Teaching Writing Fast and Effectively!

Very few endeavors in the history of human kind have been started and abandoned with such persistency and consistency, as the journal.

Can you find the abandoned journal?

Elementary and middles school classrooms is where this habit begins, and with each new year, with each new journal, a commitment is made that this time will be different.

“Okay kids, the word journal comes from the word journey. We are going to take a journey into the world of writing and discovery. This new journal is where you will explore and discover the vast depths of knowledge found within the universe and within your mind… in fact, within the universe within your mind.

This journal will be a safe place where you will feel free to explore your thoughts and insights, as well as develop new thoughts, new ways of thinking, and new insights into your new thoughts.”

Two weeks later… tick-tock, tick-tock tick-tock. “Excuse me, teacher… I thought we were going to write in our journal.” “Billy, not now. We simply must… we have too much to do… we will get to that… someday…”

The lingering journal, abandoned, but not forgotten, a sad reminder to all that the teacher… may not know what they are doing.

Discovering the True Power of Journals

Worse yet, the teacher who has recently attended an in-service on writing instruction has come to see that journals are the solution to all the ills of her classroom.

• Students don’t like to write = Journals inspire children. They love to write in journals.
• Students need to reflect on their learning = Journals are a safe place to explore their understanding.
• Students are not engaged in their learning = Journals connect students to their own learning and learning style.
• Students are noisy and distracted = Get them writing in a journal. They like to do this. They will focus and engage in exploring their thoughts in writing.
• Students are troubled = Get them to connect with their thoughts and feelings in a journal.
• The reading writing connection = Read and then write in a journal. Sounds simple.
• ESL learners = Are you having luck with any other type of writing? Use a journal.
• Creative writing = Journals are made for inspired creative writing. They are a gateways and a safe haven for student creativity.
• Students need lots of daily opportunities to write = Have students write in lots of journals, daily.

Extreme Abandonment

The most extreme case of journal abandonment I have personally witnessed is four abandoned journals in a single desk.

“Oh, that’s not a journal. That’s a reading log. We reflect on our innermost thoughts about how we connect with our reading. Reading is so true to life, and we connect the written word with what we experience in the world and in life.”

Oh, I see. Hmm… well, it seems this “reading log” has been abandoned. Am I correct in saying that? “Oh yes, we wrote in it once… the first day… and then again two months later. A couple weeks later Billy asked the teacher if we were ever going to use it again and he ended up on the bench. No one has mentioned it since.”

Do you have any more of these “reading log” types of journals? “Oh yes. We have the Science Exploration Experiment, we have the Deep Thoughts journal, and we have the Deep Connections Connector journal.” “Have all of these been as successful as the “reading log?” “Some have been as successful, some less successful.”

Are all of them abandoned? “No. No. We’re going to get to them. They are going to take us on a journey… at least that’s what our teacher says…”

Abandoned journals in students’ desks are a sad reminder of something started and not finished. This sad reminder is something students interact with daily as they sort through their desks looking for that very important misplaced worksheet. “If only I didn’t have this collection of abandoned journals in my desk, I would have been able to keep track of that important worksheet!”

The Journal, Quick Writes, and Note Taking Connection

Tune in to the next few posts where we explore how to give students MASSIVE opportunities to write using journals, quick writes, and note taking.

I’ve found connecting and combining all three strategies into one journal:

1. Solves a lot of problems.
2. Greatly reduces the likelihood of abandonment. 
3. Improving usability and effectiveness.

Stay tuned in order to learn how! Also, be sure to check out the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program on the homepage!

P.S. Kids, okay, it’s summer vacation. I want you to take this collection of abandoned journals and continue the journey without me. We began it… but I’m afraid I can’t continue it with you. I’m too… old and too tired to go on. Please, go on your journey… and remember me from time to time. Write a little passage remembering your former teacher… and traveler. Promise me… promise me you will continue the journey… all summer long.

“We promise! We promise!”

This is how these journals begin round two in the life of the abandoned journal. “The Abandoned Journal Part 2 – The Abandonment Continues: Abandoned in the Heat of the Summer, on a Hot, Hot Day for a Cool, Cool Popsicle and a Pool.”

The sequel to the sequel (Part 3,) to be continued… next year.

Two Kinds of Writing Assignments for Student Essays and Reports

1. The topic has not been assigned. Students choose the topic.

2. The topic has been assigned. Students must follow the directions and stay on topic.

Teachers must find the right balance between these two methods when giving assignments.

These ideas will help when you do assign the topic… however they are especially helpful when your students’ topics have not been assigned. These methods are great for eliminating that sinking feeling that students feel when they do not know what to write about.

The Topic has Been Assigned

This is covered extensively in Pattern #13 and Pattern #14 of the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program. Students learn TWO specific strategies for making sure that their writing starts “ON TOPIC” and finishes “ON TOPIC.” Students learn to focus on and follow DIRECTIONS.

The Topic Has Not Been Assigned

Freedom! Students have more freedom, and that means students have a lot more decisions to make. Students sometimes are not quite so thrilled when they discover that the responsibility for these decisions is… theirs.

If the topic has not been assigned, how are students supposed to come up with a topic? Where do good ideas come from? Will any idea do? Or does it have to be a great idea? All of these will be answered below and in the process… your students will become idea machines.

How to Come Up with Great Ideas: It Just Came to Me

Many of the world’s greatest ideas have come to people when they were not trying to come up with them. People ask, “How did you come up with that idea? It’s amazing!” And the other person replies, “It just came to me.”

Here Are Some Places Where Ideas May Just Come to Students

• hiking in the mountains
• taking out the trash
• taking a shower
• laying in bed right before falling asleep
• walking their dog
• grocery shopping with their mom
• stuck in traffic
• cleaning their room
• doing chores
• running an errand
• eating breakfast
• sitting in their backyard looking up at the stars
• daydreaming in class (It happens from time to time, so let’s put it to use.)

Each of the above activities is an activity that keeps a person busy, but does not require great focus or concentration. Often when a person is faced with a difficult decision or problem, someone will say, “Just sleep on it.” It is very likely the next day they will have come to a decision. This shows how so many of the great ideas come to us when we do not have the pressure or stress of trying to come up with a great idea.

The mystery writer Agatha Christie once said, “The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” I rest my case!

Three Ways to Save that Great Idea for Later: Harness Those Quiet Times and Harvest a Bounty of Great Ideas!

What will students want to save? Here are a few ideas!

• Interesting words or phrases
• Colorful descriptions
• Things that happened
• Things people said
• Things they saw
• Ideas for stories
• Inventions
• Things they wonder about
• Things that seem impossible
• How they or someone else felt
• How to solve a problem 
• Something that was strange
• Something that was incredible

1. Scratch It

Many, many writers always have a pen and some scratch paper close at hand. Most any movie or television show where a writer is on screen, sooner or later, you will see the writer reach into his or her pocket, take out a pen and paper, and say, “Oh, I have got to write that down.” They know they can’t afford to wait until it is time to write, to come up with those great ideas.

Provide students with a “Scratch It Idea Sheet.” This is a handy way to make sure students always have a piece of paper handy to get down those great ideas.

One of the best places to keep a pen and paper handy is right next to the bed at night. The poet Carrie Latet said, “If I’m trying to sleep, the ideas won’t stop. If I’m trying to write, there appears a barren nothingness.” In other words, get students in the habit of not waiting until it’s too late. Let’s see how many of those great ideas your students can save.

What do students do with their collections of great ideas? They can create a piggy bank of sorts for great ideas. “The Idea Bank” Use a box or container and cut a slit or hole in the top. Have students decorate them to reflect their unique personality. At the end of the day, slide all of those scraps of paper with all those great ideas they have collected throughout the day in through the top. They will be amazed at how many ideas they have collected when they sort through them a month, or even a week later.

In order to save these great ideas for eternity, have students transfer them to the computer. Have students list the ideas in the order they get them, or they can organize these great ideas into categories using “a table.”

2. Record It

Another common way to capture all those great ideas is it to carry around a voice recorder. These days many cell phones and mp3 players also have the ability to be used as a voice recorder to store all those great ideas. Have students transfer these to paper or the computer.

3. Journal It

One last and very common technique that writers use is to keep a “Writer’s Journal.” In this journal they write down great and even not so great ideas that come to them. The journal gives the writer plenty of space to explore their many ideas. This then helps them decide which ideas they would like to turn into essays or stories. It also provides a writer a safe place to write in freedom, freedom from evaluation, judgment, and grades. It’s a place to write, but not a place where one must be correct. It’s a place for ideas!

Christmas is a wonderful time of year for student writing. There is a very high level of student motivation! Student interest and motivation stays high when they write about Christmas coming from different angles and with different purposes.

Here is a great list of Christmas essay and story writing ideas! Teaching your students to write using “Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay” will have your students starting and finishing any of these wonderful essays and stories in under 30 minutes! Now that’s a gift!

Christmas Persuasive Essay

• There definitely is a Santa Claus.
• I definitely have been a very good boy or girl this year.
• Christmas is a time to be thinking of others.
• Presents are very important on Christmas Day.
• Presents should not be important on Christmas Day.
• We should have the Christmas spirit all year round.
• How getting everything on my Christmas wish list would make the world a better place.
• Christmas is a time to be thankful and for reflection.
• We should have Christmas twice a year!

Christmas Process Essay or How-To Essay

• A kid’s perfect minute-by-minute plan for Christmas Day.
• The correct way to open Christmas presents.
• How to buy the perfect Christmas present for someone.
• How to make Christmas a special day for the entire family.
• How to prepare for Christmas Day.
• How to wrap a Christmas present.
• Santa’s process from getting started until delivering his very last present.
• How to decorate for Christmas.

Christmas Argumentative Essay

• There should be absolutely no arguing on Christmas Day.
• Christmas is the best holiday of them all.
• The real meaning of Christmas is _______
• The Christmas spirit is alive and well.

Christmas Evaluation Essay

• What is the effect that Christmas has on society?
• Has the meaning of Christmas changed over time?
• What would Jesus think of Christmas today?
• Has Christmas become too commercialized?

Christmas Narrative/ Personal Narrative Essay

• A wonderful Christmas memory.
• My favorite present I ever GAVE.
• Christmas shopping with my family.
• My favorite part of Christmas.
• Family time on Christmas.
• Christmas traditions in my family.
• The best Christmas ever.
• Funny happenings on Christmas day.
• Memorable presents.

Christmas Cause and Effect Essay

• How I feel when I give on Christmas Day.
• How the birth of Jesus affected our world.
• How the Christmas spirit affects people’s behavior and attitude.
• Preparations for Christmas Day and the outcomes of all that hard work.
• What effect does all the Christmas media promotion have?

Christmas Informational Essay

• The real truth about Santa Claus. The history of Santa Claus.
• The history of Christmas.
• Christmas through the ages.
• Christmas traditions.
• Facts about Christmas.
• The symbols and symbolism of Christmas.
• The first Christmas.

Christmas Descriptive Essay

• Describe opening presents.
• How I felt opening presents, eating delicious food, spending time with good friends and family.
• Describe the Christmas spirit or Christmas energy.
• Describe who you celebrate Christmas with. What makes them unique or special to celebrate with?
• Describe the sights, sounds, and smells of when you first walk out to the tree on Christmas morning.
• Describe how the anticipation and excitement of Christmas makes you feel.
• Describe the sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas.

Christmas Five-Paragraph Essay

• Three reasons…
• Three signs…
• Three presents…
• Three traditions…
• Three signs that Christmas is just around the corner.
• Three reasons I love Christmas.

Christmas Compare and Contrast Essay

• Christmas now compared to Christmas when I was “young.”
• What used to be important to me about Christmas compared to what is important about Christmas to me now.
• The day before Christmas, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas.
• Giving vs. receiving.
• Christmas for kids compared to Christmas for adults.
• Christmas traditions of different cultures.
• Christmas without Santa Claus compared to Christmas with Santa Claus.

Christmas Story Ideas

• A Christmas miracle.
• The greatest present ever.
• People in need on Christmas.
• The real story of Christmas.
• The day after Christmas.
• The day I met Santa Claus.
• Wooah…CRASH… Santa?
• Wow… Look at that star.

Be sure to check out the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program at the home page. Also be sure to download your FREE “Guide to Writing” once you get to the homepage!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Paragraphs have unity and coherence. A paragraph has a single minded focus. There must be no information in the paragraph which does not serve that purpose. We call these “good paragraphs.” The best of the best are known as “perfect paragraphs.”

But not all paragraphs are good… let alone perfect. In fact, it doesn’t take much to make a seemingly good paragraph go bad. I have rounded up two paragraphs that I am sad to say have gone bad. One we can salvage… the other is just plain bad. That second one has no future. We will simply have to scratch it and start over.

This Paragraph Can Be Saved

If you have even one detail that is not about the topic sentence, then it IS NOT perfect. Notice how “Detail B” is out of control off doing his own thing. “Detail B” is not talking about the “topic sentence.”  The solution with this paragraph is to edit or revise.

Detail B has gone bad!

Example:
Over the weekend my family and I went to the park. I played on the swings with my little sister until she was all tuckered out.  I hope next weekend I can see the new “Space World” movie.  The best part of the park was the wonderful picnic my mom packed. Going to the park with my family is always a lot of fun!

Warning! Danger! This is a Bad, Bad Paragraph

This is a collection of disconnected sentences. Some may claim that it is a paragraph… but it is not. It tries to be one… but it can’t. It’s an imposter…. a fake. There is no main idea to this paragraph. This will be difficult for others to read. It’s sad to see good sentences turn so bad… start over.

So sad...

Example:

Over the weekend my family and I went to the park. It was fun. I want to see the new “Space World” movie. My birthday is next week. I hope one day my parents let me have a dog. Well, that’s all I have to say.

Be sure to read the next post which is “Biggest Teacher Mistakes in Teaching Paragraphs.” Hint: Don’t spend too long teaching paragraphs!

(“Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” spends just the right amount of time on paragraphs before making the jump to complete essays!)

Diamante Poems | Rhyme Schemes | Rhymes | Acrostic Poems | Quatrains | Haiku | Limericks | Clerihew | Tanka | Free Verse | Simile | Metaphor | Alliteration 

Combine teaching these pattern based poems with the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program and your students will be both highly effective and highly creative authors!

Diamante Poems

Keys to the Diamante Poem:
• Has seven lines formed in the shape of a diamond.
• You can base the poem around either synonyms or antonyms. What’s similar or what’s the complete opposite?
• Using antonyms seems to be the more popular version. “Two sides of the same coin” is a fun and interesting concept to explore. It’s the “ying and the yang” that makes it so much fun!
• There is a turning point midway through the poem where the focus shifts from one subject to the other subject.

Outline:
Line 1: One noun (Subject 1)
Line 2: Two adjectives describing the Subject 1 noun
Line 3: Three Gerunds (verb + -ing) connected to Subject 1
Line 4: Four nouns – Two connected to Subject 1 and two connected to Subject 2
Line 5: Three Gerunds (verb + -ing) connected to Subject 2
Line 6: Two adjectives describing the Subject 2 noun
Line 7: One noun (Subject 2)

Example:
Puppies
Funny, playful
Ripping, running, licking
Ball, leash, bell, mouse
Stalking, sleeping, watching
Silly, cuddly
Kittens

Rhyme Schemes

 To really use rhymes in an effective manner rhyme schemes are important for the teacher to be aware of. Rhyme schemes most often represented using the letters “A” and “B.” Rhyme schemes show you the pattern of the rhyme.

Examples of rhyme schemes:
AABB – hat, cat, top, mop
ABAB – hat, top, cat, mop
ABBA – hat, top, mop, cat
AABA – hat, cat, top, sat

Rhymes 

Word families are a great place to start with rhymes.

 –ack, -ail, ake, -all, -ame, -ank, -ar, -ash, -ate, -ay, -eep, -ell, -ick, -ide, -ight, -ile, -ing, -ink, -it, -oat, -ock, -oil, -oke, -ook, -oom, -ood, -ool, -ore, -ought, -ouse, -ow, -ump, -unk!!

Nursery rhymes are riddled with these word families.

Fun Idea – Choose a nursery rhyme and try substituting different word families.

Example:
Hickery, dickery doc, the mouse ran up the clock.
Becomes::::
Hockery, dockery, ick, the mouse became quite sick.  

Acrostic Poems

Keys to the Acrostic Poem:
• The letters in the title of your poem become the first letter in each line of your poem.
• If the title of your poem is “HAT” your poem will be three lines and if your title is “ELEPHANT” your poem will be eight lines.

Example: HAT
Held on the tip-top of your head,
A thing of warmth or beauty,
To be worn, warm, and admired!

Quatrains

Keys to the Quatrain:
• Four lines
• There are many different rhyming patterns that can be considered correct. (Alternating, Enveloping…)
• Many follow these rhyme schemes (AABB, ABAB, ABBA, ABCB, AABA)
• It is great (but not absolutely necessary) if you can make the rhyming lines have the same number of syllables!

Example:
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
              By William Blake

Cinquains

Keys to the Cinquain:
• Five lines
• Unrhymed
• Contains either a word count or syllable count. Modern versions use the word count.

Outline:
• Line 1: One noun that is both the subject and title.
• Line 2: Two adjectives describing the Line 1 noun.
• Line 3: Three verbs with –ing that tell an action related to the Line 1 noun.
• Line 4: Four words in a complete sentence that describe a feeling about the Line 1 noun.
• Line 5: One word that means the same thing as the Line 1 noun.

Example: Beach
Beach
Sandy, salty
Swimming, playing, sunning
I love the beach.
Seashore

Haiku

Keys to the Haiku:
• Three lines
• No rhyme. 
• Nature based
• Count the syllables!

Outline:
• Line 1 – 5 Syllables
• Line 2- 7 Syllables
• Line 3 – 5 Syllables

Example:
Cold arctic winds blow
Around majestic glaciers
Now melting, soon lost

Limerick

Keys to the Limerick:
• Contains five lines
• It’s a joke, a rhyme, a funny poem all wrapped up in one!
• Contains one couplet and one triplet. (Line 1, 2 and 5 rhyme. Lines 3, 4 rhyme.)
• Often contains exaggeration, play on words, and just plain silliness.

Example:
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, ‘It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!’
          By Edward Lear

Clerihew 

Keys to the Clerihew:
• Four lines
• Lines 1 and 2 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme. (AABB)
• Line 1 contains the name of a character.
• Light, funny, and even silly.

Example:
Robert Wise
The horse he road was a big surprise.
It is tall and big, and I don’t know how
But it seems the horse he rides is really a cow.

Couplets, Triplets and Quadruplets

Keys to Couplets, Triplets and Quadruplets:
• Can be an entire poem in itself or just one part of a larger poem.
• Rules and complexity seem to vary on couplets, triplets and quadruplets based on how simple or complex the teacher wants to make it for their students.
• Each line rhymes, most of the time.
• Each line contains the same or a similar meter.
• Ideally each line will have the same number of syllables.
• Couplet – Two lines that rhyme and have the same or similar meter.
• Triplet – Two lines that rhyme and have the same or similar meter.
• Quadruplet – Two lines that rhyme and have the same or similar meter.

Tanka

Keys to the Tanka:
• Five lines.
• Each line has a specific syllable count.  (5-7-5-7-7)
• Does not rhyme
• Traditional themes are nature, seasons, friendship, and love 

Outline:
Line 1: 5 Syllables
Line 2: 7 Syllables
Line 3: 5 Syllables
Line 4: 7 Syllables
Line 5: 7 Syllables

Example:
Happy days are here
Good weather and my good friends 
Spending time well spent
Days are long and time runs fast.
Grateful in life, day and night.

Free Verse

Keys to Free Verse:
• No set pattern or structure.
• Doesn’t rhyme or have a specific rhythm. However, it is acceptable if there is some rhyme or some rhythm.
• Often used to express “deep thoughts” or “deep emotions.” 

Example:
The wily winds blew down barren landscapes.
Free yet contained by natures forces.
Caught in the middle,
A pioneer,
Heading west, west, west…

Simile

Keys to Similes:
• Compares things that are unalike.
• Uses the words “like, as”
• Have some fun and use “as if” and “as though”

Example:
The little boy rode his tricycle proudly, as if he were the ruler of both land and time. 

Metaphor

Keys to Metaphors:
• Makes a comparison of two things by saying that one is the other.
• If the question is “To be, or not to be?” with metaphors the answer is “It is!”

Examples:
• It is raining cats and dogs…
• All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.
William Shakespeare: As You Like It

Alliteration

Keys to Alliteration:
• Words in a sequence which begin with the same stressed consonant sound.
• Alliteration makes things easy to remember and easy on the ears.
• Why use alliteration? Just ask a kid!  “Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck, Fred Flintstone, Woody Woodpecker, Wonder Woman, Road Runner, Porky Pig, Roger Rabbit, Richie Rich, Mighty Mouse, George of the Jungle, Huckleberry Hound, Peter Pan, Captain Crunch…”
• Why use alliteration? Just ask, “Coca Cola.” It has worked well for them!

Why Teach Children Poetry?

Are you a true lover of poetry? Are you an avid and exceptional teacher of poetry in the classroom? If so… then this article is not for you.

This article is for the rest of us teachers who know that poetry has value… but with limited time and so much to cover… poetry needs to prove its case.

Poetry for Teachers Who Prefer Math and Science

Some have felt they were missing the point… or the value of teaching children to write poetry. It just wasn’t their style… and they thought they sounded kind of funny when they tried to explain the profoundness of poetry in being able to uniquely express the human condition.

These teachers understood that poetry could be fun, interesting, artistic, and beautiful. Great! But they wanted more than fun, interesting, artistic, and beautiful. There had to be some kind of “academic” reason for teaching poetry that students would understand and apply… beyond poetry.

Like many teachers, I myself suspected that poetry had the power to communicate to children what ordinary essay and report writing could not. I suspected poetry could be harnessed for academic gains and not just artistic revelry.

The goal for me with poetry was not to simply transform children into “poets” but also to transform them into “skilled and observant communicators.” I believed and dreamed… that poetry had the potential to help transform students writing… across the curriculum!

Here is what I discovered along the way…

Six Traits, Poetry, Patterns, and Communication

I’ve long felt that being a skilled communicator is among the most valuable assets that a person can possess. Even if a person ends up in a science or math oriented profession, being able to effectively communicate one’s ideas will likely have a larger impact on a career than the ideas themselves. A truly skilled communicator has complete mastery over the words they use and the meaning those words convey.

The “Six Traits of Writing” along with “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” has transformed my teaching of poetry in the classroom. When teaching poetry I now achieve many goals that transfer over to all of the writing that my students do… across the curriculum.

Out of the six traits found in the “Six Traits of Writing” model it seems that there are three traits that are inherently intertwined with the teaching of poetry writing to children. They stand out for me because I find that I am able to communicate their concepts very effectively when teaching poetry… and the concepts learned transfer over into all the writing my students do. This makes teaching poetry fun… and a good use of time!

Three Traits of Poetry Writing Which Improve Student Writing… Across the Curriculum

1. Organization and structure - The most popular forms of poetry that children are taught all seem to have a very definite pattern and structure. They are powerful and compact patterns that create powerful rhythm and meaning. By putting focus on the structure and the pattern in these rather simple poems you can help children to see the organization and structure in much of what they will both read and write… across the curriculum. (If you have used “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” with your students, you will find that these poems and the patterns found within them are almost a natural extension of the Pattern Based Writing program. Be sure to go to the “PatternBasedWriting.com” home page and see what I mean…)

2. Word choice and usage – The major poetry patterns have descriptive use of language built right into the pattern. Each word in student created poetry is carefully chosen and each word has a specific intent within the poem. Students often consider many choices for that one valuable word in that one specific position. When you have only 17 syllables for an entire poem… you have to be very picky and consider many different word choices… until you find the one that is just right! I’ve found it’s pretty easy to transfer this skill over to students’ essay and report writing.

3. Voice – Often a complete and unique voice is both started and completed in as little as 17 syllables! The most popular poems children are taught to write are powerfully condensed units of expression. It is easy to compare these short poems and clearly hear a unique voice in each one of them. When you compare a Limerick to a Haiku the shift in voice is… an easy teaching moment.

Getting the Most Out of Poetry

Poetry has a lot to offer in helping students to become artistic poets as well as successful students. Using a combination of “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” and the “Six Traits of Writing” model will transform your teaching of poetry writing into both an artistic and academic endeavor!

Be sure to read “Popular Forms of Poetry to Teach Children” and discover over 15 different types and aspects of poetry that children just love!

Research based report writing deals extensively with the organization of information and ideas. That’s a VERY, VERY important part of what “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” teaches! After using “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” your students will easily be ready for these “Fifteen Steps to Fantastic Research Reports!” (I’ve outlined the “Quick and Easy Essay” writing program for you on the homepage. It connects to what you will read here…)

Deciding on and Giving the Assignment

Step 1: Spend time on the computer clearly outlining the assignment. You may want to include a rubric detailing how the report will be graded and detailing what is expected. Give detailed directions on how you expect students’ sources to be cited and exactly how you will determine what you consider to be plagiarism. Be sure to discuss exactly what the report must cover along with the formal style that you may expect. Give each student a printed copy of this.

Researching Main Ideas and Sub-Topics

Step 2: Have students find sources of information for their subject. (Library, internet, encyclopedias, textbooks)

Step 3: Students now quickly skim and scan their resources getting a quick overview of their entire subject. Students need to learn the information as they research the material. Writing the report in their own words is hard to do if they don’t understand the material. (Teach students how to avoid plagiarism while they are young. Learning the material as students research helps students write their report in their own words.)

Step 4: Have students use a separate sheet of paper for each of their sources. At the top of each sheet of paper have students write the bibliography information for one source that they will be using.

Step 5: Students now skim and scan each source writing important big picture main ideas and main sub-topics which they feel they could build a report around. They should put a strong focus on headings, chapter titles, and table of contents. Have them write these ideas down in their own words by paraphrasing.

Outlining and Organizing

Step 6: Have students look over their sheets of paper that have all their big picture main ideas and sub-topics. Have them decide which main ideas and sub-topics they will want to build their report around. (Continue to urge students to learn the material.)

Step 7: Now students build a perfect puzzle of main ideas and sub-topics which will outline their report. In other words, they create an outline of what they want to focus on in their report. (It’s okay if they decide they need to change some of their main ideas and sub-topics as they continue to research their subject.) 

Researching for Facts

Step 8: Now students research and take notes. They can continue to use the same sheets of paper that they have their main ideas on, OR they can use an index card for each main idea or sub-topic. If you use an index card with the main ideas you need to be sure to mark which source you got your information from. Students do not write their notes in complete sentences. Have students write their notes in “Frankenstein Writing.” (Nile River – 4185 miles long – longest river in world) Sounds like Frankenstein, doesn’t it? Frankenstein writing is fast, and it makes sure students will later write their report in their own words.

Writing the Report

Step 9: Students follow their outline and use their notes to write their report. Students can research more if needed, but no using books when writing the report. Make sure students understand how to give credit to their sources of information. Students should also understand how to write a proper introduction, body, and conclusion for their report.

Step 10: Students create a bibliography page giving credit to all of their sources of information.

Proofreading and Editing

Step 11: For proofreading and editing, it’s best to give a short cooling off period so students will be able to look at all of their hard work objectively. If students hold off for 1-3 days, they will do a much better job.

Step 12: Students proofread and edit their report.

Step 13: Recopy for a fabulous report! (This may not always be a great use of time. However, sometimes it’s good for students to see a fantastic final copy on nice white paper.)

Sharing and Displaying

Step 14: Share! Students read their entire report to at least one other person. Also have an “Author’s Chair” where students can read a part of their report to the entire class. 

Step 15: Display! There are lots of ways to display reports. You can put them up on the bulletin board. You may want to put them in a binder to create a class book or have students create a cover for their own report and you have a classroom library! You may want to show them off when it’s time for back to school night, parent conferences, or open house. Consider all this before you send them home.  

Fantastic report! Great job!

Do’s and Don’ts of Language in Report Writing: How to Use Formal Language

• Do Use Passive Voice - You the author stay hidden. Focus on the facts and issues of the subject you are writing about. What do you think about those facts and issues? Not important. However, the facts and issues are important. The cause and effect of those facts and issues are important. You show others what you think is important by the facts and issues you include, as well as the topics you choose to write about. However, in your report writing… try to keep yourself hidden.

• Don’t Use Personal Pronouns – Rarely if ever, use “I, we, my, mine, our, ours, you, yours.”

• Do Use Third Person – He, she, his, hers, it, its, them, their

• Do Use Correct Academic and Technical Language – When you take notes and when you paraphrase, keep the correct technical words. You may want to define these technical words for your reader, but don’t substitute a lot of simple words for the correct academic and technical language. 

• Don’t Use Casual Language – Casual language includes both the words you use and the way you talk to your reader. Above in “Passive Voice” it says, “What do you think about those facts and issues? Not important.” That is casual. Casual can be fun and can be used to create and maintain interest, however use it very sparingly in report writing.

• Avoid Emotional Power Verbs. Be objective. Be Neutral.
Famous Quote: The Facts, just the facts, ma’am. (Dragnet)

Example:
Objective: The government acted quickly in order to remedy the situation.
Emotional Power Verbs: The government sprang into action in order to save-the-day.

Students need to be taught how to use formal language in report writing. You can add a little bit of variety and a little bit of fun to report writing if you treat it more like “formal voice.” After all, there are degrees of formality…

The term “voice” is used in the “Six Traits of Effective Writing” model. We want students to know that they are learning to write with voice and not that we are taking away their voice. Students who love to write sometimes feel they are losing their voice when they learn that they must use formal language in report writing.

Some Get It… Some Don’t Want To! 

Many students naturally understand the correct voice, tone, and style for report writing. They have read a lot of this kind of writing and they understand the style. They more easily see the difference between styles of writing and can easily imitate them. For some, it is the writing voice they naturally hear in their head when they write.

Other students hear a different voice in their head when they write. It’s a more colloquial voice and they don’t want to change it.  They don’t want to write in “that boring style.” Some of these students don’t really understand “formal voice” and some seem to rebel against “formal voice.”

Direct Instruction in Formal Voice for Report Writing: Three is the Magic Number for Comparison

Teaching report writing voice with a comparison of two is a mistake. There is not just:

There is a range to formality and three is the magic number for comparison. We can take a lesson from storytelling (and character development) that when you want to show comparison, three is the magic number.

Notice in these three fairy tales, comparison is a prominent theme:

• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• The Three Little Pigs
• Three Billy Goats Gruff

The list goes on and on…

Ideas for Teaching Formal Voice through Comparison and Using the Rule of Three

It’s becoming easier and easier to find three different samples on a particular subject designed for three different audiences and which contain three different voices. It is a little bit of work, but well worth it when teaching “voice” in writing. (Many of the ideas below are kid created and you don’t have to do a thing.)

• Have students write about an experience or describe something from three different age perspectives. This works even if they just write a sentence or a paragraph from these three different age perspectives. It doesn’t have to be a long piece of writing for students to engage in using different voices.

• Read about a historical figure or event from three different sources designed for three different audiences. (Ex. Encyclopedia, text book, student generated from the internet.)

• Show three different news sources reporting the same news story. These days there are quite a few news sources to choose from and they range from stoic to downright wacky at times.

• Use three different video learning sources with different styles and/or designed for different audiences. Examples: 
          1. A documentary.
          2. A kid’s educational video series (Standard Deviants etc.)
          3. A cartoon type or one of those nutty science guys. (Beckman’s World etc.)

More Ideas for Teaching Formal Voice in Report Writing

Have students:

• Find a model (or models) for a voice they want to communicate in their report writing. (A television news anchorperson etc.) Have them write a paragraph describing what they observe in the voice, tone, and style of that person. Have them read their paragraph in their newfound voice.

• Role play in small groups reading samples of writing using a voice they want to have in their report writing.

• Have an imaginary panel of advisors hanging over their shoulder advising them as they write and edit. This panel of advisors will all have British accents and encourage writing in the utmost formal manner.

• Teachers, can you do a proper British accent? If so, kids identify with this as being formal and fun!

A Paragraph Beautifully Defined

A paragraph is a collection of sentences with unity of purpose. A paragraph handles and exhausts a distinct topic.
                                                                   Alexander Bain – 1871
 
This description of a paragraph is about as good as it gets! Alexander Bain is also credited as having been the first person to have formally laid down the rules of paragraph construction.  (Bain’s original rules for paragraphs are outlined below.)

A Modern Look at Paragraph Rules

There is a beauty and logic to all of Bain’s rules for paragraphs, however modern paragraph theory is a little more generalized and seems to center on these three principles. All-in-all they do contain most of Bain’s ideas, however, they also allow a little more freedom for creativity in paragraph construction.

1. Unity – Single minded focus of ideas. All the sentences must have unity of purpose AND there must be no information in the paragraph which does not serve that purpose.

2. Coherence – Ideas flow in a manner which makes them easily understandable.

3. Development – Ideas support and develop a topic sentence or main idea.

Alexander Bain’s Six Paragraph Rules Paraphrased for Easy Reading and Easy Understanding

1. The direction and purpose of each sentence should connect to what came prior. This must be explicit and unmistakable.

2. When several consecutive sentences repeat or illustrate the same idea, they should, as much possible be formed alike. (Parallel construction) The main subject and predicate should maintain their positions throughout.

3. The opening sentence (topic sentence) is expected to indicate the subject of the paragraph.

4. Each sentence in a paragraph should be found in its most suitable location within the paragraph. Every paragraph has a plan dictated by the nature of the composition. As such, sentences should be laid out in accordance of this plan. An out of place sentence brings confusion.

5. A paragraph should possess unity and contain a definite purpose. There should be no sentences or information contained in that paragraph which does not support that purpose. 

6. The big sentences within the paragraph should be the important ideas. The smaller sentences should be the less important ideas. Everything should have bulk and prominence according to its importance.

Interesting concepts! Proportion, symmetry, parallelism, balance…

Paragraph Writing is an Art, but Don’t Forget the Rules!

It wasn’t until the 1600’s when the growing importance of the printing press would put the paragraph on the road to its current prominence in the written English language. (In fact, some still consider the paragraphs most important attribute to be the visual aspect that helps the reader to clearly survey the printed page.)

It’s a little surprising to think that before 1871 the rules of paragraphs had not been clearly laid down. When you think about it… 1871 is not that long ago! 

Though the rules of paragraphs have become more universally understood and taught, there remains much art in what writers actually do. Most confident writers rarely think of the rules of paragraphs as they write. Confident writers just know when to start a new paragraph without even thinking about it. (Most then make changes to their paragraphs as they reread and edit.)

Supporting the argument that there is an art to paragraph writing… beyond rules, is that studies have shown that when paragraph formatting is removed from a piece of writing, few people will re-paragraph it the same way it was before. In fact, the same person may not re-paragraph it the same way two times in a row.

Teaching Kids Paragraphs

Early in my teaching career I remember spending lots of time trying to get students to master paragraphs. I thought, “If I can just get them to master these paragraphs… it’s going to change everything!” 

What I learned was that students don’t develop paragraph mastery until they develop an understanding of how paragraphs fit together within an essay, and understand the relationship between paragraphs and the introduction and conclusion.

A paragraph in multi-paragraph writing reveals the truer purpose and the truer need for the paragraph. Paragraphs make sense to students when they discover how to create a unique “unity of purpose” for each distinct paragraph in their multi-paragraph writing.

It’s a great feeling when you see your students stop thinking about the rules, but still maintain wonderful paragraph structure and paragraph form! That’s what I call a “confident writer!”

Find out how to make this happen at the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” homepage!