Chapter 2 Crunch Time- PreWriting Structures

Chapter 2 presents several different ways to help students organize their thoughts in the prewriting stage:
the talking list, the kernel essay, and the flipbook. Are these ideas that you think would be helpful to your students in organizing their ideas in pre-writing? If so, why? Which one appeals to you the most?

I see value in using all of these ideas to help kids flesh out their ideas and have a framework for organizing their writing into paragraphs. I think if you used something like the "talking list" multiple times, students would be able to think through an idea in their head when given a prompt and identify the important pieces of information and the quick little details that go with each big idea. (What a great way to teach organization/paragraphing!) I loved the flipbook and having something for students that allowed them to move around in their writing piece and free up the teacher to work with different students during writing workshop time. I once used a flip-book that Lucy Calkins designed as a pre-drafting book and the kids LOVED just having a different kind of paper and this little booklet to write in! Calkins ideas was simply that students started a new page of the flip book in their draft every time the action in the story changed just to get kids writing in paragraphs. The "Revision Station" discussed at end of chapter was a cool idea too! I am looking forward to trying out some of these ideas!

First week of RMWP comes to an end

It has been a good 3 days! Looking forward to learning and writing together.
Kim