One of the main points in the article that I brought up in
my last post is planning and brainstorming. The authors give a few examples of
how to go about this process and what the students can do to practice using it.
11.
Select a topic. This is a pretty basic idea, but
can actually be one of the hardest. I love writing and always have. I love the
process of it and the way it makes me think. But the hardest part of completing
a writing assignment (for me, at least) was choosing a topic. It took me days
and a ton of partially written stories/essays before I found one that I really
jived with. One of my (probably bad) habits is thinking of a really great title,
and then working from there. But the title helps me think of what exactly is
the topic that I am writing about.
22.
Write out a plan. This can be tough for a lot of
students. Many students just want to jump in and start writing, putting all
their thoughts down on paper. Instead, we should help them see that writing a
plan will help them in the long run. They will have less thinking to do in the
middle of their writing if they do most of it now. The actual writing process
will go a lot more smoothly and quickly if they know what they are going to
write before they write it.
a.
For Story writing, think of who the characters
are and what their goals are. Once you know the characters, you know how they
will act. I had a professor once that told me when writing fiction, one should
keep notebooks for each character and write everything about them—their history,
their favorite color, their fears, etc. Once you have the characters figured
out and the plot set, the story basically writes itself since you know the
characters so well. I have tried this, and it works amazingly!
b.
For persuasive papers, think of questions like “what
do I believe,” “why do I believe that,” “what are my best reasons for believing
it?” Once students figure out their thoughts, they can basically treat the
paper as a fill-in-the-blank.
c.
Brainstorm “million-dollar words.” Have students
think of words that will make their paper stand out. Think of words connected
to the topic, then turn to the dictionary and thesaurus to find other
associated words, especially ones that have more nuance and are better suited
to the situation. Think of Gee’s secondary discourse idea, and help students
understand that certain words are better used for different types of writing.
Once they have a grasp on basic vocabulary, they can better write the paper.
33.
Use the plan, but don’t be afraid to modify
it. Some students are so stuck to plans
that they have a hard time veering away from them, even if it turns out they
weren’t the best to begin with. Remind them that writing is a transaction
between them and the text (Rosenblatt!), and if the text they are writing isn’t
really doing them any favors, it is perfectly ok to abandon them and try
again. They need to make sure that the
transaction is fruitful.
Harris, K.R., Graham, S., Mason, L.H. Improving the Writing, Knowledge, and Motivation of Struggling Young Writers: Effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development with and without Peer Support. American Educational Research Journal, 2006. 43(2), 295-340.
I really like the suggestions above. When I first read the "Make a Plan" heading I thought, oh another outline (which I personally have never been good at) but I like the suggestions you gave. The million dollar word idea is great, I think that students could even start by doing this in small groups, then sharing out loud with the whole class, depending on what the topic is. For example, when doing persuasive writing, students could brainstorm strong words that could be used in most persuasive writing pieces. I also think the last point about not being afraid to modify is important. I think sometimes students don't have the confidence to do this on their own, but, as you pointed out we want to make sure the work is meaningful, something we need to reinforce with the students.
ReplyDelete