Writing for the GED

[AnneCudnik]

The Reasoning through Language Arts section of the GED contains a 45 minute writing portion called the Extended Response.  Students are asked to read two argumentative essays, analyze the evidence from the two opposing viewpoints, and compose a written response arguing which viewpoint has the stronger evidence. Confusing? Yes! Not to mention the anxiety many students feel about writing in general! If you are working with a student who would like to prepare for the Extended Response, Kara Krawiec, East Side Site Coordinator, has developed a template that breaks down the writing process for the extended response step by step. Take a look!

Extended Response Handout

[pdowd]

Hello--the writing responses don't need to be in the five paragraph format? I see that the templates are four paragraphs. Thank you!

[Kara Krawiec]

Hi!

The Writing Response for the GED requires students to have 4 to 7 paragraphs. Since time is often an issue (students only have 45 minutes to read two articles on opposing viewpoints on a topic and then write an essay about which one is better supported), I often encourage them to include at least 4 paragraphs. If they feel they can write more, then they can include a 5th paragraph, but only if they have time. I'd love to talk more about this if you have any other questions!

[pdowd]

Got it. Thank you for responding. The extended response guidelines you created are wonderful. This section of the GED looks challenging.