Effective Prewriting Strategies for Successful Writing

1. Bell Work 8/12 • What does prewriting mean to you? • What method of prewriting do you use? • Write two (2) sentences minimum for EACH question.

2. Prewriting and drafting Week 2

3. prewriting • All the thinking, planning, and organizing you do before you actually start writing.

4. Prewriting strategies • What If? Questions • Imagining what hasn’t happened or what might happen in the future • What if I had been born in a different age? • What if I didn’t live in this country? • What if questions about a broad assigned topic that you need to narrow down • What if gold had not been discovered in 1848 in California? • What if there had been railroads all the way to California in 1848—or even airplanes? • What if the Rocky Mountains had been impassable?

5. Prewriting strategies • Brainstorming • Letting your mind roam freely to create an open-ended list of words and phrases. • Select a single word or topic • Write down everything that comes to mind regarding that topic or word • Do not evaluate what you write down—there are no wrong answers • Go through your list item by item and circle entries that are most appealing to you as topics to write about

6. Prewriting strategies • Freewriting • Writing nonstop • Let your writing wander • Don’t worry about writing complete sentences, grammar, or spelling • If you get stuck, just write the same word over until you get a new thought • Keep moving forward—do not back up to make revisions • Write without stopping for 5 minutes

7. Prewriting strategies • Clustering, Mapping, or Webbing • Gathering and organizing details for topics you already know well • Breaking a large topic into smaller parts • Write your topic (word or phrase) in the middle of a piece of paper and circle it • Write subtopics around the central topic (related words or phrases) and connect them to the central topic • Add subtopics to the subtopics • Keep going until you run out of thoughts

8. Prewriting strategies • Writer’s Notebook • Keeping a separate notebook or folder (paper or electronic) in which you jot down experiences and thoughts about anything that interests you • Keep an on-going notebook of things that are interesting to you • Include any quotations or thoughts you get from films, stories, interviews, artworks, or even cartoons • Explain why these ideas affected you

9. In-class assignment • For each of the items below, come up with 2 topics that you could write about in a 1-page paper. Use at least 3 different prewriting strategies to generate writing topics. (These prewrites will be used for journal entries later. Ask students to describe the strategies they used to generate the topics and why they are/are not effective.) • Why is a particular celebrity, politician, or artist popular • What makes an object, place, activity, or event stand out in your memory • Something unusual that happened to you and that you’re willing to share with readers • A school, local, or national issue you care about

10. Homework assignment • Use a paper notebook to keep a quotation notebook for 3 consecutive days. Each day, write down at least 1 quotation that caught your ear—something you read or heard. Include a paragraph explaining why the quotation got your attention.

11. Narrowing a topic • Narrowing a topic is a key to successful writing. • How can you tell if a topic is too broad, too narrow, or just right? • If you can break the topic down into more than 5 subtopics, it may be too broad. Choose one of the narrower subtopics to write about. • If you cannot break the topic down into more than 2 subtopics, it may be too narrow already. Try looking at a bigger picture.

12. In-class assignment • Choose 2 of the broad, general topics below. For each one you select, suggest three narrower topics that you can cover in a 2-page essay. • Example: • Too Broad: Television • Limited: The fall’s new sitcoms; Monday night’s lineup; the best soap opera • Broad Topics: • Flowers • Sea Travel • College • Monsters • Choose one of the narrower topics you identified above. Generate ideas and details about that topic by brainstorming, clustering, or asking What if questions.

13. Outlining • Outlines force you to make 2 important decisions about your prewriting notes: • Which main ideas and supporting details to use in your draft • In what order to present these ideas • Outlines can be written in complete sentences or key words/phrases • Outlines should guide you as you draft your paragraphs or essays • In an outline, if you have an “A,” you must have a “B.” If you have a “1,” you must have a “2.” If you only have an “A” then it shouldn’t be a subtopic; it is a topic.

14. Style—the manner in which you express your thoughts • Your audience is the person or persons who will read what you write • Your purpose is why you are writing • To describe • To entertain • To explain • To persuade • To tell a story (using personal experiences)

15. In-Class Activity • Consider the different styles of the following paragraphs. (How are they different? What is the purpose? Who is the audience?) • Dear Citizens! The Acme Contractors are at it again! Enormous bulldozers have arrived on watershed lands near Route 567 and are destroying the habitat of some of New Jersey’s last indigenous species. Within sight of three hotels, a sports complex, and a shopping mall lies the only remaining scrap of the swampy marshlands that once covered northern New Jersey. Write to your town councilors and demand that they rescind the permit to build, and that they protect this fragile ecosystem!

16. In-Class Activity • Dear Acme Contractors: As a resident of a neighboring town, I am concerned about the environmental impact of your construction project on Route 567 in Fayettesville, New Jersey. The watershed lands have already been tremendously damaged by the three hotels, sports complex, and shopping mall built nearby. Please send me documentation of any environmental impact studies you have done that show how you intend to preserve or minimize your impact on the habitat of the area’s wildlife and on the fragile marshland ecosystem.

17. Drafting—putting your thoughts into sentences and paragraphs • Strategy 1: Focus • Find a quiet place, and concentrate on the task • Try to write your 1st draft in a single sitting. If you can’t, take a break and then continue. • Strategy 2: Start Early • Allow enough time to let your draft sit awhile (overnight is ideal) before you go on to revise, edit, and proofread it. • Don’t be a procrastinator. Write your draft early so you have time to revise before turning it in.

18. Drafting—putting your thoughts into sentences and paragraphs • Strategy 3: Think In Sentences • Write complete sentences • Vary sentence structure and length • Try to develop an awareness of each sentence • Listen to the way the sentences sound together in paragraphs • Say the sentences to yourself, or read them aloud • Strategy 4: Stay Flexible • Follow the general direction of you outline, but feel free to add or drop details • You may come up with brilliant new ideas as you write—use them! • Strategy 5: Pay Attention to the Prompt • Know what they prompt is actually asking you to do • Pay attention to verbs: analyze, judge, discuss, evaluate, compare, contrast, explain, etc. • Make sure you address every part of the prompt

19. In-Class Activity • Pick one of your prewrites from this week (Writer’s Notebook, in-class activities, etc.) and write an outline for a 1-page essay. At the top of the page, identify your audience (your teacher, your class, your future self) and purpose (to explain, to entertain, to tell a story, to persuade, etc.). OUTLINE • Audience: • Purpose: • Introduction • Body • Subtopic 1 • Detail 1 • Detail 2 • Subtopic 2 • Detail 1 • Detail 2 • Detail 3 • Conclusion

20. Journal 1 • Before you begin drafting, meet with a partner to discuss what you’re planning to write. See if you can clearly summarize your topic, main idea(s), and supporting details. Write your 1st Draft based on the outline you wrote yesterday. It should be 1 full page. Label this assignment “Journal 1” and put your heading (Full Name, Teacher’s Name, Course, Date) in the upper-left corner.