Why Pre-write?
You have presented beautifully designed anchor charts about the writing process and types of writing. You have given yourself laryngitis brainstorming writing ideas and explaining the directions over, and over, and over again. But, inevitably, when students are sent off to write, you hear: "I don't know whaaaaat to wriiiiiiiite. I can't think of aaaanything." Or a student scrawls furiously and "finishes" in less time than it takes to blow your nose. What is going wrong? There has not been enough scaffolding to help students begin and then write effectively. One can argue that pre-writing activities are the most essential part of the writing process, especially for young authors. Pre-writing consists of extensive modeling by the teacher, brainstorming, organizing, researching, and thinking time.
Pre-writing activates students' schema. This, in turn, helps them do the hard work of organizing what they know before confronting a complex task like essay writing. Good writers use pre-writing as a time to experiment with structure, format, and purpose. During this phase, writers become attached to their work, motivating them to continue until they have achieved a finished product (Brodney, Reeves, & Kazelskis, 1999).
Still not convinced? Research has shown that pre-writing activities result in writing that has better organization, mechanics, idea development, and style. Furthermore, scaffolding writing instruction by including pre-writing activities reduces anxiety about writing and helps students develop a more positive attitude about writing (Schweiker-Marra & Marra, 2000; Brodney et al., 1999).
Brodney, Reeves, and Kazelskis also found that when students combined reading and pre-writing, they wrote better structured, more cohesive essays (Brodney et al., 1999). In the same way that reading improves by understanding the text format and activating students' background knowledge, writing improves by planning a format and connecting a topic to what a student already knows. Including the use of mentor texts during writing instruction offers students a resource for experimenting with format and audience.
Mentor texts should not, however, be students' only support. Holmes (2003) cites the necessity of teacher modeling. Often, children think adults have no trouble writing--they can pick up a pen and the words flow to perfection. Certainly, this is untrue and as teachers, we can help our students by revealing our own writing struggles. Homes suggests that teachers show the writing process rather than just talk about it (Holmes, 2003). Writing on chart paper or using a document camera to show your own pre-writing and drafts shows students that writing can be messy and tough, but worth the effort to have a published piece.
Explore the Literature and Activities page above to learn about ways you can engage students in pre-writing. Also, you can find graphic organizers below that lend themselves to various essay formats.
References
Brodney, B., Reeves, C., & Kazelskis, R. (1999). Selected prewriting treatments: Effects on expository compositions written by fifth-
grade students. Journal Of Experimental Education, 68(1), 5.
Holmes, K. P. (2003). Show, don't tell: The importance of explicit prewriting instruction. Clearing House, 76(5), 241-243.
Schweiker-Marra, K. E., & Marra, W. T. (2000). Investigating the effects of prewriting activities on writing performance and anxiety of
at-risk students. Reading Psychology, 21(2), 99-114. doi:10.1080/02702710050084437
Pre-writing activates students' schema. This, in turn, helps them do the hard work of organizing what they know before confronting a complex task like essay writing. Good writers use pre-writing as a time to experiment with structure, format, and purpose. During this phase, writers become attached to their work, motivating them to continue until they have achieved a finished product (Brodney, Reeves, & Kazelskis, 1999).
Still not convinced? Research has shown that pre-writing activities result in writing that has better organization, mechanics, idea development, and style. Furthermore, scaffolding writing instruction by including pre-writing activities reduces anxiety about writing and helps students develop a more positive attitude about writing (Schweiker-Marra & Marra, 2000; Brodney et al., 1999).
Brodney, Reeves, and Kazelskis also found that when students combined reading and pre-writing, they wrote better structured, more cohesive essays (Brodney et al., 1999). In the same way that reading improves by understanding the text format and activating students' background knowledge, writing improves by planning a format and connecting a topic to what a student already knows. Including the use of mentor texts during writing instruction offers students a resource for experimenting with format and audience.
Mentor texts should not, however, be students' only support. Holmes (2003) cites the necessity of teacher modeling. Often, children think adults have no trouble writing--they can pick up a pen and the words flow to perfection. Certainly, this is untrue and as teachers, we can help our students by revealing our own writing struggles. Homes suggests that teachers show the writing process rather than just talk about it (Holmes, 2003). Writing on chart paper or using a document camera to show your own pre-writing and drafts shows students that writing can be messy and tough, but worth the effort to have a published piece.
Explore the Literature and Activities page above to learn about ways you can engage students in pre-writing. Also, you can find graphic organizers below that lend themselves to various essay formats.
References
Brodney, B., Reeves, C., & Kazelskis, R. (1999). Selected prewriting treatments: Effects on expository compositions written by fifth-
grade students. Journal Of Experimental Education, 68(1), 5.
Holmes, K. P. (2003). Show, don't tell: The importance of explicit prewriting instruction. Clearing House, 76(5), 241-243.
Schweiker-Marra, K. E., & Marra, W. T. (2000). Investigating the effects of prewriting activities on writing performance and anxiety of
at-risk students. Reading Psychology, 21(2), 99-114. doi:10.1080/02702710050084437
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers are a common tool for helping students structure their thinking before writing. They are easily adapted to different formats and grade levels so don't be held back by the headings! Try using a narrative graphic organizer for an expository essay. Or use the comic strip template for a personal narrative.
Expository Essays
Click here to download editable newspaper templates. Although not necessarily ideal for a graphic organizer, this template will give students an idea of considerations to take when writing this kind of informational text.
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Some students prefer using pictures to words when brainstorming ideas. It may help to make a comic strip creator available. Or, students could use one of these sites to dabble with the graphic essay format.
Make Beliefs Comix are free and do not require a subscription. ToonDoo has a great variety of choices but does require users to sign up (it is still free). |
Click here to use this interactive essay map from ReadWriteThink.org.
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Narrative/Descriptive Essays
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Persuasive Essays
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