UTEC: Essay Writing as a Genre

UTEC: Essay Writing as a Genre 

UTEC is an acronym and tool that I developed in 2009 to help my students to organize their ideas and to expand upon them to fill a page or paragraph. The process of using UTEC as a district or grade-level team allows students to have a structure to remind them of the components of quality writing. This approach to test prep, quality paragraph, and essay writing fits into the genre model that students are already familiar with through their Language Arts and Reading classes. Using this format, students will learn the components that make up a high-scoring constructed response essay and practice the ability to “Think on paper.” This skill can be used in every content area, and by having this continuity between the classrooms, we will give the students a concrete approach to writing. 

I tell students that this tool is designed to help them memorize how to create a clear and concise essay or paragraph. This tool can be used in every subject area, and just as there are steps to finding the correct answer in math (PEMDAS) and a way to check your work, there are also tools in writing.

This resource includes:

• A paper that I wrote explained the development and uses of UTEC in 2009.
• An explanation of the UTEC model.
• A writing prompt for students.
• A sample of student work using UTEC.
• A Rubric for grading UTEC writing prompts and assignments.