Knowledge and Skills Statement
Task students with planning a first draft for writing. Collect student plans through formal means or through conference before students start to draft their writing. Their plans should reflect strategies to ensure they have thought and planned for the writing beforehand. Students’ plans should include the following:
- The topic
- The purpose
- The genre selected with an explanation of how it suits topic and purpose
- An indication of the intended audience
Further Explanation
Students are expected to plan the rough draft of a piece of writing as the first step in the writing process. Often referred to as prewriting, students choose the topic, identify the audience and intended purpose, and begin to organize their thoughts using strategies such as brainstorming.
Research
Mason, L. H., Kubina, R. J., & Taft, R. J. (2011). Developing quick writing skills of middle school students with disabilities. Journal of Special Education, 44(4), 205–220. doi: 10.1177/0022466909350780
Summary: Two studies were designed to examine the use of persuasive quick write responses with seventh-grade students with disabilities In both studies, the written responses of the students were evaluated before, during, and after students developed their personal strategy to address the quick response. Two strategies were used by the students: POW—pick my idea, organize my notes, write and say more; and TREE—topic sentence, reasons (three or more), explain, and ending. All students improved in their ability to create a strong persuasive response after a few weeks of instruction and practice.