Version “FULL” The WritingTeacher’s Strategy Guide

[Pages:124]WritiTnhge V"eFrUsLLio"n Teacher's Strategy Guide

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by Steve Peha

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1 I Don't Know What to Write About

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The Topic T-Chart strategy. A great way to guide students in choosing good topics. Also, addi-

tional strategies for topic selection in research writing.

2 It's Just a Matter of Opinion

20

The What-Why-How strategy. A powerful tool for helping students explain their thinking and

support logical arguments. Perfect for expository and persuasive writing.

3 It's All in the Details

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The Idea-Details strategy. A very simple strategy that is much more powerful than it looks. Helps

writers add detail but can also be used to create entire pieces of writing all by itself.

4 A Game of Show and Tell

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The Tell-Show strategy. A great strategy for adding rich, descriptive detail. Helps writers bring a

strong visual component to their work.

5 A Sequence of Events

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The Transition-Action-Details strategy. A perfect strategy for narrative sequencing. Also works

well for summaries and procedural writing of all kinds including step-by-step instructions.

6 The Picture Worth a Thousand Words

47

The Draw-Label-Caption strategy. A great strategy for writers of all ability levels. Helps students

capture a scene and focus on important details.

7 The Three Key Ingredients

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The Action-Feelings-Setting strategy. A great tool for helping writers describe a scene in a

narrative with effective detail. Also makes a great introduction to paragraph writing.

8 The Definition of Writing

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The Content-Purpose-Audience strategy. A powerful, comprehensive strategy writers can use to

plan an entire piece or to identify areas in a draft that need revision.

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ConTtOinCued

9 Great Beginnings

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Effective Lead Strategies. A large collection of strategies for helping students produce great

beginnings. Includes samples of more than 25 types of leads.

10 Happy Endings

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Effective Ending Strategies. A set of excellent strategies for creating effective endings. Many

authentic samples from student work.

11 Little Things That Make a Big Difference

104

A Variety of Strategies. A brief look at several small but important topics including sharing and

conferencing, how to beat writer's block, and The Five Big Questions.

? 1995-2003 by Steve Peha. For more information, or additional teaching materials, please contact: Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. ? E-mail stevepeha@ ? Web

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I Don't Know What to Write About

It's the worst feeling in the world. You know you're supposed to be writing; your teacher just told you to get started. But where do you start?

Finding a good topic is one of the hardest parts of learning to write. And, unfortunately, every writer runs into it right at the beginning. Even if you do come up with a good topic for today, what about tomorrow? And the next day? And the next? Are you going to have to struggle like this every time a teacher asks you to write?

Probably. No matter how many times you've come up with good topics before, you end up with the very same problem the next time you start a piece. And that's why you need strategies that will always give you many good topics to choose from. One approach that seems to work well for many writers is the Topic T-Chart strategy. The idea is to make two lists at the same time based on opposites. Here are some examples that will help you find something good to write about:

? Like-Hate. Things you like and things you hate. ? Typical-Unusual. Typical experiences that happen almost every day

and unusual experiences that have happened only once or twice in your entire life.

? Fun-Have To. Things you do for fun and things you do because you have to.

? Regret-Proud Of. Things you regret and things you are proud of.

You can use these lists over and over. (You can even use them in different classes and in different grades!) Try a couple of the ones suggested here or make up your own. In just a few minutes, you'll have enough topics to last a whole year!

? 1995-2003 by Steve Peha. For more information, or additional teaching materials, please contact: Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. ? E-mail stevepeha@ ? Web

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Like-Hate T-Chart

Good writing comes from strong feelings. And strong feelings come from things we like and things we hate. Make a list of the things you really like and the things you really hate (no people on the "Hate List," please!). If you're honest about it, each topic will be something you have a lot to write about.

LIKE

Things I Really Like a Lot

(Think about your absolute favorites!)

HATE

Things I Really Can't Stand

(No people, please!)

? 1995-2003 by Steve Peha. For more information, or additional teaching materials, please contact: Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. ? E-mail stevepeha@ ? Web

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Typical-Unusual T-Chart

Good writing comes from life experience. And the life experiences we know best are the typical things we do every day and the unusual things that happen to us maybe only once or twice in our entire lives. Either way, these kinds of topics are perfect things to write about.

TYPICAL

Regular, Everyday Experiences

(Sometimes the little things in life make the best topics for writing.)

UNUSUAL

Out-of-the-Ordinary Experiences

(Think of the highs and lows in your life, the times that aren't like all the others.)

? 1995-2003 by Steve Peha. For more information, or additional teaching materials, please contact: Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. ? E-mail stevepeha@ ? Web

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Like

Pizza The Internet Ice cream Music Reading My cat Harry Potter Soccer Shopping Candy

Examples

Hate

All vegetables Homework Science Spelling tests Getting dressed up Cleaning my room Rainy days Being bored Bowling Golf on TV

Typical

Waking up School Dinner Practice trumpet Soccer Watching TV Visiting grandma Feeding my cat

Unusual

Bike accident Chicken pox Broke my arm Disneyland Getting my 1st bike Met Mia Hamm Saw Wynton Marsalis Getting presents Getting grounded

Fun

Out to dinner Movies Holidays Staying up late Rollerblading Halloween Talk on phone Soccer camp Singing

Have To

Get my hair cut Getting up early Wash the dishes Babysit brother Get good grades Practice scales

Regret

Not getting Wynton Marsalis's autograph

Missing my soccer tournament cuz I got grounded

Being mean to my brother sometimes

Proud Of

My soccer Trophy In 4th grade when I got all A's When I saved my cat from that big dog. I'm good at math

? 1995-2003 by Steve Peha. For more information, or additional teaching materials, please contact: Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. ? E-mail stevepeha@ ? Web

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