A Writing Model
What to write about. Decide on a topic that may be worth pursing.
Research. Do you need to find out more about the topic?
Initial draft. Write your story.
Two revisions. Focus on (1) content and (2) mechanics.
Extend. Share your writing with others.
Level 1: Thinking Phase
Purpose: to capture
ideas
Examples: Brainstorming, free
writing,
outlining, webbing, journal writing
Level 2: Answering Phase
Purpose: To answer
correctly
Examples: Reader response,
answers to
specific questions over reading
Level 3: Creating
Phase
Purpose: Review for the writing process
Examples: Narrative, descriptive,
informative, and
persuasive essays; poems, creative writing.
Level 4: Improving Phase
Purpose: Review by
peers
Examples: Two or more drafts,
revising and
polishing a Level 3 work
Level 5: Perfecting Phase
Purpose: Publish
Examples: A flawless,
publishable
version of a Level 4 work
Writing
Activities
• "How to's" are precise, step-by-step descriptions of how to do something.
How to make soap; How to make a flag
• Diaries or journals, or stories of real or imagined people describing a place, event, or experience.
A visitor to the White House; a pioneer on the Oregon Trail
• Applications for jobs, describing qualifications for the position and reasons why you would like it.
A firefighter; the President of the United States; the King or Queen of England
• Letters written by students themselves or as another person, either real or imagined containing descriptions, reactions, observations, or attempts to persuade someone to take a certain course of action.
A letter to the mayor asking that the community follow a particular course of action.
A letter(1860) from a Northerner to a Southern relative explaining why the South should not secede from the Union (or vice versa).
• Radio scripts describing events or conditions.
A "You Are There" description of the first Thanksgiving;
A news bulletin from inside the Alamo.
• Pamphlets or brochures with illustrations that describe places or events.
Washington, D.C.
The Alamo
• Interviews (with real or imaginary people) in which students ask and answer questions.
An interview with Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965
An interview with Lewis and Clark during their expedition.
• Advertisements for inventions, places, products, etc.
The printing press; the water wheel; Chicago
• Biographies of imaginary children living in other times or places.
A child living on a plantation in Georgia in 1840; a child living in Iraq today
• Wanted Posters with a picture, description, crime, etc.
Saddam Hussein, Hitler, Benedict Arnold
• Itineraries for imaginary trips through places past or present.
A trip on the Underground Railroad
A sightseeing trip through your community