The Process of Writing

The writing process involves several steps in which students develop their ideas and record them in written form. The following 5 steps are part of the writing process:

planning

writing a draft

revising

editing

publishing

It is very important that teachers teach each step explicitly. Re-teaching and review as students complete various assignments may be necessary and valuable as students develop further as writers. One effective strategy to enhance the writing process is conferencing. This can be completed with peers or the classroom teacher. Imperative to the process is teacher modelling of what the process looks like, and what it sounds like. Having exemplars for students to see while completing the writing process can be very helpful to developing writers.

Planning

During this stage of the writing process, students generate ideas based on prior knowledge or personal experience. They may choose to use a graphic organizer to help visualize their ideas. Brainstorming with peers can be an effective method of evaluating ideas, and narrowing their focus. Once students select a topic, they can create a plan, determine their focus for writing, and who their audience will be.

Writing A Draft

After developing a plan, students write a first draft. This can be in point form at first to generate ideas and get them down on paper. Once students get their message down on paper, they can go back and decide if what they wrote says what they want it to. It is at this stage that students determine if what they have written has potential to be developed into the item they are intending to write for. If so, they can go on to the next stage in the writing process. If not, they have the option to go back to the drawing board and begin again in the planning stage.

Revising

This step involves improving the quality of what the student has written. Students must read what they wrote and ask themselves 'Does this make sense?' They need to decide if their ideas are clear, and organized well. They may look at sentence structure, and vocabulary, as well as paragraph formation at this time. Use of a thesaurus can be helpful during this stage. Teacher and peer conferencing are critical at this point to assist students in determining if what they have written is effective. After a conference, students may decide to implement suggestions made or not.

Editing

Mechanical aspects of student writing are examined during this stage. Students and peers can proofread eachother's writing for errors in grammatical conventions, spelling, and punctuation. Editing checklists are helpful. If teachers can post one in their classroom or provide a small one to be inserted into a student's notebook, they can become more familiar with the editing tool.

Publishing

This stage entails students making their writing presentable to their audience. The layout is considered based on the instructions set out in the assignment. Once the writing is published, it should be shared with an audience.

In conclusion, teachers must remind students that writing is recursive in nature. They must move back and forth through the steps in the writing process to create and refine ideas. Another important point to remember is that not all writing is published. Happy writing!

Mrs. Harwood