On Sunday we set up a writing center in our playroom and I challenged Sam to write a procedural text on how to build a sandcastle. We have broken the writing process down into steps and attempting one each day.
We planned the week to unfold as follows:
Sunday - brainstorm
Monday - plan
Tuesday - draft
Wednesday - edit
Thursday/Friday - publish
We are a day behind in the schedule and today (Thursday) got to the drafting and editing stages - it's a busy time of year!
If you are on Instagram, you can catch some 'in action' moments on stories too.
Drafting for writing
To move from the plan to the draft I asked Sam to read through his plan. I explained that to create a procedural text we would need to turn his key words and ideas into complete thoughts and sentences. A procedural text helps someone learn to do something so clear and direct language would help.
We went through each section at a time and expanded his planned ideas. At first I was modelling heavily, but as we got going Sam took over and was able to apply the strategies I had modelled to the next section.
Reflecting back to action role play and photos of his prior experiences building sandcastles helped again with specific and direct instructions.
For editing his draft I asked Sam to read through his work and listen to make sure it made sense. This was an efficient way for him to identify quickly, sentences that needed more detail or additional words.
I have found in the classroom that editing is always a task that children are very reluctant to undertake. I always encourage them to find at least a few minor things to change and then move on quickly to the publishing stage. This approach is controversial at times, but I have honestly found it helps keep students encouraged and excited to write. I would rather them write eagerly every single day then get bogged down in the editing process and develop a lifelong hatred for writing. It's a balance.
Sam really enjoyed using the simple key at the bottom of each page to quickly edit his writing. The well-spaced lines allowed him to write additional words clearly and easily in place.
Find them in our TpT store by clicking on the images below:
Having a clear structured week for writing and a project based goal for students to work towards can make planning for writing instruction simple and exciting.
We'll see you tomorrow for the publishing stage!