Lesson Plan: Writing Process

Objective: Students will be able to explain the five step writing process.

Lesson Opening

1. Explain that at school, we take writing seriously. We will spend a lot of time on each piece of writing we do. The reason we will do this is because we want to make sure that each student does his absolute best work. This particular piece of writing will take one week to finish. At the end of the week, you will be amazed by how much your writing has improved from start to finish.

1. Put the five step writing process on the overhead. Briefly explain the purpose of each step. Explain that each step is worth 20 points and that you can add up all the points to be worth 100. Explain that even if your final product is excellent, you can still get a bad grade if the other parts were not well done. Introduce the Writing Rubric.

1. Read the three pieces of writing about Ruth and Paul. Ask the students which piece they think is most descriptive. Explain the concept of a mind movie (writing so descriptive the reader can envision the scene in his head). Explain that this is the goal of our writing.

Guided Practice

1. Before we can begin writing, we need to know the Topic, Audience, Purpose and Form (TAP-F). The topic is "Something I did over the summer" The audience is our classmates, meaning we are writing for them. The purpose is to entertain, meaning we are not trying to instruct of inform. The form is 3 paragraphs.

1. Tell the students this story. "In August, I went to see Alien vs. Predator with my two friends, Chris and Omar. We paid for our tickets and walked into the theater. It was a scary movie. At one point, I was so scared, I yelled, "No, don't go in there!" Everyone turned around and looked at me. I was so scared."

1. Put an IDEA Net on the overhead. Ask the students to tell you "What happened first?" "What happened next?" and "What happened last?" Complete the sheet. Explain that tomorrow, you will use the IDEA Net to help you write your rough draft.

Independent Practice

1. Now it is their turn. Have the students think for a minute about what they would like to write about. It should be a single episode. Give them two minutes to tell the person next to them what they will write about. Then ask two students to share with the class.

1. Pass out the writing packets. Instruct them to fill out the TAP-F first, then begin writing and drawing. They must draw as well, because it helps them create a mind movie. If they finish early, they may not go on to the next section.

Closing

1. Ask two more students to share their work.

1. Remind the students that the reason for this step is so they get all of thinking out of the way. Tomorrow they will write their rough drafts. There will be no need to worry about what to write, because they have already planned it out.