PREWRITING
This is the stage in which students plan what to write about. If they were writing a
story, students might use a basic plan – Character, Setting, and Plot. They are
probably very familiar with this. Your job is to teach informational/expository
text writing skills. Students might be intimidated by the idea of collecting
facts. See the Common Core standards and objectives above. This includes
evaluating sources of information and choosing which facts to use in their
writing. Students can use or make their own graphic organizers. First, you model
the use of the graphic organizer (and match that with a writing frame you also
model). Then, you encourage students to choose their own details to add on a
graphic organizer.
1. Students can copy your writing frames.
2. Students move to frames with blanks and fill in their own words.
3. Students draft on their own using blank writing frames or writing paper.