I'm sad to say that, after looking at your notebooks today, there is a problem. Of the 26 notebooks I received, only one seems to be doing the process correctly. So we need to look at the process again.
The two classes each had a separate topic area for development of a new paragraph:
"Lucky" for one class; "Misunderstandings" for the other. Your homework was to do Steps 0 (ideas) and Step 1 (create something like a paragraph from your ideas).
It seems there is confusion about how to start.
From a general topic area, you must create your own topic for writing. As I pointed out in class today, that should be limited to 5 words or so (don't worry about grammar). Examples
- Topic: Lucky -- "Seven is my lucky number"
- Topic: Misunderstandings -- "Wife misunderstands my need to travel"
(Note: misunderstanding is not the same as "not understand" -- misunderstand means she thinks she does understand what I'm thinking, but in fact we aren't thinking the same thing.)
With a topic, we can then do our brainstorming/mind-maps, or whatever we do, and record our ideas. Hopefully there are 12 or more ideas listed, because later we might decide not to use some. Remember, in brainstorming, we don't judge ideas, just write them all down, because even "bad" (or silly) ideas can help us think of other (good) ideas. This ideas time is STEP 0. I should be able to find STEP 0 in your notebooks today, but half of the notebooks did not have it, or it was AFTER the first try to write a paragraph (STEP 1).
Let's look back at the Steps listed on this blog. (I added the Step 0 the next week.) http://writefordickey.blogspot.com/2013/12/january-2-process-approach-and-more.html
0. Collect ideas about your topic. (brainstorming, idea webs, research, etc) Which seems more interesting and useful?
1. Write ideas in narrative. (something like a paragraph) [REVIEW]
2. Reconsider ideas, re-sort the order? Re-write. [REVIEW]
3. Develop further, re-write. (add more content) [REVIEW]
4. Corrections, re-write for a "Final Draft" [REVIEW]
5. Make it "perfect" as a FINAL SUBMISSION [SUBMIT]
In class today our job was to write a short and simple topic under our Step 1 paragraph. WHY? The reason is because many students are not writing topic sentences that set the boundaries of the paragraph. In this class I am not interested in introductory sentences or transitional sentences. Forget about essays, focus on a single paragraph. Immediately tell us what you are talking about. Not too wide, not too narrow. (Remember, more words in the topic sentence will often narrow the boundaries.)
Today I asked students to review their own Step 1. That means, which of my sentences do not fit inside the boundaries of my topic sentence? Step 1 is not about grammar, but about my ideas and my topic. Could be sorting "which should come first?" Of course, if your topic sentence isn't clear, it's hard to know if the sentences should be changed here! I asked you to
Peer Review is DIFFICULT. It is not a time to say "I like flowers too!" You talk about the information, the ideas, how they fit to the topic, is the writer communicating well the ideas, are there ideas missing? You are not "enjoying the writing." You are the mother bird that kicks the baby out of the tree. FLY!!! You must push them to be better. Tell them which are good ideas, tell them which ideas need to be cut out or changed. Many students did not write their name for their review. So I can't give any points!
Tuesday we will start with a new topic. When Steps 0 and 1 are not successful, you can't go forward...
So, again
Step 0: collect ideas about your topic (your simple 5-word topic)
Step 1: convert ideas into something that looks like a paragraph, including a topic sentence (not an introduction or transition)... don't worry about grammar too much, just pick your ideas and put them together somehow.
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