By the time students reach fourth or fifth grade, they are being taught the stages of writing. I remind them that each stage has its purpose and cannot be skipped.
Step 1: Pre-writing Planning
This is where a student plans out the main ideas he is going to write about. I tell students that, in much the same way, a house builder would not begin building a house without an architect’s plans to guide him. Their papers will require a thesis (yes, even in elementary school). So the students need to come up with three reasons for their statement. I always advise them to come up with at least four or five. This way, if one of their preliminary reasons doesn’t work out, they have some alternatives. They also have to think of some specific examples in order to prove their ideas have merit.
Step 2: First Draft
The most important thing about the first draft is that they shouldn’t become “married to it.” I have worked with many students who are reluctant to change what they initially wrote. So right from the get-go, I tell them that this is when you get your initial ideas down on paper, in an organized manner, so that you can later perfect your project. I give visual reminders that an artist’s sculpture looks quite rough in its original form, just as their ideas are only beginning to take shape in the first draft.
Step 3: Revising the First Draft
I tell students that this is where the fun begins! You have already given your thoughts a foundation. Now you want to go back and really think about how each sentence sounds. Can you be more descriptive? Is there a way to be more persuasive? I show them a picture of the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, a master writer. It has lines that are scratched through, and notes that are sketched in the margins. This is where we can talk about strategies to make an essay more enjoyable for the reader. Did you vary your sentence structures throughout your paper, writing some complex and compound sentences in order to break up all the simple sentences?
Step 4: Editing
The last stage of writing is the chance to make certain that there are no punctuation, spelling, or grammar mistakes. I sometimes show students a picture of a couple who are dressed for a ball. His hair is disheveled and his buttons are misaligned, while her bow is crooked and her slip is showing. I ask them to notice what needs to be “fixed”in the final touches so that this couple can present themselves properly. Then I ask them to do the same type of “noticing”with their essay, looking for punctuation, grammar, and spelling mistakes.
I find that writing is the one area in which almost all students need more practice and guidance. It is crucial that they become more proficient at expressing their ideas in a concise, informative manner. I remind them that ideas can change the world, but only if they are presented in a form that others can understand and are drawn to.