Date: May 1994

Grade Level(s): 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Subject(s):

• Language Arts/Writing (composition)

Overview:

Many students feel a sense of fear and experience failure when asked to write creatively because they are not given the opportunity to learn and practice the art of pre-writing process.

Purpose:

The purpose is to provide a variety of pre-writing activities which will encourage students to manipulate, explore, discover and fall in love with words.

Objectives:

The learner will demonstrate fluency of idea - finding by participating in power writing activities.

• The learner will practice elaboration skills by participating in the word - pyramid activity.
• The learner will demonstrate the flexibility of idea - selecting by practicing the Writing Blitz.
• The learner will create original writings using the ideas generated in the pre-writing activity.

Resources/Materials: Student Materials - pencil and paper. Additional ideas for pre-writing activities may be found in 'The Writing Kabyn' by Leif Fearn.

Activities and Procedures:

The following activities can be used as pre-writing activities to 'set the stage' for formal writing assignments. Although students will enjoy the activities and ask to repeat them these activities should only be a prelude to a finished product.

Power Writing: This activity takes six minutes and involves the students in creative brainstorming. The words 'duck' and 'apple' are written on the board. Students are asked to select one of the words and at a given signal are instructed to write as much as they can as well as they can about the topic selected. At the end of one minute time is called and students are directed to count the words which they have written. Record these numbers on a chart on the board. Round two begins with the student selecting 'umbrella' or 'beautiful' and repeating the process for one minute. Round three begins with the student selecting `sock' or `blue' and repeating the process the process for one minute. Each round involves the students selecting a word, writing down their thoughts about that word, counting their words after one minute of writing and recording the results.

It will become dramatically apparent from the chart of the three rounds that this activity promotes thinking and writing in quantity. Practicing quantity is an important part of a comprehensive writing program because learners learn to write mostly by writing.

The Writing Blitz: Deliver one direction, as listed below, every forty seconds.

1. Given - word sentence: Write a nine word sentence in which animal is in the fifth position.
2. Single sentence: Arrange the following ideas in one sentence - old man...tractor...rain...coal mine.
3. Double sentence: Arrange the following ideas in two related sentences; bouncy...clear...glass...weather...street.
4. Given letter sentence: Write a sentence that contains at least thirteen `t's'.

Word Pyramids: Present the following directions to students.

1. Select an initial from your name and place it on the paper.
2. Think of a three letter word that begins with your letter and write it below your letter.
3. Think of a four letter word that begins with your letter and place it below the three letter word.
4. Continue adding one letter at a time until you can think of no more.
5. Think of a seven work sentence in which your four letter pyramid word occupies the fourth position.

Tying It All Together:

The ideas generated by the pre-writing activities listed above could be used to create poetry, paragraphs, stories or simply lovely thoughts.
Only after the successful experiences of pre-writing should student be encouraged to draft, revise, proofread and publish their works.