STRATEGIES
Summary
Prewriting is:
-the scaffolding of a good essay/ writing skills
-the solution to writer's block (being unfocused, anxious, frustrated, blank)
-everything that we do before the first draft (guides writer into outline of possible ideas, topics or comments)
-dynamic and everevolving (changes make it better)
-a means of finding inspiration for writing and to find the calm within to facilitate starting the first draft
(Sources of inspiration for writing include: dreams, the media, personal experience, visual art research)
-important to teachers because it demonstrates how students came upon the main idea and conclusion of their essays.
Developing the topic:
Strategies to help students develop the topic include
(1) Reader Response (Oral or written response to literature that has been read about a certain issue
(2) Listing-Create a list of topics that one feels comfortable writing about-Double space between topics so ideas about topic can be inserted at a later date.
(3) Free Writing-A type of brainstorming where the flow of ideas and thoughts is uninhibited for a specified time frame. In the classroom we can have students free write for 7-10 minutes.It is a means of generating positive criticism that allows students to gauge their progress with the first draft.
Rule of thumb: Never cross out, look back. NO EDITING WHATSOEVER!!! Do not get preoccupied with writing conventions but focus on creating a central focus for the paper.
(4) Questioning-The teacher can ask students question such as:
Are these ideas to broad?
Could your main topic be more specific?
(5)Blindwriting-This is a type of freewriting. It is best done on the computer and requires that the screen be turned of while computer is still on and then writer types away at his or her fast draft, uninhibited, non-stop for a specified time frame.
(6)Graphic Organizers-They are valuable instructional tools that get students to visually represent their thoughts and ideas.
ADVANTAGES OF USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
-Flexible (user has many choices to fulfill the purposes of the writing)
-Show order and completeness of students thought process. Thus, strengths and weaknesses in writing become apparent
-Dig below the surface of ideas, show inter- relatedness of ideas; allows writer to view ideas from multiple perspectives
N.B.DIFFERENT GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS ARE USED FOR DIFFERENT WRITING STYLES
EXAMPLES OF GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
(1) Chain of events-Depicts in detail actions in a sequential mode. for e.g. What is the character going to do first?
(2) Spider Map-Used to illustrate the central premise.Can b used for topic, concept or theme supported by the main idea that has evidence r clams to support it.
(3) Continuum Graphic Organizer-Displays historical events on a timeline. Students place events in a sequential order from first to last (useful for research papers)
Review of new ideas
-Blindwriting is a means of getting rid of writer's block because it turns of the language monitor in the left side of the brain. It is this monitor which makes us think that our ideas are not good for e.g "What is this crap that I have written?"
-We list and brainstorm to generate ideas and then create graphic organizers to organize our ideas.
-It is the graphic organizers that help to prioritize main ideas because lists cannot allow the writer to perceive interrelationships between ideas for the first draft.
-Questioning helps students to focus on specific ideas while writing ( 5Ws-who, what, where, when, why) and how and can resolve problems encountered in creating a first draft.
Impact on my beliefs about teaching of writing and implications for practice
-If students are not taught to organize their thoughts before they write they will ramble and keep going around in circles in their writing. We want students to present writing products that are precise and focused on satisfying the needs of the reader for specific genres.
-Graphic organizers foster the reading-writing connection because they can be used before, during and after reading and structure ideas in such a way that the relationships between them can be revealed explicitly rather than implicitly as in text-based mode.
-Graphic organizers cater to the learning needs of visual learners in particular because they may have problems in formulating a topic. They can then see and write out what is deeply embedded in their deepest thoughts. Gives all students a visual image of their thoughts which can be obscured by relating them in text format only.
-I always enjoy asking students probing questions because it helps them with cognitive offload. I want to know what my students are thinking so that students can help each other as well as myself through provision of positive feedback/criticism.The diverse perspective also helps students learn to respect diverse ideas and this is an important principle in fostering a learning community of writers.
Recommendations for implementation of prewriting strategies
(1) Chain of events-Depicts in detail actions in a sequential mode. for e.g. What is the character going to do first?
(2) Spider Map-Used to illustrate the central premise.Can b used for topic, concept or theme supported by the main idea that has evidence r clams to support it.
(3) Continuum Graphic Organizer-Displays historical events on a timeline. Students place events in a sequential order from first to last (useful for research papers)
Review of new ideas
-Blindwriting is a means of getting rid of writer's block because it turns of the language monitor in the left side of the brain. It is this monitor which makes us think that our ideas are not good for e.g "What is this crap that I have written?"
-We list and brainstorm to generate ideas and then create graphic organizers to organize our ideas.
-It is the graphic organizers that help to prioritize main ideas because lists cannot allow the writer to perceive interrelationships between ideas for the first draft.
-Questioning helps students to focus on specific ideas while writing ( 5Ws-who, what, where, when, why) and how and can resolve problems encountered in creating a first draft.
Impact on my beliefs about teaching of writing and implications for practice
-If students are not taught to organize their thoughts before they write they will ramble and keep going around in circles in their writing. We want students to present writing products that are precise and focused on satisfying the needs of the reader for specific genres.
-Graphic organizers foster the reading-writing connection because they can be used before, during and after reading and structure ideas in such a way that the relationships between them can be revealed explicitly rather than implicitly as in text-based mode.
-Graphic organizers cater to the learning needs of visual learners in particular because they may have problems in formulating a topic. They can then see and write out what is deeply embedded in their deepest thoughts. Gives all students a visual image of their thoughts which can be obscured by relating them in text format only.
-I always enjoy asking students probing questions because it helps them with cognitive offload. I want to know what my students are thinking so that students can help each other as well as myself through provision of positive feedback/criticism.The diverse perspective also helps students learn to respect diverse ideas and this is an important principle in fostering a learning community of writers.
Recommendations for implementation of prewriting strategies
- There should always be a stimulus for writing before students can prewrite.
- The teacher can make use of information gathered from interest inventory to give students lists of topics they can brainstorm about.
- Prewriting strategies need to be modeled before students can be expected to use them.The gradual release of responsibility model will be used for this . Modelling first, then group work and monitoring from class teacher, followed by independent practice when students have thoroughly understood the concepts and are ready to try it out on their own.
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