Kim and Michael Essenburg, missionaries with Christian Reformed World Missions, serve at Christian Academy in Japan. This morning they talked about progress Kim's students are making on applying a Biblical perspective, and then Kim determined her next step.

Michael: What progress are you making on your goal?

Kim: In their Cry, the Beloved Country essays, my students did a better job of applying a Biblical perspective. They were better able to show their grasp of what the Bible teaches, not just what a verse says. They more effectively discussed Biblical perspective, instead of just citing verses.

Michael: That sounds good!

Kim: I was pleased. They did a good job of following the writing guidelines I’ve emphasized.

Michael: So you’re emphasizing effective writing guidelines to help your students apply a Biblical perspective when writing?

Kim: Yes.

Michael: What are your guidelines?

Kim: l’m using 5 guidelines:

1. Give supporting details about Biblical perspective, like quotations of Bible verses.
   
2. Introduce quotations.
   
3. State the topic sentence first, then the support, like quotations.
   
4. Include Biblical perspective in 1 or more topic sentences.
   
5. Integrate Biblical perspective into the thesis statement.

Michael: Which guidelines did the students follow?

Kim: Guidelines 1-3—stating the topic sentence first, introducing quotations, and giving supporting details.

Michael: Interesting. Your guidelines start with support and not with the thesis. What’s your thinking behind this?

Kim: I want to meet students where they are, so I use a developmental approach when giving writing instruction. I emphasize citing Bible verses, move to emphasizing stating the topic sentence first, and finally teach about including Biblical perspective in thesis statements.

Don’t get me wrong. I consistently expect students to include Biblical perspective in their thesis statements, but I teach this last. Ultimately, what I want is for students to defend a thesis statement that includes Biblical perspective by using topic sentences and supporting details that include Biblical perspective.

Michael: So you want something like this?: Thesis← →Topic Sentences← →Supporting Details

Kim: Yes.

Michael: So what’s your next step?

Kim: I want to keep focusing on helping my students apply a Biblical perspective. In their last essays, my students did a pretty good job on supporting details, introducing quotations, stating their topic sentences first. Some students included Biblical perspective in their topic sentences, and I’d like more of them to do this.

Michael: What do you mean “more”?

Kim: Well, my guess is that about of half of the essays included at least one topic sentence that included Biblical perspective. I’d like to get that up to 100%. My students are working on an essay about Night. Right now, I’m reading the rough drafts. When the final drafts come in, I’d like all of the essays to have at least 1 topic sentence that includes Biblical perspective.

Michael: How doable is that?

Kim: I’m pretty confident all my students can include 1 Biblical perspective topic sentence. When I turn back the rough drafts, I’ll need to teach a writing lesson about this. And I can have students check for Biblical perspective topic sentences when doing peer reviews on the revised drafts. That’s doable. That’ll work. That’ll help me close the gap.