The Writing Process

As part of our Personal Narratives project for April, we are delving more deeply into the Writing Process. I was really excited to find four-pocket folders (I never knew there was such a thing!) at Walmart. Usually I don't like either Walmart or plastic folders, but these were too perfect to pass up.

The easiest thing is to give each child a sheet of 5 stickers... these from Avery are ideal! First the children write their name; this sticker goes on the front of the folder. With the other four, they can then label the four pockets.

Most of our rough draft/editing work is done for the main lesson book, which is always factual information, so this project is a big stretch for them! I think it's good to have some examples of the importance of revising. You don't just slap some words on the page, make sure your spelling and punctuation are correct, and call it done. Rethinking how you are explaining something -- and if you should say more (or less) -- is an essential step.

Here are some real-life examples I like to use to demonstrate revising:

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!
started by Dr. Seuss, finished by Jack Prelutsky
"How This Book Came To Be" (samples of Seuss's original notes)

Poetry Speaks to Children
edited by Elise Paschen
page 88 & CD track 53
"On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins

Poetry is always being changed by the poet until the rhythm and flow of the words is just right. In this book, the author of "On Turning Ten" changes the poem slightly when he reads it aloud on the CD recording. Can you find what is different?

Thanks, Billy Collins, for helping us to give a great example of this to children! It is a published book but he didn't care... it didn't feel right when he said it out loud and he gave himself permission to change it. I love that!

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