Communicating Through Writing and Text
Organizing Your Approach to Writing
As you begin to feel that you have collected enough information through your research and interviews, it is time to organize your data into a logical pattern so you can write your essay and prepare for your oral presentation. There are different approaches to prewriting that appeal to different intelligences and interests.
Shuffle and stack notecards or notebook paper: Spread all your cards/notes out on the floor. Review your groupings and reorganize if necessary. The groups will be your paragraphs! Ask a peer to evaluate your groups. This is an excellent approach for students who like to move around (kinesthetic) and use their sense of touch (tactile) to aid their thinking. The Outlining animation on BrainPop provides an example--the shuffle-and-stack method is just another way to outline that may appeal to students.
Create a Word Web or Mind Map: You could use a page from your journal, drawing paper, a portion of the classroom whiteboard, or Google Drawing to identify common groups and connections between ideas. Place your topic in the center, then create branches for each supporting idea. See the BrainPop video below for an example. This process will help you sort your ideas and facts into categories, and is helpful to students who tend to think visually.
Draft an outline: An outline is a logical, structured list that will organize your ideas, separating the main ideas from the supporting details. If you think through each of the facts and details you want to share with readers and your audience, getting them in the proper order will help you communicate clearly and with confidence. This approach helps logical/mathematical and verbal/linguistic students make a framework for their ideas. The Outlining animation on BrainPop provides an example.
I recommend each student select two of the three approaches to prewriting and give them a try. Pick the one that you feel most interested in, then pick a second based on what appeals to you. Once you conference with me using your favorite method or best match, you may begin writing your essay using your stacks, maps, or outlines as a "skeleton" or "frame." You now have the plan for the structure of the first draft of your essay! Good luck and write on!
Introductory Paragraph and Thesis Statement
When people read or listen, they want to know the point right away. Beginning your essay and presentation with a clear thesis statement (the noun form of Greek titheni--”to place in view”):
Your introductory paragraph and thesis statement:
1. Starts Simply – It should be written both clearly and concisely for a wide range of people who will read it. You are neither speaking down to someone who is uneducated, nor are you talking up to a person trying to impress them. The best way to write the introduction is to do this as if you were speaking to someone in person. A thesis statement is an introduction to your ideas.
2. Tells Why the Topic is Meaningful - You should explain why this idea is meaningful or important to you. Why did you spend the time researching and creating a presentation about this topic and issue?
3. Tells How It Impacts Readers – Explain to the reader or audience “how” the topic or issue should be important or meaningful to them as well.
Many writers think of a thesis statement as an umbrella: everything that you carry along in your 5+ paragraph essay must “fit” under this umbrella.
If you have an idea or concept in a paragraph you think is important that does not fit, the paragraph or thesis statement needs to be revised.
If you discover new information in the process of writing that should be included in the thesis statement, then the thesis statement should be revised. If you discover the essay is complete with a strong beginning, supporting middle, and satisfying conclusion, but the thesis includes ideas you haven’t addressed, then changing the thesis statement so it agrees with your conclusions is a wise move.
A strong thesis statement takes time and thought--one tool students in high school and college use is a thesis generator, which asks questions in sequence to help focus writers who lack experience or confidence.
- Gets your point across quickly.
- Avoids writing and reading fatigue from building up background and support from scratch.
- Allows you to write in a conversational tone rather than formally.
Your introductory paragraph and thesis statement:
1. Starts Simply – It should be written both clearly and concisely for a wide range of people who will read it. You are neither speaking down to someone who is uneducated, nor are you talking up to a person trying to impress them. The best way to write the introduction is to do this as if you were speaking to someone in person. A thesis statement is an introduction to your ideas.
2. Tells Why the Topic is Meaningful - You should explain why this idea is meaningful or important to you. Why did you spend the time researching and creating a presentation about this topic and issue?
3. Tells How It Impacts Readers – Explain to the reader or audience “how” the topic or issue should be important or meaningful to them as well.
Many writers think of a thesis statement as an umbrella: everything that you carry along in your 5+ paragraph essay must “fit” under this umbrella.
If you have an idea or concept in a paragraph you think is important that does not fit, the paragraph or thesis statement needs to be revised.
If you discover new information in the process of writing that should be included in the thesis statement, then the thesis statement should be revised. If you discover the essay is complete with a strong beginning, supporting middle, and satisfying conclusion, but the thesis includes ideas you haven’t addressed, then changing the thesis statement so it agrees with your conclusions is a wise move.
A strong thesis statement takes time and thought--one tool students in high school and college use is a thesis generator, which asks questions in sequence to help focus writers who lack experience or confidence.
Drafting and Proofreading
Writing is about communicating ideas, and every writer wants to be sure that his or her work is as clear as possible. Writers apply the conventions of grammar, usage, punctuation and spelling in order to convey thoughts clearly to the intended audience.The proofreading stage of the writing process is a time for writers to review and correct grammatical and mechanical errors that would otherwise cloud meaning and confuse readers.
We know we need to proofread, but how can we do it when we are still learning the standards of quality writing? Let’s focus on mistakes common to pre-teens who write quickly and “by ear,” writing the way they talk.
Sentence Fragments: Make sure each word group you have punctuated as a sentence contains a grammatically complete and independent thought that can stand alone as an acceptable sentence.
Sentence Run-ons: Too many equally weighted phrases and clauses produce tiresome sentences. There may be no grammatical errors, but the sprawling sentence does not communicate clearly and concisely.
Misplaced Modifiers: Place modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, and descriptive or amplifying phrases) near the words they describe; be sure the modified words actually appear in the sentence. These can be unintentionally funny.
Unclear pronoun reference: pronouns should clearly refer to specific nouns. Use he, it, she, they, this, that, these, those, and which carefully to prevent confusion.
Omitted Commas/Superfluous Commas: Use commas to signal nonessential descriptive or amplifying material, to list items or options in parallel, and to indicate relationships among ideas and sentence parts. Unnecessary commas make sentences difficult to read. Missing or unnecessary commas can also be unintentionally funny.
Apostrophe Errors: Apostrophes indicate possession for nouns ("Jim's hat," "several years' work") but not for personal pronouns (its, your, their, and whose). Apostrophes also indicate contractions ("it's" = "it is").In general, they are not used to indicate plurals.
Homophones (sound alike, spelled differently), Homonyms (spelled the same, multiple meanings), and Homographs (same spelling, different pronunciation, different meanings)
We know we need to proofread, but how can we do it when we are still learning the standards of quality writing? Let’s focus on mistakes common to pre-teens who write quickly and “by ear,” writing the way they talk.
Sentence Fragments: Make sure each word group you have punctuated as a sentence contains a grammatically complete and independent thought that can stand alone as an acceptable sentence.
Sentence Run-ons: Too many equally weighted phrases and clauses produce tiresome sentences. There may be no grammatical errors, but the sprawling sentence does not communicate clearly and concisely.
Misplaced Modifiers: Place modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, and descriptive or amplifying phrases) near the words they describe; be sure the modified words actually appear in the sentence. These can be unintentionally funny.
Unclear pronoun reference: pronouns should clearly refer to specific nouns. Use he, it, she, they, this, that, these, those, and which carefully to prevent confusion.
Omitted Commas/Superfluous Commas: Use commas to signal nonessential descriptive or amplifying material, to list items or options in parallel, and to indicate relationships among ideas and sentence parts. Unnecessary commas make sentences difficult to read. Missing or unnecessary commas can also be unintentionally funny.
Apostrophe Errors: Apostrophes indicate possession for nouns ("Jim's hat," "several years' work") but not for personal pronouns (its, your, their, and whose). Apostrophes also indicate contractions ("it's" = "it is").In general, they are not used to indicate plurals.
Homophones (sound alike, spelled differently), Homonyms (spelled the same, multiple meanings), and Homographs (same spelling, different pronunciation, different meanings)
The Scholarly Academic Essay
Books and eBooks
Brochures and Handouts
Blogs: Student Weblogs Tutorial
Student Digital Portfolios
Writer's Workshop: Craft
Writers' Workshop: Formal and Informal Writing
Writers' Workshop: Persuasive Writing
Writers' Workshop: Creative Writing
alertexemplarywritingchecklist.pdf | |
File Size: | 548 kb |
File Type: |