Transcript Process Writing

Process Writing
JoAnn Miller, Macmillan Publishers
[email protected]
www.efltasks.net
Differences between speech and
writing
Speech
• Universal
• Dialect variations
• Voices and body
language
• Pauses and
intonation
• Spontaneous and
unplanned
(Raimes, 1983)
Writing
• Not universal
• Standard forms
• Only page for
expression
• Punctuation
• Usually planned
Speech
• Pronunciation
• Listener is
present, feedback
• Informal and
repetitive
• Compound
sentences (and’s
and but’s)
Writing
• Spelling
• Only one chance to
communicate
• More formal and
compact
• Complex sentences
common
History
• Shift in emphasis from the product
of writing activities (the finished
text) to ways in which text can be
developed
– from ‘what have you written?', ‘what
grade is it worth?’
– to ‘how will you write it?', ‘how can it be
improved?’
(Furneaux, 1998)
• Beginning at the end of the 1960s and
continuing through the 70s and 80s,
composition was investigated as a
cognitive process
– began to be reflected in L1 freshman
composition
– filtered eventually into ESL writing
textbooks.
• ESL began investigations of L2 writing
informed by the insights of L1
(Myers, 1997)
What is process writing?
• All writing is a creative act
– requires time and positive feedback to
be done well
• Teacher doesn’t just assign a writing
topic and receive the finished
product for correction with no
intervention in the writing process
itself.
(Stanley)
Why use process writing?
• To address the needs of our changing
society,
– teachers must prepare students for the
challenges of today's world.
• Writing is a powerful tool
– can influence others and clarify one's own
thoughts.
• Teaching the writing process can give
students the key to unlocking this powerful
tool.
(Antifaiff )
Teacher / Student Roles
• Teacher
– Move away from being a marker to a
reader
– Respond to content more than form.
• Students
– encouraged to think about audience
– realize what they put down on paper can
be changed
(Stanley)
The role of grammar
“Grammar is important—but as a tool,
a means, and not as an end in itself.”
(White, Arndt, 1991)
Assumptions about writing
• Writing is a thinking process
• Writing is a form of problem-solving
• Ideas are revealed during the act of
writing itself.
(White, Arndt, 1991)
Every day? *
• A report about a
family tradition
• An email to a
friend
• A letter of advice
to a relative
• Questions for a
school quiz show
• Advice leaflet on
security
• An essay
• A code of conduct
for the school
• A letter to a
boy/girlfriend to
break up
The stages of the process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
(Antifaiff )
Pre-writing
Focusing ideas
First Draft
Revision
Editing
Publishing
Stage One: Pre-writing
• Stimulate students' creativity
– get them thinking how to approach a
writing topic.
• Most important
– flow of ideas
– not always necessary to produce much (if
any) written work.
(Stanley)
How can they get ideas? *
(Lipkewich, Mazurenko 1999)
• magazines/newspapers/
periodicals/CD-ROM
• conduct an interview
based on your topic
• media-TV, internet
• experiences
• movies and
documentaries
• music
• visual art
• dreams
• memories
• discussion and
brainstorming
• responding to literature
• role playing
• research
• imagination
• personal interest
inventories
• class interest inventory
Pre-writing activities
• free writing
• “journalling “
• image streaming
– transplant yourself
to another place or
time and describe
from a first person
point of view
• lists
• visualization
– walk through house
• brainstorming
– individually or as a
group
• webbing / mapping /
clustering
– graphic organizers
• topic or word chart
(Lipkewich, Mazurenko 1999)
Graphic Organizers: When
could you use each one?
Comparison
Clusters
Chain of Events
Cycle
Fishbone Mapping
(Lipkewich, Mazurenko 1999)
Stage Two: Focusing
• Students write without much attention to the
accuracy of their work or the organization.
• Most important feature is meaning.
• Concentrate on the content of the writing.
– Is it coherent?
– Is there anything missing?
– Anything extra?
(Stanley)
Focusing activities
• Fast writing
– students write quickly for
five to ten minutes
without worrying about
correct language or
punctuation.
– Later this text is revised.
• Group compositions
– Working together in
groups, sharing ideas.
– involves other skills
(speaking in particular.)
(Stanley)
• Changing Viewpoints
– follow a role-play or
storytelling activity.
– students choose
different points of view
– discuss what character
would write in a diary,
witness statement, etc.
• Varying form
– different text types are
selected.
– how would the text be
different as a letter, or a
newspaper article, etc.
Stage Three: First Draft
Ideas are composed on paper.
– focus on the content, not the
mechanics.
– ideas should flow easily and the words be
written quickly.
(Antifaiff )
Questions for writers
• What is my purpose for writing this piece?
• What will my audience want to know about
my topic?
• How can I best arrange my information?
• What are the main ideas I want to present?
• What details can I add to support my main
ideas?
• What will make a good lead to catch the
reader's attention?
• How can I end the piece effectively?
(Antifaiff )
Stage Four: Revision
Revising is . . .
• Making decisions about how
to improve writing
• Looking at writing from a different point of
view
• Picking places where writing could be
clearer, more interesting, more informative
and more convincing.
• It's important to note that revision is not
editing for mechanics and spelling.
(Lipkewich, Mazurenko 1999)
(Antifaiff )
• “A cultivation of a sense of
responsibility for being one’s own critic”
• Writer must realize he/she will be read
by other people, not just graded
(White, Arndt, 1991)
Conferencing
• Conferencing can be with another
student or with the teacher.
• The conferencing will involve each
person rereading and sharing ideas
that will enhance and clarify the
writing.
• Students should be taught to
conference effectively.
(Antifaiff )
On-line Collaboration
• Wikis
– Like blogs but approved writers can
make changes
• Special sites are available for
educational written collaboration
Stages
• First reading:
– Put your pen down and read the
composition for content
– Comment on content
• Second reading
– Pick up pen
– Comment on writing, communication, not
picky details
Revising Activities
A.R.R.R. Adding: What else does
the reader need to
know?
Rearranging: Is the
information in the most
logical order?
Removing: What extra
details are in this piece
of writing?
Replacing: What words
could be replaced by
clearer or stronger
expressions?
R.A.G. - Read Around Group
(3-5 writers / group
•Anonymous compositions
•Everyone reads each paper
once to get a general idea.
Nothing is written on
papers.
•On separate paper, graded
on a scale of 1-4 and write
comments for later
discussion
•Same group: second
reading. More detail.
(Lipkewich, Mazurenko 1999)
Stage Five: Editing
• Proofread for mechanics and
grammar.
– beginning stages of writing, focus on one
area at a time to edit
– More advanced students can focus on
more areas.
• can conference with other students and
provide proofreading support for each other
(Antifaiff )
Editing Activities
• Self Edit
– Read your own work backwards.
– Read the last sentence, then the second
last sentence, etc.
– Does each sentence make sense when you read
it on it's own?
– Do you see or hear any errors in the sentence?
• Peer Edit
– Checklist for students
(Lipkewich, Mazurenko 1999)
Name________________________ Project____________
Peer Editor ____________________Date ______________
Peer Editing Checklist
Use this list to check your paper carefully.
My w riting meets the requirements of the
assignment.
I read the paper for meaning.
I checked the paper for complete sentences.
I used correct principles of grammar.
I used the spell check tool on the computer.
I double-checked for correct spelling.
All sentences start w ith a capital letter.
Proper nouns are capitalized.
The title has capital letters w here needed.
Each sentence ends w ith proper punctuation.
Commas and quotation marks are used correctly.
I follow ed the procedures of the w riting process.
I reread the paper carefully for all errors.
Louisiana Department of Education
General Editing Strategies
• See errors as friends, not enemies
• Use errors in students’ writing to
plan ahead
• Learn to expect errors that
regularly occur at certain stages in a
student’s learning
• Devise a system for indicating some
or all of the errors in the student’s
second or third drafts.
(Raimes 1983)
Correcting all errors!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Circling Errors
Symbols for Correction
Worksheet
Stage Six: Publishing
• Students prepare final version
• Then they need to have response to
their writing.
– helps clarify their work, generate new
ideas, and most importantly validate the
piece of writing.
– involves sharing a piece of writing with
an audience.
(Antifaiff )
Where to publish?
• Author's chair
– Students sit on a
designated chair for
"authors" and read
their writing to an
audience.
(Antifaiff )
• Printed class
newspaper
• Bulletin Board
• Blogging
Blogs
Weblogs--spaces on the web where you can
write and publish (post) about a topic or
several topics.
Weblogs ("blogs“)
– act of publishing (posting) to a weblog is often
called "blogging."
– In educational circles, "EduBlogs" or
"Schoolblogs."
An Overview of Weblogs: Quoting Anne Davis: http://anvil.gsu.edu/EV/stories/storyReader$33
Common Features
• Easy and quick to create
• Organized by time (chronologically
backwards) or posts
• The posts are usually short and frequently
posted.
• Readers can often respond or react
through a 'comments' feature.
• Instant web publishing
• Maintained by one person or as a multiperson blog
• Free or very low-cost to create.
An Overview of Weblogs: Quoting Anne Davis: http://anvil.gsu.edu/EV/stories/storyReader$33
Class blog
OK….how do I start?
Handout available at: www.efltasks.net
Take time to
look
around….there
are a number of
downloadable
and online
activities for all
levels
Thank you very much
JoAnn Miller
[email protected] [email protected]
Twitter: jabbusch
Secondlife: Ann Mulberry
Copies of the handout are available at:
www.efltasks.net (Presentations)
and more links at http://delicious.com/jabbusch