The Writing Process Wheel: It's not a Wheel

Have you seen this book? 

I used to teach the writing process like this: 

Sure. I tell people it's a recursive process, but...in practice, this means that writing is more like how Doctor Who defines time: "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint – it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly...time-y wimey...stuff." Writing is not a strict progression of one thing to another. It's recursive, messy, and quite complex.

I was playing around with this idea on a poster. Writing and the teaching of writing is NOT a linear process. And I also think that we are not fleshing out what prewriting really means in terms of classroom practice and how people actually write.

The other big struggle I'm wrestling with is Prewriting. I think we need to tease out some nuances in how prewriting differs across time, genre, and place in the writing process (drafting, revising, etc.) and how it is directed by the writer's purpose. For most of us, prewriting has absolutely nothing to do with a web, a graphic organizer, or anything really. For most of us, prewriting begins with a purpose. A reason.

Prewriting actually begins with COLLECTING. This is where you find a place to keep your ideas that could turn into something later. It's like a trigger for your memory. A storage chest or pantry. A bookmark. A treasure chest. A google drive of memories and ideas.

I'm a dumpster diver. (I know you think that I've lost my mind and that this sentence doesn't belong. Stick with me. ) I find stuff that I can combine with other pieces, things I can repair, and so on. Besides the trash, there are some pretty interesting plants in the alleys too. About this time of year, things in the alley are putting on seeds. I figure that if something has pretty flowers and can grow in the alley during a Panhandle summer, I probably can't kill it. So I reach out and strip some of those seeds into my dirty, sweaty palm and put them in my pocket. If I forget about them, they end up making a mess in the washer and dryer. Sometimes, I just cast the seeds randomly into my flower beds and wonder what might come up in the spring. Other times, I put those suckers in an envelope from the junk mail and leave it in the garage on the shelf with the Miracle Grow until spring.

That's what we should be doing with writing. We need structures and strategies (and notebooks and digital portfolios) where kids can keep this kind of stuff so it doesn't end up wasted and in the lint catcher or trash of the mind. Students need to realize that they DO have things to say. These ideas become their OWN prompts - ones they CAN and CARE to write about. These ideas are seeds they can use to help develop writing for prompts that come from someone else. Students can return to these ideas over and over to activate their schema, trigger memories, add experiences and ideas.

Like the envelopes in my garage, I've started a collection of strategies that help student collect their own seeds for writing that could sprout into something interesting on a piece of paper later. I suggest starting out with Introductions, Blueprinting, Quicklists, Writing Pocket, Heart Maps, and Reading/Writing connections. Try to do 3-4 of these at the beginning of the year to get kids empowered that they really do have a richness of living and knowing that is valued and worth exploring in your class.

Once a student has some seed ideas, there's another element of prewriting that we never talk about: PRIORITIZING and SELECTING. Honestly, I'm not sure how we missed pointing out this intensely human element of writing. How do you decide what to write about? That's actually guided by some pretty important considerations that we should make explicitly clear to our students.

• Interest: Looking over the seed idea activity, have students consider: What ideas "call" to you? These could be new ideas, something recent, something you really dig, something relevant and timely for you right now. What ideas seem boring right now? Maybe you've written about this before and you're sick of it. Maybe it just doesn't float your boat right now.
• Mood: Let's be honest. Sometimes, we are just not in the mood to write about some things. Sometimes, the stuff is too emotional or just makes you say, "meh." Give yourself permission to notice and go with what you are in the mood to tackle.
• Energy: Some ideas and topics take more energy. Do you have enough for that today? If you do, then be patient with yourself as you draft and organize. What ideas on the seed idea activities seem to energize you and motivate you to tackle them with ease?
• Audience: Seriously. Who wants and needs to hear what you have to say? Write for them. And if you have a specific audience, what do they need and like to hear? Which ideas on your seed ideas would resonate with them?
• Time Available: How much time do you have or not have? When's it due? How much of it can be done in class? How busy are you right now after school?
• Level of Knowledge: What do you know about this topic? Are you going to need to do some thinking and research, or can you just start writing?
• Requirements of the Assignment: Look at your seed ideas. What seems to fit? How can you shift the ideas to meet the requirements?
• Safety: Sometimes, kids are not comfortable in sharing their ideas with just everyone in the class. They need to think about who will be reading it and what that might cost them socially. This is why the community in the classroom is so important. We can help them with that.
• Purpose: Why are you writing this? What do you want to say? What are you going to do with it? Most of the time, we probably don't know that when we are beginning...but it's a good idea to have the purpose working in the back of our minds as we shape our thinking and begin the draft.

All of these ideas are used by the thinking writer to select what they are going to write about. I usually have kids scan the seed prewriting activity and ask a few of these questions to get them thinking about what they would like to write about. I have them star three or four ideas. I show them how I decide with mine and think aloud about my decisions. Then I have them number the ideas from 1-3, prioritizing which ones seem to work for what we are learning and doing at the time. I tell them who will be reading it and how much time we will have. I show them how I am making those same decisions by numbering my ideas on the page and thinking aloud about why I made those choices. I pick the idea I want to start with, knowing that if that isn't working for me during writing time, that I have 2 or 3 other ideas that I can mess with too.

Then, we're ready for the magic. I put up my writing under the doc camera and start a freewrite. Sacred writing time and all. "I'm writing," I say, "won't you join me?"

Once we have a draft, we've planted a seed. Now it's time to let it grow. Put it in the greenhouse and water it. More on that next time. The writing process is definitely not a wheel. Or a box. It's a garden.

My department head wants me to teach...

Dear New Teacher,

I am SO impressed with the wisdom inherent in your question. "What books should I use? My department head wants me to teach To Kill a Mockingbird, but I don't like that book."

It is wise to reject a classic text because it does not resonate with you. You do not have to teach TKM. You are wise to make decisions about your own engagement and interest instead of relying on tradition. If you are excited about a text, your students will know. As a matter of fact, one of my practicing literary heroes, Kelly Gallagher, has stated that he will probably never teach TKM again. He reasons that  are so many other texts that achieve the same goals and appeal more widely today's readers and thinkers.

You are also wise because our work is not really about a book. When our questions and discussion become centered around comprehension and making inferences regarding TKM, then we are no longer teaching our standards. We are no longer teaching English Language Arts. We are teaching the book as a piece of content to be understood and to regurgitate the plot as a summary.

Instead, our work in the Arts of English is about teaching students to read, think, discuss the any text. Our work is about using those texts as vehicles for understanding life and guiding what we are inspired to do because of that understanding.

When you are selecting books for your classroom, here are some guidelines.

1. First, pick a sophisticated, rich text to share with students as a read aloud. Use that text as a place to model your thinking and application of your English Language Arts standards.

2. Curate a set of texts for students to read in small, collaborative groups. Allow them to choose the texts that resonate with them.

3. Allow students the freedom to choose books to read independently because they want to and not because the books match some arbitrary "level."

All three texts provide rich opportunities for students to provide you with authentic evidence of their ongoing mastery of the standards for your course. These texts provide multiple avenues of evidence that your students are learning a transferable skill rather than answers to questions about a single text. The conversation and evidence become more about using the answers to make decisions about their own lives and thinking resources. These texts become mentors and models for communication and creation that can transform their lives and the lives of others.

Your question inspires me and encourages me about what you will accomplish next. I'd be honored to support you along the way. I'll await your invitation.

Sincerely,

Shona Rose