The first stage, when students take the time to choose a topic, gather and organize ideas, consider their audience, identify the purpose of writing, and choose an appropriate genre.

Personal Experience:

For college entrance essays, I believe that I fit Donald Murray’s belief that 70% or more of writing should be spent in prewriting (1982). Choosing a topic that would be interesting enough to distinguish you from the large pool of applicants, yet be applicable to showcase why you belonged at that institution took a long while to develop! 

Child Observation:

In the first grade classroom that I TA in, we do a monthly writing assignment in a journal. For example, for January’s month, we had the students share ideas about things that they might do in January/reasons why they liked January. While the topic was “January”, the students spent the first day deciding what they were going to write about. 

The second stage, when students create a rough draft, craft leads to grab attention, and try to emphasize content.

Personal Experience:

In high school I had a large research project that spanned over the course of the month. The final paper ended up being 24 pages long, so the drafting stage was quite important to determine how I was going to keep the reader’s attention for such a long paper. 

Child Observation:

In the first grade classroom that I TA in, students are learning how to organize a story (“I want to tell you about _” or “Now you know about _!”, how to include details, how to organize sentences with connecting words such as “first, then, next, etc”. 

Once a draft is made, students share drafts in groups, have constructive discussions, and make changes (substantive vs minor).

Personal Experience:

In high school for my junior year English class, we were responsible for revising our work and once we had gone through our paper three times, then we would share it with our partner for additional feedback and have constructive discussions on how we might change organization, the grammar to sentences, etc.

Child Observation:

In the 5th grade classroom that I help twice per week, I have observed students work in groups to edit projects and papers together. They have collaborative discussions once they have reviewed all parts.

After revising is done, the editing stage is completed after the piece has been left alone for a few days. During editing students proofread for errors, correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar errors.

Personal Experience:

In high school I was very good about deadlines and would have time between revising and editing to proofread for errors. In college, with an increase of deadlines, I feel like the amount of time between the revising and editing phases is getting shorter.

Child Observation:

In the first grade classroom that I TA in, students have an “I Can” statement for writing of “I can proofread for capitals and periods”, so students check over their work and proofread for these changes prior to turning in assignments.

Students publish work in an appropriate form and share with appropriate an audience.

Personal Experience:

My first year in college, to get out of an English course, I submitted a writing portfolio to the English department. I prepared all of my submissions into one document and submitted it to the committee. 

Child Observation:

Students in my first grade classroom published their “How to Build a Snowman” pieces, attached them to a snow globe that they had created out of construction paper (with their snowman inside), and hung them in the hallway for their peers to see.