Process Writing

Nearly all the children at The Craig School have difficulty with written language and therefore, the process of preparing a written document is an important part of the curriculum. The children are methodically taught the following steps in the writing process: "brainstorming" or pre-writing, preparation of an outline, development of a draft, proof reading, and production of the final paper.

Graphic Organizers

The pre-writing phase begins with the use of graphic organizers -- the visual illustrations that help group, prioritize and reveal relationships and patterns among different ideas. One of the most familiar graphic organizers in education is the concept map developed by Joseph Novak (Novak, J. & Gowin, D. Learning How to Learn. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984.) The concept map looks like a flowchart with a central oval shape containing a main idea and spokes radiating out to surrounding ovals depicting supporting details and their relationships. Other types of concept maps are webbing, idea maps, sequential organizers, cause and effect maps, etc.


In 1988, Inspiration Software released its first version of Inspiration, which has since become one of the most widely used programs in education today. The program allows students to create concept maps in a variety of formats using a large selection of clip art and visually stimulating designs to enhance their work. Once the student has created a concept map or web, a simple click of the mouse translates the images to a traditional outline format. At The Craig School, all students from grade three through high school use Inspiration in the writing process.

The resulting traditional outline format may be translated from the graphical representation by pressing "outline" on the tool bar into the following:

  1. Main Idea
    • Supporting Detail
    • Supporting Detail
    • Supporting Detail
  2. Main Idea
    • Supporting Detail
    • Supporting Detail
  3. Main Idea
Once a student has developed a few ideas and supporting details, the next step is to explore the relationships between the ideas and begin to order and prioritize. Different webbing formats may be used for this purpose for different types of written assignments. For example, a student might develop one type of web for a creative writing assignment and another for a research paper. Once the web is complete, it may be easily translated into an outline format as a guideline for the first draft. This step is critically important for children who have sequencing difficulties. Again, software is a valuable tool in converting the ideas and supporting details developed with graphic organizers into a traditional linear format. Younger children who are still acquiring the steps in the writing process next prepare a handwritten draft which helps create a kind of "motor imprint" to lock in the skill.

Developing the Paper

Project Read-Written Expression, as described above, teaches the components of sentence structure. As the student begins writing a draft of the paper, the software program, Draft:Builder, displays a split screen with the student¹s outline shown on the left. The student can develop the text on the right of the screen in direct reference to the outline.

Proof reading is accomplished with the use of such assistive devices as the Franklin Language Master for spell and grammar checking. A simple device constructed of a plastic plumbing elbow pipe held against the ear much like a conch shell, allows younger children to clearly hear their mistakes as they read aloud a draft of a written composition. Older children who have mastered the writing steps may carry out the entire project on the computer using such software as Co:Writer and Write:OutLoud for word prediction and auditory feedback features. Additionally, peer editing provides important feedback for students along with a homework requirement that parents read the draft twice to their child. Preparation of the final draft for all children is completed on the computer.

In summary, writing skills are explicitly taught at The Craig School. Each step of the process is broken into component parts and then reinforced across the curriculum so that a child has consistent exposure to the skills he or she needs to succeed in an academic environment.

 

 

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