Supporting and Managing the Writing Process

Middle Level students respond well to a predictable classroom structure within which there is some flexibility and choice. Teachers should take time to ensure that students understand how the classroom structure and instructional activities work together. This section explains one way of structuring and managing a writing process classroom, and includes some sample charts for assessment and recordkeeping purposes.

It is important to create an atmosphere that allows and encourages students to feel safe taking risks in order to develop a community of writers who support each other and share with each other (the teacher is a part of this community). Let students help set guidelines and rules to make their environment safe (e.g., no put-downs).

Desks can be arranged in clusters or tables can be used to accommodate four to six students. On a specified shelf, resources can be provided which will assist students as they write (e.g., dictionaries, language study texts, literature as models, and samples of student writing). Writing process information can be displayed on bulletin boards. Areas of the classroom can be designated for specific activities (e.g., peer conferences, writing and publishing tasks).

The teacher plays an interactive role and builds scaffolds as needed. The teacher should model the various writing formats and conventions of the writing process, and provide the needed help as each student is writing. As a member of the community of writers, the teacher also writes and shares his/her writing with the students.

While the students are engaged in pre-writing, the teacher may do her/his writing on an overhead transparency, projecting it onto a screen for students to observe. This models the process, as well as the specific format or conventions being used.

Most writing class periods will consist of the following components, although not necessarily in the order they are listed: mini-lesson, status-of-the-class check, sustained writing time, peer and teacher conferences, and sharing or publishing.

Mini-lessons

At some point during most writing classes, in a 5-10 minute mini-lesson (length depends upon the procedure, concept, skill, or convention to be taught), the teacher provides students with information necessary for their writing. Mini-lessons about language usage and conventions such as spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation are necessary; however, they should emerge from the students' writing or the curriculum objectives, rather than being arbitrarily determined by the teacher. It is important to allow time for students to practise concepts introduced in mini-lessons within the context of their own writing.

The decision about what to teach in a mini-lesson depends upon the selected objectives as well as upon the students' needs and interests. The following lists provide examples of topics that may require mini-lessons.

Writing Process Procedures

• pre-writing activities
  
• writing rough drafts
  
• self-reflection
  
• participating in writing groups
  
• peer and teacher conferences
  
• writing folders and assessment portfolios
  
• revising and editing final drafts
  
• sharing and publishing.

Literary Elements and Devices

• plot
  
• characters
  
• main idea/theme
  
• setting
  
• narrative hook
  
• point of view
  
• flashbacks
  
• foreshadowing
  
• comparisons (e.g., analogies, metaphors, similes)
  
• personification
  
• alliteration
  
• rhyme and repetition.

Language Conventions and Mechanics

• writing sentences
  
• varying sentence structure (adding, deleting, substituting, moving, and combining)
  
• writing opening and concluding paragraphs
  
• writing descriptive paragraphs
  
• punctuating items in a series
  
• using the apostrophe
  
• choosing titles
  
• punctuating dialogue
  
• selecting appropriate words (e.g., to show fear, suspense, bravery, or other characteristics).

Writing Formats and Genre

• friendly or business letter
  
• news article
  
• short story
  
• haiku poetry
  
• personal experience narrative
  
• science fiction.

Some mini-lessons may be planned for the whole class because the teacher has determined the need for students to have specific information that supports their learning or the unit of study. Other mini-lessons may be provided to individuals or small groups as the need arises. If the concept to be taught is complex, the teacher should provide instruction in steps, allowing students the opportunity to practise each step before putting them all together.

Teachers should keep records (e.g., lesson plan sheets, anecdotal notes, checklists) of mini-lesson topics and to whom they were presented. Students may also be required to keep records of mini-lessons received (e.g., handouts, notes, checklists), for future reference.

Class Survey

Conduct a quick survey of what each student is intending to do or has accomplished during each class. The survey serves to help students set goals, to give other students ideas for their own writing, and to inform the teacher. A Class Survey sheet, similar to the one that follows this section, may be filled in by the teacher as students quickly share each day. When teachers file the survey sheets, they have a running record of student progress. Students may be given responsibility for filling in their own daily goals or achievements on a Daily Writing Record sheet, which is then reviewed periodically by the teacher. It is a good idea to include these recordkeeping tools in the students' portfolios to provide documentation of student daily writing intentions, activities, and progress.

Sustained Writing Time

Following the status check, the students are given an extended period of writing time. Teachers should remember that students will be at different stages in their process. Some will be at the pre-writing stage, while others are revising, and still others are editing, preparing final drafts, or publishing. The teacher may be writing for some of the time also.

Writing Conferences

During most of sustained writing time the teacher should be circulating throughout the classroom, conducting brief informal conferences and providing instructional scaffolds for each student as needed. As well, the teacher must build in time for extended student-teacher conferences and for peer conferences.

Checklists may be helpful to students as they reflect upon their own writing and as they confer with peers and the teacher. Conference checklists serve as scaffolds as students practise talking about writing; they may be shortened or eliminated altogether when students are more comfortable with conferencing about writing and have internalized the process. As well, conference checklists inform the teacher about the nature of peer interaction during writing conferences. Examples of checklists appear on pages following this section.

Sharing/Publishing

Most writing is meant to be read or heard by an audience. Writers must be their own first audience, but they also require the genuine response of others. Teachers may wish to establish regular sharing times (e.g., the end of each class period). This encourages students to try out new ideas for writing or sharing. Some means of sharing or publishing student writing are:

• Authors' Circle: The Authors' Circle is a strategy which provides opportunities for students to read their compositions to a small group of peers or, if appropriate, to the entire class. Listeners react to the writing, ask questions, and offer constructive comments and responses. Authors' Circles provide opportunities to:
  • demonstrate that writing is more than a transaction between the student and teacher by extending students' sense of audience
    
  • extend the skills of collaborative learning and peer conferencing and editing
    
  • emphasize that all students have noteworthy ideas and experiences about which to write
    
  • demonstrate that writing involves decision making and that peers are valuable resources during the process
    
  • help students recognize that writers should be able to give reasons for the choices they make regarding what and how they communicate.

Together teachers and students should set the criteria for sharing during Authors' Circles (e.g., length of time, number of pieces to share, appropriate responses). A suggested procedure for Authors' Circles follows:

• The author usually sits as a part of the circle with the audience.
  
• Students may request the responses and suggestions of others about a work-in-progress or about the final version of their writing.
  
• First responses by the listeners should be positive comments about specific strengths noted in the piece. Listeners might comment on their overall impressions, particularly vivid passages or descriptions, or the effectiveness of introductory or concluding passages.
  
• Listeners may offer suggestions for improvement at the author's request (e.g., regarding word choice, clarity of specific lines or phrases, additional details or ideas).
  
• Authors should be honest about their writing efforts and share with peers and the teacher the aspects of writing that pose great challenges and difficulties for them.
  
• Authors may revise their work and request reaction from peers in another Authors' Circle session.
  
• Teachers should model this procedure with their own writing efforts or copies of anonymous student writing and lead the class response. The teacher can also take the role of author and ask for suggestions and ideas. Keep Authors' Circle sessions short to accommodate Middle Level students' needs to change activities often.
  
• Teachers may observe and record students' participation and knowledge as writers and as listeners/responders using checklists or anecdotal notes.
  
• Teachers may note the kinds of comments made and the questions posed by students. These will help to identify the focus of instruction necessary for whole class or individual mini-lessons.
  
• As a variation of Authors' Circle, students could read their final copies to groups of younger students or to various community people (e.g., the elderly), depending on the intended audience.
  
• When writing projects or pieces are displayed, the comments and reactions of peers could be posted as well.

• Author of the Week/Month: Feature one or two authors each week or month, displaying their work on a designated classroom or hallway bulletin board. A brief biography and photograph of the author can also be posted.

• School Newspaper: Encourage students to submit their writing to the school newspaper for publication. As well, students may write for regular columns in their school's newspaper or develop a regular column for each classroom.

• Local Newspapers: Students can submit their writing or write for specific columns in local newspapers (e.g., student writing sections, letters to the editor).

• Parent/Community Newsletters: Student writing adds interest to newsletters that go out of the school and students can be proud that their work has reached a wider audience.

• Other Publications: Authors may decide to submit their written work to established publications. Teachers can contact the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild or other writing groups for a list of some publications that consider student work.

Class Survey: A Record of Daily Writing Plans
Sample Daily Writing Record
Sample Writing Conference Revision Checklist
Sample Editing/Proofreading Checklist
Sample Written Language Checklist