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Prewriting:Making a Plan for

Writing(Session 2)

Created by Christy Clausen

Graphics and layout by Michelle Sekulich, Curriculum and Assessment

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Prewriting (Session 2):

• Conversation/Talk • Quick-Write• List or Brainstorm• Graphic Organizer• Quality Literature• Artifacts/Concrete Objects• Draw• Research or Inquiry Experience• Drama

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Prewriting Techniques

• Conversation/Talk • Quick-Write• List or Brainstorm• Graphic Organizer• Quality Literature• Draw• Artifacts/Concrete Objects• Research or Inquiry Experience• Drama

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Quality Literature

Read books and discuss ideas, themes, characters, or information.

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Quality Literature

Have students keep an eye/ear open for similarities to their own personal lives.

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Quality Literature

Add ideas to a Writer’s Notebook or Journal and title it “Books that Spark Ideas.” Be sure to revisit notebooks and ideas from the literature.

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Quality Literature

Activity:

Listen to a poem or short story.

Discuss similarities or connections to own lives.

Write ideas or language on the “Books that Spark Ideas” chart.

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Prewriting Techniques

• Conversation/Talk • Quick-Write• List or Brainstorm• Graphic Organizer• Quality Literature• Artifacts/Concrete Objects• Draw• Research or Inquiry Experience• Drama

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Artifacts/Concrete Objects

Activity:

Take a photo from your wallet or any artifact that means something to you.

Write about it for 3-5 minutes.

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Artifacts/Concrete Objects

Additional Activity:1. Have students bring a photo to class.2.Have students tell a partner the story

“behind the picture.”3.Select students to share with whole

group. Students tell what the picture shows and what story is hidden behind the picture.

4.Send students off to write.

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Prewriting Techniques

• Conversation/Talk • Quick-Write• List or Brainstorm• Graphic Organizer• Quality Literature• Artifacts/Concrete Objects• Draw• Research or Inquiry Experience• Drama

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Drawing

“Writers may want to draw the characters or settings they have in mind for a story. Some may want to use the storyboard technique (sketching each scene of the story they envision).”

-Freeman, 1999

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Draw

Activity:

Think of a place you spend a lot of time (school, house, church, yard, park, beach…).

Sketch that place with a colored pencil.

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Draw & List

Activity:

Grab a different colored pencil.

Jot down a list of experiences you’ve had there. Write your ideas directly onto the scene you sketched.

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Draw, List, Talk

Activity:

Choose one idea from your list and talk about it.

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Draw, List, Talk, Write

Activity:

Turn your paper over and begin writing. If you need a boost in starting, begin by writing “One day…”

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Other Techniques…

Research or

Inquiry Experience

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Research/Inquiry

Students investigate a topic through research projects or as a hands-on experience. Afterward, students talk about the experience (or findings from research) and write about it.

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Other Techniques…

Drama/Role Play

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Drama/Role Play

Allow emergent and early writers the opportunity to role-play or dramatize events. This concrete activity helps “cement” ideas and elaborate on ideas before writing.

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In Conclusion…

• Discuss the techniques with your grade level team or partner.

• Examine the GLEs for your grade level (EALR 1; pg. 14-15)

• Select another technique to intentionally incorporate into your writing program.

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Bibliography:

• The Art of Teaching Writing (Calkins, Lucy)• The No-Nonsense Guide to Teaching Writing (Davis & Hill)• Scaffolding Young Writers (Dorn & Saffos)• Craft Lessons (Fletcher, Ralph)• Teaching the Youngest Writer (Freeman, Marcia)• Teaching the Developing Writer (Freeman, Marcia)• A Fresh Look at Writing (Graves, Donald)• K-10 Grade level Expectations: A New Level of Specificity

(OSPI)• 100 Quick-Writes (Reif, Linda)• Nonfiction in Focus (Robb, Laura)• Writing Essentials (Routman, Regie)• Creating Writers (Spandel, Vicki)