Using Writing Maps or “G.P.S.” to Promote Organization, Voice, and Insight in Writing

1. Using Writing Maps or “G.P.S.” to Promote Organization, Voice, and Insight in Writing By: Barbara Roll Friendswood Jr. High Friendswood, Texas

2. Friendswood Junior High • 97% Caucasian • Approximately 952 students • Block Scheduling for all subjects (90 min. classes every other day) • Language Arts-Reading is double blocked. (90 minute classes every day)

3. Key Points: • Reading literature enables students to make connections with their writing and vice versa. • Flexible writing maps can be used to help less skilled writers organize their writing without stifling creativity. • Organization in writing supports voice. • Adolescents are capable of making insights through their writing.

4. Supportive Research • “There are practical benefits of connecting reading and writing. Reading contributes to students’ writing development, and writing contributes to students’ reading development.” Gail E. Tompkins Language Arts Content and Teaching Strategies Fifth Edition

5. Supportive Research • “Prewriting has been the most neglected stage in the writing process; however, it is as crucial to writers as a warm-up is to athletes.” Gail E. Tompkins Language Arts Content and Teaching Strategies Fifth Edition

6. Supportive Research • “Researchers in other fields have found that using visual constructs to mirror mental constructs is productive for learning in several disciplines, including writing. Gloria Houston How Writing Works: Imposing Organizational Structure Within the Writing Process

7. Supportive Research • “…young writers who cannot yet think abstractly need concrete examples to help them conceptualize how a piece of writing works if they are to succeed.” Gloria Houston How Writing Works: Imposing Organizational Structure Within the Writing Process

8. Supportive Research • “Although we usually refer to purpose and audience as part of voice, it is organization that can support that reader/writer interaction by virtue of a structure that is appropriate to the intended reader--in this case, you and me.” Ruth Culham 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guides Grades 3 and Up

9. Supportive Research • “Adolescents begin to go deeper into ideas: political—moral--artistic. They are powerfully attracted to metaphorical language and layers of meaning. They glimpse shades of gray amid all the black and white that surrounds their childhoods. They begin to see patterns and significances in what were just events.” Nancie Atwell In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning

10. Lesson Overview • Prereading Activity: “Can You Speak British?” • Background information on Roald Dahl and Boy: Tales of Childhood • Read excerpt from Boy: Tales of Childhood. • Mini lesson on Writing Maps • Your Turn: Respond to prompt: Everyone gets in trouble. • Share responses.

11. Prereading Activity Worksheet: “Can You Speak British?” • In small groups, race against the clock to match each British word to its American counterpart. Use one worksheet per group to record the answers. Shout “We did it!” upon completion of the matching section. • Next, translate the statements made by a character in the story from a working class British accent to standard English.

12. About Roald Dahl • Famous British children’s author: Born 1916 Died 1990 • Wrote: Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and many other works. • Attended a private prepratory school (elementary school) for boys in Wales called Llandaff Cathedral School. “The headmaster and teachers were very strict and discipline was rigid.” His experiences there are recounted in Boy: Tales of Childhood. P. 548 The Language of Literature. (2001) McDougal Littell, Inc., Evanston, IL • “As a schoolboy, Roald Dahl apparently showed little promise. One report about him included the comments: ‘I have never met a boy who so persistently writes the exact opposite of what he means. He seems incapable of marshaling his thoughts on paper and vocabulary negligible, sentences malconstructed. He reminds me of a camel.’” P. 548 The Language of Literature. (2001) McDougal Littell, Inc., Evanston, IL

13. Mini LessonPrewriting: Using Writing Maps • Writing maps can help you organize your ideas, improve your writing “voice,” and help you dig deeper into a topic. • Digging deeper into a topic means sharing some form of insight (a new understanding or lesson learned, also called a “truism.”) • You can change any of the writing maps or make up your own maps to suit your needs. You can share them with others. • Using a writing map is optional.

14. Your Turn: Write a composition that responds to the following prompt: Everyone gets in trouble. • What thoughts come to mind? • Can you recall a particular time you or someone you know got into trouble? What happened? • Could you make up a story about getting into trouble? • Try using a writing map to plan your piece, or come up with your own writing map. Using a writing map is optional. • Remember to dig deep by including some form of insight in your piece (“truism,” life lesson, or a new understanding.) • Share responses.

15. Modifications Spec. Ed., ESL, and lower grade levels: • As a class, in small groups, or independently, read and discuss a picture book or lower level short story on the same theme/topic. • Simplify word choice and structure of writing maps. • As a class, in small groups, or independently, using a modified map, write and illustrate a story on the same/theme or topic. • Share pieces.

16. Bibliography Atwell, N. (1998).In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing,Reading, and Learning. Boynton/Cook, Portsmouth, NH. Bernabei, G. (2004). “Writing Constructs” (Writing Maps) from writing workshop “Lessons in Voice” Houston, TX. Bernabei, G. and Lane, B. (2001). Why We Must Run With Scissors. Discover Writing Press, Shoreham, VT. Culham, R. (2003). 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guides Grades 3 and Up. Scholastic Inc., New York, NY. Dahl, R. (1984). “The Bicycle and the Sweetshop,” “Mr. Coombs,” and “The Great Mouse Plot,” from Boy: Tales of Childhood. Farrar, Straus and Giroux and David Higham Associates. Houston, G. (2004). How Writing Works: Imposing Organizational Structure Within the Writing Process. Pearson Education, Inc. Boston, MS. Tompkins, G. (2002). Language Arts Content and Teaching Strategies Fifth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.