Barbara W. Coles Trader
It is important to give students the opportunities to investigate and utilize their knowledge; develop awareness; and establish and expand their imaginative thinking abilities into the curriculum area of writing. The preliminary writing activities will enable the students to recall and think reflectively upon personal and concrete experiences. Through these exercises, they will also collaborate and share information with their peers within the classroom.
Activities
In this exercise, the students will discuss lists of interesting topics on which to write. From this activity, students will learn to explore those things that interest them, excite them and will be given opportunities to express themselves freely. In short, they will be encouraged to organize the value of their own thoughts.
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A. Compile Lists: The students can record the topics which they would like to address. Topics such as:
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I hate to do ______.
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I was afraid when ______.
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Yesdayday, ______happened.
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My biggest problem is ______.
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______ wasn’t fair to me when
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______.
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The instructor will solicit ideas from the students. When do people write? Why do they write? Tell the students that people write to inform or persuade.
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B. Writing Directions: The students can write a set of directions with a group. The directions can be written to explain how to get to a particular classroom. The instructor can emphasize the thinking stage by encouraging the students to apply their knowledge and experiences. This activity also provides a study in the various purposes of writing to different audiences.
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C. Writing Poetry: ‘The students can write poetry with the group using words that describe emotions, images, senses and the 1ike.” In Kenneth Koch’s book, he illustrates how students can write poetry with the group “using words that describe emotions, images and senses” (p. 69). The students will use words such as: roar, twist, wiggle (words of image); gaze, stare, grope, pat (words that relate to the senses); cringe, sob, moan (words of emotion).
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D. Group clustering is a creative technique that starts with one or several words in a circle. In response to the key word, one people can connect related words by diagramming and mapping. In Gabriele Ricco’s book (p. 10), “clustering shifts from a sense of randomness to a sense of direction which enables people to write in a more natural way.”
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Group Clustering: Cluster the information on a page; use shapes and lines to show relationships/associations. MODELING: The students will participate through verbalizing. The instructor will write a word on the board, for example, “noisy.”
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DRAWING: Put “noisy” in the center of the chalkboard. Use arrows from the center circle, write down all of the associations with the word “noisy” in circles: squeaky cars—loud wind—children—sirens.
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TELLING: The instructor should inform the students that they can decide which cluster of words they would like to discuss in writing; the technique can be used for writing journals and identifying critical thinking skills. Clustering makes students aware of thoughts that they may not know they have, because it helps to bring the thinking process into focus in a concrete way (Ricco: p. 19).