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Often times, we see the five stage writing process in a shape of a large pencil hung up on a wall in a classroom.  I went through school referring to that pencil and hope to have one in my future classroom.  Each stage is an important step to set up students for success in their writing.  This process can be used for essays, short stories, reflections, and more.

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Prewriting is a crucial stage for students but often is neglected. The objective of this stage is to discover what you already know and begin to write down those ideas.  Students should talk, read, doodle whatever comes to mind so that they begin having content on paper. American journalist, Donald Murray believes that the majority of students time; specifically 70%, should be spent in this stage.

For writing assignments in the third grade class I observe, my mentor teacher will typically provide a topic. From there, students are to use their writing process chart and write any ideas that come to mind in the first step. Within this chart she included the three steps that students should be thinking about. These include: choosing a topic (which is chosen by the teacher), choosing an audience, purpose, form, and choosing a way to organize these ideas. My mentor teacher will spend about two to four classes on just this part depending on the topic.

Personally, I do not spend much time in this stage like I once use to. I tend to jump straight to the rough draft stage and then revise. Though I used to use similar chart activities that my mentor teacher implements in her classroom.

Citation: Tompkins, G. E., & Jones, P. D. (2019). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. NY, NY: Pearson.

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The rough draft portion of the writing process is the second stage.  This is when students have a focused idea and put it on paper.  They are elaborating on the prewriting ideas and formulating those ideas into sentences. It is advised for students to skip lines when writing their rough draft so that teachers have the ability to go back and edit their work.  Teachers are not to emphasize incorrect spellings but rather the ideas. It is best to postpone smaller grammatical errors for the fourth stage.

For longer papers or stories, my mentor teacher will have students write their rough draft on a separate wide rule piece of notebook paper. She purposely does not have them write in their journals so that they can print and glue their final draft in them.  On their rough draft paper, they are to include their title, name, and formulate paragraphs for the first time.  Students usually spend one class period (45-60 minutes) on their rough draft.  They spend a lot less time because they have already done the prewriting activities.

In my experience, this is the stage that takes me the longest. Instead of notebook paper, I will use my computer to write out a draft.

Citation: Tompkins, G. E., & Jones, P. D. (2019). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. NY, NY: Pearson.

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The revising stage is the opportunity for writers to clarify and refine their ideas from their drafts.  Students should take the ideas the teacher or classmates have given and revise appropriately. They are involved in the following three activities: rereading the rough draft, sharing the rough draft, and then revising based on the feedback. One idea to effectively achieve this stage is to have students meet in small groups.  Here they can share their drafts with classmates who will provide suggestions.  It is important to create a positive environment for these to go well. Another way is to have a revising center in which the teacher sets up to differentiate instruction. Each center can focus on a writing strategy catering to the students needs.

I have not yet observed the revision groups but am excited to implement them in my future classroom. Typically, my mentor teacher will provide suggestions on students’ rough drafts and then meet with them individually to discuss how to make it better. Though it takes more time, it is an effective way for third graders to improve their writing by having that one on one time.

For important assignments, I will always have a peer look over and revise my papers. It is important to have a second set of eyes on your own writing.

Citation: Tompkins, G. E., & Jones, P. D. (2019). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. NY, NY: Pearson.

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Editing is when students put all their previous work into its final form. This is the stage when writers focus on grammatical errors such as capitalization or punctuation. Three activities to focus on during this stage include: setting aside their work for a few days, coming back to proofread, and correcting the last errors. Similarly to the revising stage, teachers can create editing centers in which students can work with a partner to proofread their work. Teachers can also create editing checklists for students to use while they reread their rough drafts. Once students locate all the errors they can find, they should correct them individually.

I have seen my mentor teacher use proofreaders' marks for students to correct grammatical errors in their rough drafts.  She will use these marks not only in their stories and essays but also in their regular journal entries and morning work.  This allows the students to quickly fix their errors before moving on.

Citation: Tompkins, G. E., & Jones, P. D. (2019). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. NY, NY: Pearson.

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The final stage in the writing process is the publishing stage.  This is when students publish their writing and share it with the class, friends, family, or the community.  It is a way to motivate students to keep writing because generally they students like to see their hard work completed. One idea I gained from the readings is to have an “about the author” page in front of their work Depending on the grade level students can write one sentence to a couple paragraphs for this page. They can also include a table of contents if they so choose.

Personally, I loved when I created a small booklet of poems or a story I wrote.  It was always so much fun to staple the pages together because I knew it was finally time to share to everyone what I wrote. When I was in elementary school, the public library would publish young children’s poems in a small book. This was an amazing feeling. I’ve also observed my mentor teacher classroom create small books to hang in the hall for their parents to read.

Citation: Tompkins, G. E., & Jones, P. D. (2019). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. NY, NY: Pearson.

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Image pulled from Google