Beginner Essay Writing: Bing, Bang, Bongo Method

Organizing an essay can be tough, but with the bing, bang, bongo method, writing and organizing a 5 paragraph essay is a breeze! In this 4 week course, students will learn how to write 5 cohesive paragraphs focused on one topic with three main points, an introduction, and a conclusion. By the end of this course, students will have a polished, well-structured essay.

This FLEX course is great for students who are shy and don't like group classes or for students who have a busy schedule and need to complete work when they have time. There will be no live meetings for this course, but there will be ample feedback from the instructor. Students will write 1 essay throughout this course, but they will revise the same essay every week. Essays will be focused on topics that students already know about (their favorite activity, food, etc.). Because this is an introductory essay writing course, we will not be conducting any research or performing any analysis.

Each Monday by 12 pm CST, I will post a video about essay writing. Students must submit their essay for feedback by Sunday evening. Students will receive ample feedback on each stage of the writing process, which is why this class is so small. Students will also have the opportunity to review each other’s writing! All identifying information will be removed, so students won’t know whose work they are seeing. Students will write comments to each other about what they like in the other person’s writing. 

Students must have a knowledge of constructing proper sentences. I would also like them to have had some practice with writing paragraphs. 

Week 1: In week 1, I will cover the bing, bang, bongo format for writing essays. Essentially, this helps students organize the three main points that they must make in their five paragraph essay. It also forces students to introduce their main points in the introduction, explain their main points in their body paragraphs, and then summarize their points in their conclusion. Students will receive an outline that they can use any time they write an essay. My video will cover a color-coded essay written with the bing, bang, bongo format. Students will write their essay outline and submit for feedback.

Week 2: In week 2, I will expand upon thesis statements and topic sentences. These are the most important sentences in an essay, and they help to guide the reader through the writing piece. Creating strong thesis statements and topic sentences are crucial to a good essay. Students will revise their thesis statements and topic sentences and submit again for feedback.

Week 3: In week 3, I will focus on the use of transition words. I will explain how these transition words can show that the following idea is similar to or different from the preceding idea. I will also use examples to show students how the transition words help the ideas flow together. Students will add transition words to create a cohesive piece of writing. They will submit again for feedback.

Week 4: In week 4, I will cover the specifics of introductions and conclusions. These are the trickiest parts of an essay for many people. Hooking the audience in the introduction and connecting the ideas of the essay to the reader in the conclusion aren't as straightforward as the rest of the essay. We will discuss tips and tricks for making these two paragraphs easier to write. Students will revise their introductions and conclusions and resubmit for final comments. By the end of week 4, they will have a polished essay.

Writing Prompt Options:
- If you could go back in time, what time period would you visit? What would you want to see there?
- If you had to eat the same food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- Tell me about the best book you've ever read. What made it so good?
- What is your favorite activity?
- Tell me about a pet that you have.
- What is the most annoying thing in the entire world? Why does it get on your nerves so much?
- What is something that you really hope to do someday?
- Why do you like or dislike essay writing?