The Writing Process

On this page, you will find mini-lessons and handouts that will help you structure your class in ways that encourage your students to engage in the writing process. Many of our students focus on the final product of writing to receive a grade rather than on the creative process that leads to a finished piece of writing. An important goal of working with student writers is to emphasize that writing is a process that requires hard work, perseverance and consistency.

Mini-Lessons

Mini-lessons are short (10-15 minutes) and discrete, and can be used at any time during the 50-minute class period.  They can introduce a focus for that day’s revision workshop, act as a transition in the middle of a class, or be used at the end of a class period to set up homework or the next class meeting’s objectives.

The Architecture of a Mini-Lesson
(adapted from Stanford University)

• CONNECT Students learn why today’s instruction is important to them as writers and how the lesson relates to their prior work. The teaching point is stated.
• TEACH The teacher shows the students how writers go about doing whatever is being taught. We may teach by demonstrating (modeling how and when writers use this strategy or concept in their work rather than simply telling what writers do); explaining and showing an example; involving the class in a shared inquiry, or taking them through guided practice.
• ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT After we teach something, students are given a chance to quickly practice what has just been taught or to share noticings about the demonstration in order to understand a kind of thinking
• LINK The teacher reiterates what has just been taught, adding it to the students’ growing repertoire. Students are reminded that today’s lesson pertains not only to today, but to every day and to strengthen their writing for the specific unit inquiry.

Mentor Texts

Mini-lessons work well when taught with mentor texts.  The mentor essay can be distributed at the beginning of the semester in both an early and final draft and referred to throughout the semester in discrete mini-lessons (i.e. title, transitions, analysis, in-text citation, etc.).  This saves time with the lessons since the whole class is already familiar with the essay. We recommend not using A or A+ papers, as these can be intimidating.  Instead, use B or B+ papers along with an earlier draft of the same paper.

Reading and Learning Strategies

Students may face challenges in reading texts, so work with them to develop strategies for understanding assignments, notetaking, and reading.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming ideas will help to reinforce the process of writing to first generate ideas for later revision, rather than to have a polished final essay.

Developing Analysis

Developing strong analysis will help to ensure student success in 110, which means instructors need to dissect the process and the components of argumentation.

Workshops

Writing workshops encourage students to have command over their own writing. Workshops should be guided by the instructor but with emphasis placed on student agency.

Writing workshops benefit you, the instructor, as well: instead of meeting with students one-on-one to discuss their writing—an impossible undertaking in most courses—the writing workshop gives you a time- and labor-saving way to help students write papers that are appropriate to the discipline.

Revision and Organization

Work with students so that they understand revision as an ongoing conversation with their audience that requires them to see their writing from a different perspective and ask questions of their writing. Students often misunderstand the difference between revision and editing as separate processes that occur at different points in the writing process, so be sure to teach revision and editing as separate lessons. (Links to strategies for  proofreading, editing, and finalizing are located at the end of this page.)

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Work with students to help them how to incorporate the ideas of others in conversation with their own, rather than as sources to “back them up” to help them understand their responsibility and agency as emerging scholars.

Proofreading, Editing, and Finalizing

Work with students to help them understand proofreading, editing, and finalizing their essays as a one-sided conversation that focuses on sentence-level concerns and addresses problems with spelling, grammar, punctuation, or word choice.