitation.
- Parents do not have a perspective and they are putting excessive pressure on kid players.
- Parents want their kids to be the best and stars when it comes to sporting. This makes them treat their kids as if they are training for Super Bowl or World Series.
- Parents are seen as they exhibit “temper tantrums” as well as abuse coaches physically. They also hit, kick, slap, insult and abuse their children.
- Coaches of most kids’ teams differ from the former players who have background in sporting because they are “wannabe” coaches and volunteer dads without experience.
- Kids are being turned off by such coaches due to their lack of experience in coaching sports. They do not know how talents of young people should be developed or even how to teach kids the whole game.
- Coaches should have programs for teaching them kids’ psychology and how to deal with parents so that they can change behavior and put more emphasis on supportive behavior that builds confidence, sports enjoyment and ability of the kids.
- The “do-anything-to-win” attitude is replacing civility, ethics and sportsmanship quality.
- While learning how to participate in various sports, kids should know sportsmanship, game’s fundamentals and how to enjoy playing.
- Parents should praise the accomplishment of their kids and model a sportsmanlike behavior in them. They should motivate kids positively.
- Coaches ought to teach kids the fundamentals, understand their psychology and encourage them regardless of their accomplishments or abilities. They should also make playing an enjoyable and positive experience for all parties involved in it.
- Conclusion
- Kids’ sports are being ruined by lack of sportsmanlike behavior and civility among the coaches and parents. This is making many kids avoid participating in sports.
- Coaches and parents should be keen on the kind of role models that they exhibit to kids. If necessary, they should undergo training to enhance their sportsmanlike conduct.
Note that the points of the conclusion in the outline echo what was stated in the introduction. This is because the introduction has a thesis statement which should be paraphrased in the conclusion in a way that sums up what was discussed in the body paragraphs. With such a sample essay outline, you can easily know how to write an essay outline for kids regardless of the topic. Simply follow the guidelines listed above and the sample as your practical guide in every step of writing the outline. Other sample essay outlines can be found here.
Get help with your essay outline for kids
If you encounter difficulties while writing an essay outline for kids, contact us for instant help with your outline. You can also visit the home page of our website for more information regarding our writing services. Alternatively, keep reading for more guidelines on how to write an essay outline for kids and sample outlines on our blog.
Sources
https://awc.ashford.edu/PDFHandouts%5CA%201_Sample_Outline_final%20(3).pdf
https://www.trentu.ca/history/workbook/effectiveoutlines.php
http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/research/outlining.html
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/02/
https://books.google.com/books
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20081113013048_544.pdf