- English Language Arts and Reading
- Grade 8
- Composition
plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for a particular topic, purpose, and audience using a range of strategies such as discussion, background reading, and personal interests;
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 use of strategies to ensure they have thought and planned for the writing beforehand.
Students’ plans should include the following:
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 any number of strategies such as brainstorming.
1. Klein, P. D., & Rose, M. A. (2010). Teaching argument and explanation to prepare junior students for writing to learn. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(4), 433–461. Retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.45.4.4
Summary: In this study, Klein and Rose examine how students respond to various writing tasks and assignments. The teachers used the process writing approach, which included creating an outline, drafts, and a final paper. The revision and edit process lends itself to implementing teacher and peer oral and written feedback. The study reveals that there are specific as well as varied means to teach the writing process to students. Students must use prior knowledge and have access to relevant external sources (i.e. internet).
2. Lucidchart. (2017, December 12). 4 steps to wrangling the writing process. [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/4-steps-to-wrangling-the-writing-process
Summary: This blog include the four steps in the writing process—prewriting, writing, revising and editing. Additional resources are embedded hyperlinks. Graphic examples and templates are also included. Complete access will require setting up a free account.
3. Composition Writing Studio. The Writing Process. University of Purdue’s Online Writing Lab. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/05/
Summary: This online resource offers a complete overview of the writing processes and the components involved in each. The overview includes definition of terms, examples, graphs and charts as appropriate, and additional resources.