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Prewriting is the getting-ready-to-write stage. In this stage students will choose a topic, gather and organize ideas, consider the audience, identify the purpose of the writing and choose the appropriate genre.
Tompkins, G. (2012.). Chapter 1. In Teaching Writing Balancing Process and Product (pp. 5-6). Pearson.

I am doing my student teaching in Kindergarten, so I have to give my students topics for them to write about. Sometimes the students can come up with topics of their own to write about, but for the most part that is my job. I just recently read a story to my students called, Snowmen at Night. Before I started reading the story to my students I told them a little about the story and then I told them to think of the different activities snowmen do at night and keep those ideas in their brain. I told them they would write a story about what they think their snowman does at night. My students don't wrote down the ideas, but instead they keep them in their "brain."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMRjqnbeRVo

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Introduction

Have you ever settled down to write something and found yourself grappling with the writing process? For some - and especially for students who struggle with writing - it can be a real challenge, and "I don't know where to begin" can become a common refrain.

An effective way to begin the writing process is to focus on prewriting, which involves organizing ideas, setting goals, and exploring topics. This takes time and it is important not to rush this important first step. If students plan their writing carefully during this prewriting stage, they will create for themselves a helpful "road map" that can guide them through the writing process.

To be college and career ready, students must be effective writers - that is, writers who are able to clearly communicate their ideas. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts (ELA) emphasize that it is important to teach students to write in all subjects, to use writing as a way to teach content, and to integrate technology into the process:

Technology-enhanced teaching strategies

There are many ways to help your struggling students (including those with language learning disabilities) through the prewriting process. In particular, these students can benefit from frequent and varied opportunities to generate ideas, organize and sequence those ideas, and then further expand their initial thinking. Use online tools to help them with brainstorming. Encourage them to do a "data dump" - that is, write down a topic heading followed by any words that come to mind (without any attempt to categorize the words or ideas). You can also introduce mind mapping, which helps students to display key points and concepts, and the relationships between key ideas, in order to see the "big picture." Other prewriting activities include writing lists, free writing, and sharing student-made videos, podcasts, or drawings on the class website.

It is also important to help students understand what it means to write for a variety of genres. Have students analyze mentor texts on computers, tablets, and eBooks. This is a good way to introduce a writing genre and identify the key characteristics of that genre. Use real-world, authentic scenarios to help students relate to different genres. For example, you could have students develop topics for writing persuasive letters (to the school principal, the PTA, their U.S. Representative, and so on) about an issue that matters to them ( see Checkpoints 8.1: Heighten salience of goals).

Ongoing assessment is a key element of teaching prewriting. Provide direct instruction and model strategies that can help students develop digital writing portfolios during the prewriting stage. Run short, informal conferences with students asking questions such as "How did you choose your topic?" and "Who is your audience?" Give feedback to students and show them how to give feedback to others during peer editing, which can build skills in sharing information.

Having students write blogs and wikis is a wonderful way to encourage them to collaboratively generate and share ideas. See the short video below, Blogs and Wikis, for good teaching ideas.

In the classroom

Mrs. Cleary challenges her 24 fourth-grade students to "think and work like scientists." The class includes several students with language and writing difficulties, as well as diverse learning styles and needs.

Her lesson objective is to have her students write about the experimental process using a lab report template, and to practice using previously learned prewriting strategies. This objective aligns with the following ELA Common Core State Standards:

Mrs. Cleary makes use of the available technology in her classroom. For this lesson, she will use an interactive whiteboard and a document camera to demonstrate and model prewriting strategies for science writing. Students will use online note cards that hold previously written information about experiment notes and observations. Tablets will also be available so that students can work with classmates to write, find images, and create documents. Mrs. Cleary will demonstrate how to use an online tool ( Pixlr) to create images.

To assess her students, Mrs. Clearly will review the completed lab report templates and observe students during peer collaboration.

Mrs. Cleary reviews the objective of her lesson in order to create her lesson plan. Her lesson plan is divided into three stages - before prewriting, during prewriting, and after prewriting - and is outlined below.

More teacher resources on prewriting

This article draws from the PowerUp WHAT WORKS website, particularly the Prewriting Instructional Strategy Guide. PowerUp is a free, teacher-friendly website that requires no log-in or registration. The Instructional Strategy Guide includes a brief overview defines prewriting skills along with an accompanying slide show; a list of the relevant ELA Common Core State Standards; evidence-based teaching strategies to differentiate instruction using technology; a case story; short videos; and links to resources that will help you use technology to support your teaching. You might also want to check out the section on formative assessment. If you are responsible for professional development, the PD Support Materials provide helpful ideas and materials for using the prewriting resources. Want more information? See www.PowerUpWhatWorks.org.

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Have you ever settled down to write something and found yourself grappling with the writing process? For some - and especially for students who struggle with writing - it can be a real challenge, and "I don't know where to begin" can become a common refrain.

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Teaching Kids a Warm-up Routine to Use Before Writing (Rock It!, Part 13)

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In this stage writers focus on getting their ideas down on paper. In this stage students will write a rough draft, craft leads to grab readers' attention and emphasize content rather than conventions.

After I had read the story of Snowmen at Night, I had my students turn and talk to a friend and discuss ideas that their snowman would do. After they had a few minutes to talk, I bring the students' attention back to me. I then ask them what their partner said about their snowman and they repeated what their friend had said. By doing this I can make sure the students are listening to what their partner has to say. After we have had time to share our ideas, I had  the students go back to their desk and I gave them the writing prompt of, "If I were a snowmen I would................" They had to write about what they would do if they were a snowman.
Tompkins, G. (2012.). Chapter 1. In Teaching Writing Balancing Process and Product (p 8). Pearson.

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In this stage students will share their drafts in revising groups. They will also participate constructively in discussions about their classmates' drafts. They will then make changes based on the comments from the teacher and their classmates. lastly they will make substantive changes between the first and final drafts. Tompkins, G. (2012.). Chapter 1. In Teaching Writing Balancing Process and Product (pp. 9-13). Pearson.

Since I work in Kindergarten we don't necessarily do this process as described. Some of my kinder students are able to read their own work but would not be able to read those writings of their classmates. We do allow the students to share their writings in front of class or within their groups though. Most students enjoy sharing their story. I personally hated when we had to trade papers in upper elementary school and have my classmates read my paper. Maybe I wasn't given this opportunity to share my writings in the early years and that was the reason for me not wanting to share my work. Hopefully by us fostering the sharing of their readings the students will want to continue to share their work as they move through school.

I allowed my students to share what they had written with the class. They were able to hear about all of the activities that there classmates had to say. Some of the students' would say, "I never thought about that activity!" They would then want to add that activity into their story.

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Teaching Kids About Revising (Writing Workshop Lesson)

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This is the stage when students will put the piece of writing into its final form. In this stage students will set aside their drafts for a few days, so not to get overloaded. Students will also proofread, to locate any errors within their paper and then makes the correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation and grammar errors.

Again, since I am in Kindergarten we do not focus on the spelling and grammatical errors as much. We do have the students to check that they have started each sentence with a capital letter. For the most part my students seemed to have this concept down.
Tompkins, G. (2012.). Chapter 1. In Teaching Writing Balancing Process and Product (pp. 12-15). Pearson.

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This video features a method of editing that I have used with my students over the past several years. This strategy breaks the complex task of editing into a series of smaller, more manageable steps. Kids will need a four-color pen in order to use this approach.

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In the last stage of writing students will publish their writing and share it with their classmates or the intended audience. This is the opportunity for students to share the hard work they have done to work on this piece of writing.
Tompkins, G. (2012.). Chapter 1. In Teaching Writing Balancing Process and Product (pp. 15-17). Pearson.

When we "publish" our work in Kindergarten we hang up their work outside in the hall for all to see! The students get very exciting seeing their work displayed. I always make sure to tell them when we are going to display their work and they usually put more effort into the illustrations and neater handwriting.

From the start of Kindergarten till present time, I have seen such growth in my students. It is really rewarding to see the students' use the strategies that we have taught them in writing.