Start-Up Activity

When students write a first draft, they connect the ideas and details that they collected during prewriting. Or to extend the comparison from the notes for page 32, writing a first draft is like putting together the parts for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. However, a first draft is just the first look at a developing writing idea rather than a finished product.

This chapter provides tips for writing the beginning, middle, and ending parts of a draft. Page 34 gives two ways to begin a first draft. Emphasize that students should try to make their beginnings interesting and fun to read.

Have students practice writing interesting beginnings for a writing topic of their choice, perhaps one they chose during prewriting. Encourage them to model the sample beginnings on this page, using their own topics. Demonstrate sentence modeling as needed.