Writing+Process

Authors: Part 1: Danny, Yanikie, Astrid  Page Editor: Danny

Part 2: Shavonn, Shery-Ann, Anne (scroll down)



The Writing Process Overview
**Intro to the writing process lesson plan**

 Storrs, E. “Teaching the Writing Process.” Curricula/Lesson Plans @ Suite 101. October 2008  []

 This lesson plan introduces the basics of the writing process though a hands on activity. Students work together in groups to put together jigsaw puzzles. Along the way they must lay out all of their pieces to see what they have and what they are missing, begin to assemble their puzzles, search for the missing pieces of their puzzle around the room and discard the pieces of their puzzle that simple do not fit. This powerful metaphor for the writing process is a much less dry way to introduce a topic that becomes engaging once a student is well into an assignment but can be difficult to get off the ground.  (Danny & Astrid)

**Junot diaz speaks about the writing process. **

 Diaz, J. “Junot Diaz discusses the writing process.mov” Ticklescratch Productions. September  2008.  media type="youtube" key="WE8bO8HeuOY" height="315" width="560"

 Popular YA author and Pulitzer Prize Winner, Junot Diaz describes his writing process. It is important to emphasize that each writer will have their own slightly different writing process. Hearing a professional author that they like talk about their process could inspire kids to take their own writing process seriously, and show students that great writing comes from hard work.  (Danny & Astrid)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Prewriting
**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Prewriting Organizers ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> Study Guides and Strategies. "Prewriting." Study Guides and Strategies. 2012. Website. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> []

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> This website is a useful resource for many reading and writing strategies, as well as lesson and curriculum ideas for teachers. Their prewriting support is presented as an interactive where students can free write, brainstorm, mindmap, and outline their ideas into printable forms with elaborate instructions on each one.

<span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> (Danny and Yanike)

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Example of an effective outline graphic organizer **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> Rousseau, A. "Performance Task Outline: Arab Spring." 2012 <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> [|Performance Task Outline Arab Spring.docx]

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> My students are often very resistant to outlining, claiming that it is an obstacle rather than an aid in the writing process. However, I have found that my students feel this way because the planning process can often be a difficult one that requires a great deal of brain power. Further, students often find it difficult to apply their outlines, in other words, to move from the outlining to drafting stage. Recently, I used the following graphic organizer to outline an essay on the Arab Spring with my students. My students found success using this template, on the one hand, because it allowed them to merge the outlining and drafting process (they had to write their introductions before outlining their body paragraphs). Thus, they were able to see the immediate benefits of the process. Also, we spent some time modeling how to fill out the rest of the outline by engaging in a modified debate. (Astrid and Danny)

=**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 22px;">Drafting **= **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Helping students to develop “academic language”: Transition words ** Word Choice "Spicing Up Your Writing with Transition Words." //Word Choice,// January 2005. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> []

** One of the challenges that my student’s often face in essay writing is figuring out how to make their writing “flow” and make connections between different sentences and ideas. If we want to help students develop the kind of “academic language” they use in their writing, one of the first ways we can do this is by teaching them the kinds of transition words that we use in our own writing. Using these words does not only make the student’s writing “sound” better, they can also serve as tools to help push a writer’s thinking and analysis. Note: it is important to you do not simply hand students this worksheet, but rather that you teach them what these words mean and how to use them in their writing. **

<span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> (Astrid & Danny)

=**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 22px;">Revision **= **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Peer Revision Lesson **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> Rousseau, A. "Peer Revision Lesson." 2012.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> [|PeerRevision.doc]

In developing their own writing and analytical skills, students must be able to assess their work and identify strengths and weakness with their work. A starting point for teaching these skills is by having students engage in peer-revision. In this lesson, students acted as each other's "peer-editors" and used a checklist and form to practice assessing their classmates' work. What I love about this lesson is that each student departs with very specific feedback on what they did well and what they need to improve upon. The lesson also allows space for reflection, during which the class can discuss the pros/cons of this stage of the writing process. <span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> (Astrid & Danny)



=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 22px;">Publishing = ** Edmodo | secure social learning network for teachers and students. (2012). Retrieved from <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> An important, but often neglected, part of the writing process that all students should get an opportunity to experience is the publishing stage. Publishing ALL students’ work is a way to encourage students to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in the writing journey. This also encourages students to seriously invest their time, energy, and thought into doing their very best as it will be published for the world to see. Edmodo is a secure social learning network that allows a space for publishing student work in the format of classroom blogs. It is a fun way to combine writing with the kind of social networking our students enjoy.

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Professional resources: **

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">National Writing Project ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> National writing project. (n.d.). Retrieved from []

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> The National Writing Project (NWP) is an organization dedicated to providing educators with professional development and resources “to improve the teaching of writing and learning in schools and communities.” Their website has numerous links to PD opportunities they host at sites across the country every year. However, what I enjoy the most about this website can be found in the Resources corner of the website. In this section, you will find lesson/unit/project ideas vetted and shared by fellow educators, as well as research and interesting readings that will make you reflect on how you can improve the look and feel of reading and writing in your own classrooms. <span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> (Astrid and Yanike)

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Writing Process Rejected ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> Anderson, O.R."The Writing Process Rejected." The Quarterly. Spring, 2001 <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> []

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> An article that is critical about “the” writing process; noting that while there are guidelines that research shows that are effective with most students, that each student has his/her own writing process. A student's writing process is no less than a reflection of their thinking process, so it is important that we learn as much as possible about how they write and how they like to write.

<span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> (Danny & Astrid)

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Learning to Write, Writing to Learn ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> Mayher, J. S., Lester, N., & Pradl, G. M. (1983). Learning to write writing to learn. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/CookPublishers.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> []

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> Provides students with models of different types of reading material (different genres, styles, perspectives, etc,) to learn to read and write in various modes for various audiences.. In order for students to begin to understand and use “good” writing strategies/best practices, they need to be exposed to exemplary texts. Dr. Mayher's book provide links to book lists, and popular titles as well as strategies to implement these great examples. <span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> (Danny & Astrid)

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Facilitating writing workshops in class: Best practices ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> Rousseau, A. "Facilitating Writing Workshops in Class." 2012

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> [|Facilitating writing workshops in class.docx] <span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> (Astrid & Yanike)

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">6+1 Writng Traits ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> Culham, R. (2003). 6 1 traits of writing, the complete guide. Scholastic Teaching Resources.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> []

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> Describes the traits of good writing in any genre and includes information on assessing student writing skills, lesson planning, and activities

<span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">(Yanike and Danny)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Ideas, the main message;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Organization, the internal structure of the piece;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Voice, the personal tone and flavor of the author's message;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Word Choice, the vocabulary a writer chooses to convey meaning;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Sentence Fluency, the rhythm and flow of the language;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Conventions, the mechanical correctness; and
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Presentation, how the writing actually looks on the page



<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 19.2px; text-align: left;">Part 2: Shavon, Shery-Ann, Anne

**__<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 210%;">Resources for Teachers __**



<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Daniel, C. (2012). How to Improve Student Writing —And Business __Education__. //Bized//, //11//(1), 64-65. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The article __offers__ the author's insights regarding the implementation of proper writing and business education among students. The author states that the teach-theory-and-test-practice principle can affect how professors teach and could help lessen grade inflation, stamp out plagiarism, and revolutionize career placement. He comments on the importance of a system wide adoption to teach students with regards to business education from an objective perspective. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Author: (Shery-Ann, Shavonn,)

<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Gallahger, K. (2011, September 27). Writing tips for high school students.” [YouTube]. //Write Like This.// Retrieved from <span style="color: #004abb; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=OJFMh tFVnA] This is a short tutorial on youtube by Gallahger, author of the Write Like This series. His book, along with activities and viewpoints on good writing practices for high school __students__, are the inspiration behind the writing workshop we’ve done in ELA this year. Gallahger discusses the importance of allowing students to write items that they could expect to write in real life, as well as giving students exemplar pieces to model. Authors: (Shavonn, Sherry-Ann)

Knipper, K. J., & Duggan, T. J. (2006). Writing to learn across the curriculum: Tools for comprehension in content area __classes__. //Reading __Teacher__//, //59//(5), 462-470. This article serves as a guide-map for teaching writing in the content area. Importantly, however, the emphasis in this article is on content acquisition rather than writing development. Thus, the authors claim that in the content area students “write to learn,” rather than “learn to write”. This source provides several useful strategies for how teachers can use writing to reinforce the content-area curriculum. Furthermore, students can use writing as a forum to express misunderstanding and reflect on what has been learned. This article also serves as a toolkit for teachers who are familiar with a content area but may be unfamiliar with incorporating writing into the curriculum. One suggested strategy is that the content area teacher who is unfamiliar with assessing writing should initially stick as closely as possible to a rubric when assessing student work. As the teacher develops a natural ability to assess this kind of work more flexibility in assessment may be appropriate. Author: (Anne, Shery-Ann)

Marzano, R. (2012). Writing to Learn. //Educational Leadership//, //69//(5), 82-83. This source is particularly helpful for teachers teaching writing within the content area. The reason for this is because this source describes a five stage cycle for writing, with the first step being recording. This is useful, because in the content area, the teacher uses writing to reinforce content. Therefore it is crucial that before synthesizing the information the student first records and understand the content. Furthermore, this source adds a unique new twist to the writing process: While most versions of the writing process only include collaboration at the review stage, this source includes a step where students compare the content they have recorded prior to working on revision. Author: (Anne, Shery-Ann)

McClure, R. (2011). Writing ResearchWriting: The Semantic Web and the Future of the Research Project. Computers & Composition, 28(4), 315-326. This source explains ways that teachers can teach research writing in a world that is now both organized and dependent on the internet. Prior to the internet, teachers taught students a very complex system for categorizing sources and information to help ensure that students made relevant connections. Now the internet does most of that work for students. This source explores how teachers can adapt their practices to reflect changes in technology and resource organization. It discusses how to instill in students the traditional research skills that are still necessary for knowledge construction while at the same time contemplate the benefits of the semantic web. Author: (Anne, Shery-Ann)

Noskin, D. P. (2000). [|Teaching writing in the high school: fifteen years in the making.]English Journal, (Vol. 90 Issue 1) 34-38.[|Teaching writing in the highschool: fifteen years in the making.] This is a quick and enjoyable read on the writer’s experience teaching a writing course to high school students. He talks about the writing workshop, what works, what doesn’t, best practices, etc. He provides some useful advice on the process approach to teaching writing, prewriting, writing, revision, and editing. This is a quick and enjoyable read on the writer’s experience teaching a writing course to high school students. He talks about the writing workshop, what works, what doesn’t, best practices, etc. He provides some useful advice on the process approach to teaching writing, prewriting, writing, revision, and editing. Author: (Shavonn, Shery-Ann)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wardle, E., & Roozen, K. (2012). Addressing the complexity of writing development: Toward an ecological model of assessment. //Assessing Writing//, //17//(2), 106-119. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This article seeks to allow teachers and institutions to gain an understanding of students writing experience, and how these experiences affect students’ ability to complete given __academic__ tasks. This article also argues that there is an ecological model of writing assessment, which enables institutions to make visible the multiple sites where writing takes place and strengthens the affordances for student learning. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Author: (Shery-Ann, Shavonn)

__**<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 210%;">Resources for students **__

Bayne, K. (2005) Tips for ESL Students on Reviewing and Improving Written Work. The Internet TESL Journal 11(3).[|http][|://][|iteslj][|.][|org][|/][|Lessons][|/][|Bayne][|-][|Writing][|.][|html] This source provides replicable strategies that can be used to push English Language Learners’ vocabulary usage to the next level. This source is written in the format of a letter and utilizes student-friendly language to make the tips accessible to students. One of the major purposes of this source is to provide students with strategies to avoid making careless mistakes. It provides useful strategies for students to engage in both self-editing and peer editing. It also provides strategies for pushing students to use academic vocabulary in their writing. Author: (Anne, Shery-Ann)

This site features an array of writing prompts for students. The prompts are very fresh and creative and can easily capture student interest. I particularly like this site because I use writing prompts often to begin journal entries for students. At times, when we have free writing opportunities, students complain that they have no idea what to write about. These prompts ensure students have no excuses, just plenty of fun. Authors: (Shavonn, Sherry-Ann)
 * Creative writing prompts retrieved from [] **

This site offers tips for teens interested in blogging (and possibly making money from blogging). It is written for the teen audience, which may be attractive to our students. I chose this source because much of my work this year has been in the area of using technology to increase writing and literacy. I think it is an important part of the writing process to show students the real world application for their writing, and blogging is a good example. Authors: (Shavonn, Sherry-Ann)
 * Guidelines for Teen ProBloggers ** retrieved from []

International Reading Association. (2012).<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“How to” sequenced essay. ReadWriteAndThink. Retrieved May 1, 2012 from
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/peer-edit-with-perfection-786.html?tab=4#tabs] **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I needed a resource to teach writing a "How to " sequenced paper for my 8th graders! I found this and thought what a great resource. My students all loved it! They all found the interactive sites and worksheets especially useful. I was grateful as it decreased my workload. This link also offers students resources that assist in peer editing as well as provides sample student work. These two options are beneficial for students in the writing process as they are able to gain incite. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Author: (Shery-Ann, Shavonn, Anne) **

Koops, M. (2008). How to Write a persuasive Essay. Retrieved May 1, 2012 from http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=68337 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This link provides a concise introduction to the 5 paragraph persuasive essay, including the formation of supporting detail (evidence). This academic year brought the inclusion of the common core standards into the 8th grade English language arts curriculum. My students needed to understand and execute the writing of a persuasive essay. This link was especially useful for them as it provided them with a sample, as well as walked them though the process of writing a persuasive essay. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Author: (Shery-Ann, Anne)

National Novel Writing Month ** retrieved from [] **

November is national novel writing month. This site encourages students to complete a novel in one month to be part of the “campaign.” Students do not win a prize, however, their novel once completed is bound and packages as an actual book that they get to keep. Though the incentive may take some selling, we used this writing campaign as a thread for a unit in ELA. Some students did not complete a full novel, but many did. The site also offers fun motivational tools to keep students writing. This is site works best in tandem with class instruction/curriculum. ** Authors: (Shavonn, Sherry-Ann) **

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: 13px;">Newman, A. (2001). //EFL Laboratory//. Retrieved May 1, 2012. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Peer editing guidelines - Other writing resources [] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This link offers students an array of options in the way they can edit and revise their essays. This link also offers options for essay formatting and structure. I believe this is particularly beneficial for students who struggle with understanding how to structure a basic essay and need tips specific parts of essay writing, as the link offers support on what needs to be included in an introduction, body and conclusion. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Author: (Shery-Ann, Shavonn) Panofsky, C. Pacheo M., Smith S., Santos J., Fogelman C., Harrington M. (2005) Approaches to Writing Instruction for Adolescent English Language Learners. The Education Alliance at Brown University, 5-80.[|http][|://][|www][|.][|alliance][|.][|brown][|.][|edu][|/][|pubs][|/][|writ][|_][|instrct][|/][|apprchwrtng][|.][|pdf]

This article provides distinct strategies for implementing the writing process in a classroom designed for English language learners. It is useful because the strategies suggested are strategies that should maximize teacher impact and the usefulness of teacher feedback. The source differentiates between “treatable” and “untreatable errors.” That is, when a teacher spends time correcting verb tense, this will likely have an immediate impact for the student. Other errors and areas for student improvement need to addressed differently. For example, the authors suggest that students who do not write in the appropriate academic style, will best develop this skill by being exposed to more academic texts. This is more effective than having the teacher nitpick a student’s word-choice and attempt to formulaically get a student to develop an academic writing style. Author: (Anne, Shavonn)

Simpson. A. (2012) A Process Approach to Writing. Developing Teachers.com [|http][|://][|www][|.][|developingteachers][|.][|com][|/][|articles][|_][|tchtraining][|/][|pw][|1_][|adam][|.][|htm]. This article discusses how teaching writing has evolved from a product-based approach to a process-based approach. It explores the issue of coaching students so that their writing is a forum to express what they know. It also addresses the reality that in the past, written products have often not been reflective of what students actually know. The perspective of the author is particularly use for for teachers teaching in the English Language Learners’ classroom. The author addresses the fact that in the past, ELLs have been discouraged if they have to write in English because of the pressure to produce perfect writing. By emphasizing the process rather than the product, ELLs can feel supported and understand that their revisions and development as learners are valued in addition to the final product. Authors: (Anne, Shavonn)



<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">SMITHMag, (Writers, Famous & Obscure 2006), //Six Word Memoirs// [Vimeo]. Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[] This video shows several 6-word sentences that sum up a person’s life creatively. Most sentences shown are from famous figures, however, the site is part of a national campaign for six-word memoirs that include some from the general public. This site can be used as inspiration for an in class writing lesson regarding memoirs and self-expression. Students can select sentences from many sources that speak to them and tell why. You can discuss what makes a sentence strong and then explore ways for students to use strong sentences to tell their own stories. I chose this site because we did memoir style writing as the first piece in the writing workshop for ELA. It was very successful, but I think something like this six-word memoir would be a great component to it, or perhaps as an extension piece to strengthen writing process. Author: (Shavonn, Shery-Ann)