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03 One Writer's Process

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013
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Writers Express

Start-Up Activity

Ask your students to talk about their personal experiences using the writing process (successful or unsuccessful). What part do they like? What part is challenging? Ask students if they ever get "writer's block," when they stare at the page or screen and just don't know what to put down. Tell them that in this chapter, they will learn prewriting strategies that will help them break through writer's block. They will also learn revising strategies to help them strengthen their writing.

Think About It

“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. Rewriting is more fun for me than the writing is.”

—Walter Dean Myers

State Standards Covered in This Chapter

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.5

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.5

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.5

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.2

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.2

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.2

LAFS Covered in This Chapter

LAFS.K12.W.2.5

LAFS.4.W.2.5

LAFS.5.W.2.5

LAFS.K12.L.1.1

LAFS.K12.L.1.2

LAFS.K.L.1.2

LAFS.4.L.1.1

LAFS.4.L.1.2

LAFS.5.L.1.1

LAFS.5.L.1.2

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

110.6.b.11.A

110.6.b.11.C

110.6.b.11.D

110.7.b.11.A

110.7.b.11.C

110.7.b.11.D

110.6.b.1.C

110.6.b.11.D.ix

110.6.b.11.D.x

110.6.b.11.D.xi

110.7.b.1.C

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

Page 014 from Writers Express

Prewriting

Help your students see prewriting as a way to warm up their thinking and play around with ideas before they have to create a draft. Prewriting allows students to focus on the most important part of their writing—the ideas they want to express. If kids get writer's block, prewriting is the remedy!

Lead your students through the four key strategies on this page .

Understand the Assignment
Select a Topic
Write Freely
Gather Details

Show them how one writer used these strategies to warm up his thinking and prepare to write.

State Standard Reference:

LAFS Standard:

LAFS.K12.W.2.5

Related Resource Tags

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

Level:

Mode:

Form:

Theme:

English Language Arts:

Writing Process Prewriting Qualities of Writing Ideas

Page 015 from Writers Express

Prewriting (Continued)

Use this page to give your students an overview of basic research, creating a focus statement, and organizing details to support it. Help students understand that they should learn a lot about their topics before they try to write their focus statements. After gathering information, they'll have a better sense of the direction they want to take. Once they write a focus statement, they can begin to organize information to support it.

State Standard Reference:

LAFS Standard:

LAFS.K12.W.2.5

Related Resource Tags

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

Level:

Mode:

Form:

Theme:

English Language Arts:

Writing Process Prewriting Qualities of Writing Ideas

Page 016 from Writers Express

Writing the First Draft

Show your students how the writer went from his prewriting to his drafting. By completing his prewriting, he could write his first draft rapidly and easily. Also note that his first draft isn't perfect. He didn't worry about every little detail but just got his ideas down. He knew that he could address any problems during revising and editing. Writing rapidly without worrying too much over little things also helps students break through writer's block.

State Standard Reference:

LAFS Standard:

LAFS.K12.W.2.5

Related Resource Tags

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

Level:

Mode:

Form:

Theme:

English Language Arts:

Writing Process Qualities of Writing Ideas Writing Structure

Page 017 from Writers Express

Revising

When your students revise, they should focus on the big picture:

Are my ideas strong, clear, and well supported?
Have I organized my ideas in the best order?
Do I have an effective beginning, middle, and ending?

Revising is about making big changes to ideas and organization, changes that dramatically improve a piece of writing. After revising, students can focus on the smaller types of changes when they edit: punctuation, capitalization, spelling, usage, and grammar. If they focus on those surface features too soon, they'll miss out on the big changes that could really improve their work.

Lead students through the changes the writer made and discuss how each improved the ideas. You can also use the Revising Checklist download to help students understand the kinds of questions they should ask when they revise or help a classmate revise.

Downloads:

Revising Checklist

State Standard Reference:

LAFS Standard:

LAFS.K12.W.2.5

Related Resource Tags

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Level:

Grade 4 Grade 5

Form:

Explanatory Essay

Theme:

Animals Environment

English Language Arts:

Writing Process Qualities of Writing Ideas Structure Revising

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Editing and Proofreading

Use this page to show the difference between revising (big improvements) and editing (small improvements). Editing is very important because surface errors can make writing confusing and they reflect poorly on the writer. However, editing isn't the end-all-be-all of writing. The most important part of writing is the strength of students' ideas and how well they are communicated.

When your students edit, they should focus on the conventions of language: punctuation, capitalization, spelling, usage, and grammar. Lead your students through the writer's editing changes. To help students understand the kinds of questions they should ask themselves when they edit, you can share with them the Editing and Proofreading Checklist download.

Downloads:

Editing and Proofreading Checklist

State Standard Reference:

LAFS Standard:

LAFS.K12.L.1.1

NE ELA Standard:

LA 1.2.1.h

Related Resource Tags

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

Level:

Mode:

Form:

Theme:

English Language Arts:

Writing Process Editing Qualities of Writing Conventions

Page 019 from Writers Express

Publishing

Help your students understand that the word "publish" comes from the word "public." Anytime a writer shares his or her writing with others, the writer is publishing it. That means turning in a paper is a form of publishing. Posting on a bulletin board or a class blog are other forms.

The writer keyed his essay into a digital document so that he could make a neat final copy that he could share on the classroom wiki.

State Standard Reference: