Composing+Written+Material

=﻿Composing Written Material =

﻿ ﻿ ﻿  "Writing is a complex problem-solving activity that involves thinking, planning, and decision making, as well as the mechanics of transcription...thinking skills are involved in writing."
 * What does it mean to compose written material?

The writing process is recognizing that composing written material is the process of transcribing thoughts into a solid form on paper. It is a process, from scribbling the first word to publishing a final draft. It is individualized with each student, as each will demonstrate various strengths and weaknesses. It can come in all forms, depending on if the writing is persuasive, research-based, biographical, or creative. No matter what kind of writing is involved, there is a basic guideline that eases the writing process to compose a final draft of writing.


 * It's very important to understand that students with disablities benefit from a highly structured enviornment with clearly stated directions. One of the best ways to help ease the writing process and to make a successful composition of writing is to follow the five basic steps for writing. Each of these steps has specific goals and different ways to assist in accomplishing those goals.
 * 1) Pre-writing
 * 2) Drafting
 * 3) Revising
 * 4) Editing
 * 5) Publishing



1. STEP ONE- Pre-Writing/Brainstorming: What is pre-writing?: This is most useful when a quick plan needs to be made and students may be struggling on getting started. First, students can generate ideas, not stopping in their writing until they can no longer think of anything else to add. Ideas do not need to be specific, right, wrong, good, or even bad. As long as the students are writing, they are accomplishing the pre-writing goals. Then, they can orchestrate, or put those ideas into catergories. Then they can elaborate in which they decide what can stay and what can go and which ideas they like the most. (computer-based study strategies worksheet)

How can I start a pre-write?: Free write, use a journal, think of likes/dislikes, review previous assignments that went well, talk to other about their ideas, etc. Then: Pick a topic that is striking. Determine the who, what, where, when, why, and how. Think of what is already known and what still needs to be researched. Think of pros and cons, list supporting arguments, and take those ideas to make a basic outline or use notecards to categorize.

What tools can help in the prewriting stage?: Graphic organizers and outlining software can really come in handy here. Some suggestions would include Inspirtation, Kidspiration, and DraftBuilder.



2. STEP TWO- Drafting What does it mean to draft?: After most of the notes have been completed, it's time to organize them into a rough draft. The purpose is to get the main ideas down on paper in a logical formation. It's important to realize this step can be difficult for students that have difficulty with organization and expressing thoughts clearly. It's ok if this paper is still imperfect. In fact, it should be! It's important to also give plenty of time for this step. It can be the most complicated because connections have to be made and structure must be maintained.

How can I start drafting? This is easier to do in a spacious place that allows for peace and concentration. All notes from the brainstorm can be sorted out near the student so they have all their ideas accessible. Then, they can begin on their preference of a computer or pen and paper.

<span style="color: #ff7400; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What tools can help in the drafting stage?: Word processing, such as Microsoft Word. For students that have difficulty typing, word prediction software is available with WordQ or Co:Writer. For students that cannot type or struggle with fine motor skills, speech recognition is available, such as Dragon Naturally-Speaking SpeakQ.



<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">3. STEP THREE- Revision <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What does it mean to revise?: This literally means to "re-see" writing. After finishing a first draft, it is important to allow for plenty of time to look things over and make changes to the writing. That may mean moving some paragraphs around, deleting information, or adding information. This is not to look at specific elements such as grammar, punctuation, etc. It's looking at the bigger picture and what is being said.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How can I revise?: Consider the audience, look at transitions, look at the organization, how is the tone, style, purpose, is there supporting information, are there clear topic sentences, etc.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What tools can help in the drafting stage?: Some students may need to hear what is written in order to catch mistakes, rather than reading it over themselves. Text-to-speech can help with this. WordQ and Write: OutLoud will work also. Confusingwords.com can also help students to understand words they are struggling with in their writing.



4. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">STEP FOUR- Editing <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What does it mean to edit?: Now that the organization is set and topics are clearly expressed, editing can take place. This is the time to go over writing with a "fine tooth comb." Now is the time to check for proper English, grammar, sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, etc.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How can I edit?: Edit can be a very tedious task. It's important to take breaks while editing because it calls for a lot of patience and concentration. To ease this process, it's good to edit the paper once, have a peer/parent/teacher check it over, and then allow the student to revisit it once more.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What tools can help in the editing stage?: Microsoft Word does have a grammar checker, but it cannot always be trusted. Books such as "Quick Access, A Reference for Writers" by Lynn Quitman Troyka and Douglas Hesse are very useful to use in the classroom and at home to check those confusing grammar rules. The following can be used as a reference for the symbols in editing and what they mean.



5. STEP FIVE- Publishing What does it mean to publish?: After all the fine-tuning is completed, it's time to publish! This means students can share their work with their world.

How can I publish?: There are several ways to publish a final paper. That can be as simple as handing it into the teacher, entering an essay contest, sending it into the newspaper, yearbook, or a magazine. Nowadays, a very popular way to publish work is through the Internet. Scroll down to see different blog sites that are safe for students and very easy to use!



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you're a parent with a child that struggles with writing, here are some helpful hints to think about: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Advice for Parents]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Helpful links for teachers:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This is a great resource to use to keep track of a student's individual strengths and weaknesses and to see where they may need some assistance in composing written material. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Compostition form]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">These give great lesson plans, interactive fun, writing prompts, and much more! <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Write!] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Write and think

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This is a safe blog to use for students to publish their work. It will get them excited to interact on the web on comment on their peers work. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">safeblog

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Students can also use blogger to publish their work. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Sign up!]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Here are two videos on how to set up a blog on blogger. media type="youtube" key="g28Sbx_5N8s" height="390" width="640"media type="youtube" key="1UrkYW8b1Fk" height="390" width="480"
 * =<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The most important thing to remember is that writing is a process. It takes a long time to develop each of the steps listed above and it requires care and attention until a work is officially completed. It's important to students to have the tools they need and it's your job as a teacher or a parent to give them the tools they need to be a successful writer. I emplore you to do more research on the tools that are accessible to students to help them with that process. These are only a few suggestions of the many that are available! =

References:

Computer Based Strategies. (2002). Brainstorming. //The Center For Electronic Studying//.

Dell, A. G., Newton, D. A., & Petroff, J. G. (2008). //Assistive technology in the classroom: enhancing the school experiences of students with disabilities//. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

Gargiulo, R. M. (2009). //Special education in contemporary society: an introduction to exceptionality// (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.