{"id":270,"date":"2009-09-21T23:22:38","date_gmt":"2009-09-22T06:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/?p=270"},"modified":"2019-04-04T18:35:16","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T01:35:16","slug":"how-to-use-writing-prompts-in-teaching-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/how-to-use-writing-prompts-in-teaching-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Purpose of Your Writing Prompt?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teachers must have a purpose for their writing prompts and assignments. However, sometimes teachers don\u2019t think a great deal about what their purpose is when they put a writing prompt up on the front board. In fact, their thought process may only go as far as this:<\/p>\n

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8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0I want my students to write about something that they will have an interest in<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0I want my students to write about something that will inspire them<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0I want my students to write about something that they will think is fun<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

The reason teachers use lesson plans is so that they can make the most of their students\u2019 time. Teachers need to know what they will accomplish with their lessons. Teachers need to have goals or objectives for their lessons. If teachers don\u2019t know where they are going, they will be on the road to nowhere.<\/p>\n

Using a writing prompt is no different. Teachers can define their purpose or objective in many different ways, and I\u2019ll touch on a few here.<\/p>\n\"pencilDo you need an effective foundation, framework, and methodology for teaching writing? If you do, be sure to check out Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay on the homepage!<\/span><\/a>\n

 <\/p>\n

But First, Don\u2019t Create Writing Prompts This Way: \u201cQuick! Think!\u201d<\/h3>\n

Have you ever gone through this thought process?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat am I going to have the kids write about? Quick<\/span>!<\/strong> Think<\/span>!<\/strong> Hmm\u2026 Okay\u2026 kids\u2026 what you are going to write about today is\u2026 you are going to write about\u2026 what did you\u2026 or \u2026 no\u2026 describe a time when\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The thinking that went into the creation of the writing prompt is likely to be reflected in the students\u2019 writing. If teachers don\u2019t treat the writing assignment as important, the students won\u2019t think it\u2019s that important. Even if the students don\u2019t observe exactly how the teacher created the writing prompt, students have a sixth sense for what they perceive as busy work<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Here Are a Few Interesting Ways that You Can More Clearly Define Your Purpose for a Writing Prompt<\/h2>\n

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1. You Can Base Your Purpose on the Kind of Growth You Want Your Students to Experience<\/span><\/h3>\n

8<\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to write in a new and challenging way<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8<\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to focus on, explore, or expand their creativity<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to break the mold<\/span><\/strong> of their previous writing experiences and expand<\/span><\/strong> their vision of writing.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to focus on or experiment with structure<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to focus on or explore word usage<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to focus on or explore the imagination<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to focus on or explore their thoughts and feelings<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to think about<\/span><\/strong> and reflect o<\/span><\/strong>n their own thinking and how they learn.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to learn<\/span><\/strong> the subject material by writing.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n\"pencilDo you teach beginning writers or struggling writers? If you do, be sure to check out Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay on the homepage!<\/span><\/a>\n

 <\/p>\n

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2. You Can Base Your Purpose on Bloom\u2019s Taxonomy<\/span><\/h3>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to know<\/span><\/strong> facts and information.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to comprehend<\/span><\/strong> or understand<\/span><\/strong> a complex issue.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to apply<\/span><\/strong> what they have learned to write for a transactive purpose.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to analyze<\/span><\/strong> information and present it in an organized way.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to synthesize<\/span><\/strong> information from several sources and distill it into something new.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to evaluate<\/span><\/strong> two sides of an issue and then take a position and argue for it.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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3. You Can Base Your Purpose on Common Essay Structures<\/span><\/h3>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to compare and contrast<\/span><\/strong> something.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to give informatio<\/span><\/strong>n about something.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to describe<\/span><\/strong> something.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to evaluate<\/span><\/strong> something.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to explain the cause and effect<\/span><\/strong> of something.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to tell a personal story<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to describe a process<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to follow a line of argumentative<\/span><\/strong> reasoning through to its logical conclusion.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to persuade<\/span><\/strong> someone about something.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0You want your students to critique<\/span><\/strong> something.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teachers must have a purpose for their writing prompts and assignments. However, sometimes teachers don\u2019t think a great deal about what their purpose is when they put a writing prompt up on the front board. In fact, their thought process may only go as far as this: The reason teachers use lesson plans is so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[354],"tags":[12,23,55,57,27,24,1,56],"class_list":["post-270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing-prompts-2","tag-engaging-students","tag-homeschool-writing","tag-how-to-teach-writing","tag-lesson-plans-writing","tag-middle-school-writing","tag-reluctant-writers","tag-teaching-elementary-writing","tag-writing-prompts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3367,"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270\/revisions\/3367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patternbasedwriting.com\/elementary_writing_success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}