Bookmark

Sign up or login to use the bookmarking feature.

01 A Basic Writing Guide

A Basic Guide to Writing Opening Page

Start-Up Activity

Lead a class discussion about what today’s world would be like if there was no such thing as writing. How would knowledge be saved? How would school be different? How would communication be different? How would daily life be different?

Then after reading the introduction on page 1 aloud, ask students to suggest how writing can help them become a stronger learner, a clear thinker, and a better communicator.

Think About It

“I find that writing is a self-generating activity—the more one does it, the more easily if flows.”

                                —Joan Aiken

Page 002 from All Write

How to Become a Good Writer

Ask your students to suggest ways to become better writers. Then read aloud and discuss the suggestions on this page. Compare these suggestions to the ones the students made. Ask students to explain why daily writing is so important. And be sure they understand the difference between writing freely and writing more carefully—and how both types of writing are important.

LAFS Standard:
NE ELA Standard:

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

English Language Arts:

Page 003 from All Write

The Steps in the Writing Process

Ask for a volunteer to define process (the steps or actions it takes to do something). Have students identify examples of different processes. Then read and discuss page 3. Ask for volunteers to share their experiences with the writing process.

English Language Learners may not be familiar with writing as a process. Their experience may be that all writing is painstakingly produced in a single draft. So early in the school year, be sure to model the process in collaborative writing activities with the students.

Note: All the writing guidelines in All Write follow the writing process.

LAFS Standard:

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

21st Century Skills:
English Language Arts:

Page 004 from All Write

The Writing Process in Action

Pages 4 and 5 show students the specific tasks carried out in each step of the writing process. Page 4 specifically addresses prewriting—the all-important first step in a writing assignment. Carefully review with students each of the prewriting tasks covered on this page. Point out that careful prewriting makes drafting and revising that much easier.

LAFS Standard:

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

21st Century Skills:
English Language Arts:

Page 005 from All Write

The Writing Process in Action (Continued)

Page 5 covers the specific tasks associated with drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Pay special attention to the revising step. Point out that revising will help students turn a first draft into a clearer, more complete, and more interesting piece of writing.  Also tell them that all writers—even the top pros—revise their writing many times before they are satisfied with its content.

Consider sharing this quote from popular young adult writer Walter Dean Myers, “I rush through a first draft, and then I go back and rewrite, because I can usually see what the problems are going to be ahead of me.”

LAFS Standard:

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 006 from All Write

Questions and Answers About Writing

Pages 6-8 answer seven very important questions about the writing process. Included with each answer is a cross reference to pages in All Write that can help your students with specific parts of their writing. On this page, stress with students the importance of writing about topics that truly interest them. Otherwise, it will be hard for them to invest the proper effort needed to do their best writing.

LAFS Standard:

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

English Language Arts:

Page 007 from All Write

Questions and Answers About Writing (Continued)

Question 3 on page 7 discusses writing with a focus in mind. (Focus here is defined as “a center or point of interest about a  topic.”) Point out to students that just as an unfocused image is hard to follow, so too is an unfocused piece of writing.

Questions 4 and 5 give good advice about writing and revising a first draft.  Note that a first draft should be written freely, almost as if the students were conversing with a classmate, but that revising is a more careful process, often taking more time than drafting.

LAFS Standard:

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

English Language Arts:

Page 008 from All Write

Questions and Answers About Writing (Continued)

Question 6 deals with the editing step. Point out to students that it is important that they make their revised writing as accurate as possible, but that they should not try to edit alone. All writers, even the pros, have a trusted editor check their writing for errors.  

Question 7 provides a simple guide to help students assess their finished work. A lot of yes answers mean they probably have developed a solid piece of writing.

LAFS Standard:

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

English Language Arts: