Writing is a Process

Writing is a process. It is not fair to consider your first draft your "final" draft. If you do, you are cheating yourself out of creating something wonderful. Therefore, in this class, we do walk through a process and take time working with each step. At the beginning on the year, there will be mini-lessons to be sure you are comfortable and get the most out of each step.

The process we will follow is:

1. Prewriting
2. Drafting
3. Revising
4. Editing and Proofreading
5. Publishing and Presenting

A. Prewriting
1. Explore ideas
2. Choose topic
a. Meaningful and significant
3. Consider your audience
a. focus on PURPOSE for writing
4. Gather details/facts
5. Graphic organizer

B. Drafting
1. Powerful opening sentence (topic sentence)
2. Elaborate with facts and details

C. Revising
1. Challenging and Continual
2. Use a strategy that works for YOU
a. circling, brackets, highlighting, sticky notes
3. Each paragraph relates to SOME purpose
4. Complex and compound sentences “8th grade sentences”
5. Word Choice
a. examine language
b. word usage
6. Peer review
a. Get other points of view
b. Final decision is YOURS

D. Proofreading and Editing
1. Check ALL conventions
2. Double check that all facts are accurate
3. Continue to check until you are 100% happy and proud of your work

E. Publishing and Presenting
1. FLAWLESS
2. Take pride in your work it is a reflection of YOU
3. Portfolio