Prewriting for students

Imagine your students in a writing class, where they work in pairs, discussing their topic with great earnestness, and using an acrostic-type planning sheet to list strong vocabulary words for their story. In one corner, a student goes through file folders full of different graphic organizers, chooses one, and starts mapping out her story. In another corner, a small group of students is role-playing, acting out their story, and taking notes about their characters.

Writing can be an exciting adventure for students when they have a clear idea of what to write about and how to get started. The prewriting stage of the writing process (which also includes drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) is where students’ confidence and enthusiasm can be built. Prewriting is like a rehearsal, a sketch, a conversation, a fleeting notion, or an earnest endeavor to produce a written outline.

Prewriting is a crucial activity that students should engage in before beginning the first draft of any writing assignment. Its purpose is to help them create mental images and generate ideas related to the given topic, while also considering their emotions and values. The process of prewriting involves recalling, finding, analyzing, and organizing content. It can include a variety of activities such as listening to music, movement, dramatization, or drawing pictures, among others. For instance, Eileen is seen writing in her corner, creating a story map, while David and Jeff are busy leafing through books on the solar system, jotting notes and comparing Jupiter and Saturn. Rita is sketching an Iroquois longhouse, and Miguel is crouching under a table wearing headphones, working on a web about his favorite composer.

While prewriting can be done in various ways, it should always include writing. Students must keep their prewriting work and refer to it during subsequent stages of the writing process. Prewriting work can be messy, such as a list, a web, a checkerboard, a cartoon, or a storyboard, with arrows, words that have been crossed out, question marks, and notes in the margin. The primary goal of prewriting is to get students excited and motivated to start the actual draft.

When planning writing activities for your class, it is important to remember that children do not write like adults. Experienced writers plan their work carefully, while children often do little planning on their own. Furthermore, while adult writers often spend months developing characters and plot, children hope that their stories will unfold on paper. Experienced writers discover new ideas while writing, but most children write only what they already know. Adults focus more on content than mechanics and revise their work accordingly. In contrast, children often struggle with vocabulary and mechanics, lacking the knowledge and experience of older writers. Given these differences, it is crucial to teach prewriting strategies to children to improve the quality of their writing. Research shows that students who use prewriting frameworks and strategies achieve higher levels of success. By using prewriting activities, children can organize their ideas, talk about them, and gain the confidence and motivation to write more effectively.

Chapter 1 focuses on the importance of prewriting for students as they engage in writing assignments. It is essential to recognize that children approach writing differently than adults. For instance, experienced writers tend to plan their work meticulously, while children tend to do very little planning on their own. Experienced writers also tend to discover new ideas while writing, whereas most children write what they already know. Furthermore, adults tend to focus more on content than mechanics, while children may struggle with vocabulary and mechanics. Given these stark differences, it becomes clear that prewriting is critical for children to produce effective final drafts. By using prewriting strategies and frameworks, students can gain experience, plan their work carefully, and develop their ideas, leading to higher achievement.

Experienced writers and children differ in various ways when it comes to writing: • Experienced writers tend to discover new ideas while writing, whereas most children tend to write about what they already know. • Experienced writers are hesitant to share their story before they have written it, while children often want to discuss their ideas before they begin writing. • Adults typically focus more on the content than the mechanics, crafting their work during revision. Children, on the other hand, often lack the knowledge and experience of older writers and may struggle with vocabulary and mechanics.

Considering the significant differences between children and adult writers, it becomes crucial to provide students with a strong foundation in prewriting to enhance the effectiveness of their final drafts. Through guidance and instruction, students can use prewriting frameworks to plan their work, discuss their ideas, and ultimately feel enthusiastic about writing.

Research shows that students who use prewriting strategies achieve higher levels of success in their writing. However, some students who struggle with writing may experience resistance, frustration, and fear during the prewriting stage. They may engage in physical distractions like sharpening pencils or taking unnecessary trips to the bathroom, or even experience writer’s block. According to Hull (1989), “poorer writers” tend to rush through prewriting, spending little time planning and holding tightly to their initial formulations of a problem.

Sondra Perl’s (1979) study of unskilled writers found that, on average, students spent only four minutes on prewriting and used three prewriting strategies:

1. Rephrasing the topic until a particular word or idea connected with the student’s experience, leading to an “event” in mind before writing began.
2. Breaking down the large conceptual issue in the topic (e.g., equality) into two manageable pieces of writing (e.g., rich vs. poor; black vs. white).
3. Initiating a string of associations to a word in the topic and then developing one or more of those associations during writing.

Therefore, it is important to teach students prewriting strategies to help them plan their work effectively and overcome their fears and frustrations. By using prewriting frameworks to discuss and organize their ideas, students can become more eager and confident writers.

According to a study conducted by Sondra Perl (1979), unskilled writers who spent an average of four minutes on prewriting tended to rush through the writing process without proper planning, leading to frustration and fear. While some students using specific prewriting strategies had an idea of what to write, others had no clue and intended to figure it out as they wrote. Conversely, more successful students view prewriting as a process of curiosity leading to confidence. Teachers can instill confidence in students by allowing them to talk through their ideas, providing clear guidelines, and using prewriting planning sheets and graphic organizers effectively. Spending up to 25% of the allocated assignment time on prewriting, like experienced writers, can increase students’ success levels significantly. Effective prewriting equips students with the vocabulary, focus, content, and organization necessary to complete the task successfully.

It is important to note that prewriting strategies are not inherent skills but rather cognitive skills that can be taught and acquired. Thus, students require explicit instruction in constructing and utilizing prewriting frameworks to enable them to apply these skills on their own. Research has shown that students who engage in diverse prewriting experiences exhibit greater writing achievement than those who do not have this preparation and are told to start writing straight away (Cotton, 1988).

The prewriting stage is crucial because it is when students comprehend the assignment, access necessary information, and become motivated to start writing. During prewriting, students clarify the topic, purpose, and audience for the assignment, and assess their knowledge on the topic. They also consider who their intended audience is and why they are writing. Answering these questions enables them to write more effectively and tailor their writing to their readers.

Additionally, prewriting allows students to generate a vocabulary bank and develop ways to organize their ideas. They write down relevant words and phrases and use frameworks to capture images and answer questions related to their topic. Collaborating with peers during prewriting also helps students to validate their ideas, gain new insights, and increase their motivation. According to Lucy Calkins, postponing writing until students have a sense of authority and their information has coalesced into ideas is essential for success in writing (1986, p. 284).

In conclusion, prewriting is an essential stage of the writing process that helps students to clarify the assignment, generate ideas, and develop a vocabulary bank and organization strategies. With effective prewriting instruction, students can become more confident and successful writers.

To effectively plan a writing assignment, it is important to consider every stage of the process, including prewriting. Prior to assigning a writing task, it is helpful to assess what students already know and what they will need to know in order to determine whether prewriting activities are necessary. For example, if the assignment is to write about erosion caused by water, students will need to understand the process of erosion and have a working knowledge of relevant vocabulary. As such, note-taking during social studies and science lessons can be structured to provide this information. Additionally, language-arts activities, such as creating lists of verbs related to the movement of water, can be incorporated into lesson plans to further prepare students for the writing assignment.

Once the writing assignment is given, the first step of prewriting is for students to analyze the writing prompt or guidelines provided. This involves understanding the nature and scope of the topic, the intended audience and purpose, and the most effective organizational strategy for the assignment. Teachers can clarify the assignment by providing carefully crafted prompts that provide specific guidelines, as opposed to simply instructing students to write about a general topic. For example, a prompt that asks students to “Describe the general characteristics of birds, with two or three examples, for a class report” provides more clarity than simply instructing students to write about birds. Teachers may also establish criteria for writing quality and provide standards for students to meet in order to effectively complete the assignment.

Encouraging students to clarify the assignment is an essential part of prewriting, and this can be achieved by establishing an expectation that students ask questions about the task. As the teacher, you can help guide them in this process, providing answers when needed, but also encouraging them to seek answers from each other. It’s important that students write down their understanding of the assignment as part of this process. By establishing standards criteria for the writing task, you can further clarify the expectations and guide students in their revision and assessment.

The next step in prewriting is gathering and organizing information. While brainstorming is a common strategy, there are many other prewriting strategies that can be used, such as planning sheets and graphic organizers. Providing students with a variety of prewriting frameworks and helping them develop the ability to use them independently can enhance their writing skills.

This book offers 25 prewriting planning sheets and graphic organizers that can be used to teach students different strategies for gathering and organizing ideas. By incorporating these strategies into your teaching, you can make prewriting an exciting and productive part of the writing process.