Plan + Write Strategy
What: This writing strategy provides a mnemonic device to organize student thinking for writing an essay.
PLAN + WRITE is mnemonic strategy essay writing. This strategy is designed to teach students strategies for planning, drafting, and revising text, along with the knowledge and skills needed to support these processes. (DeLaPaz & Graham, 2002). This strategy organizes and directs the processes for both planning and writing an essay.
Why: Being able to write effective is a critical skill for academic success. However, before writing can even begin, students must be able to plan their writing. Planning is a critical element in skilled writing. College students devote about one fourth of their writing time to planning (Kellogg, 1987). Skilled writers not only plan what they will write, but how they will write it. They establish goals for their writing, structure their ideas and consider their audience (DeLaPaz & Graham, 2002).
According to DeLaPaz and Graham (2002), school age children do not spend much time planning deliberately what they will write in advance, and even when they do, those plans are usually unsophisticated.
“Skilled writers activate and coordinate an impressive array of mental operations, skills, and knowledge as they make plans, draw ideas from memory, develop concepts, organize ideas, create a written draft, reconceptualize plans, revise text, and so forth (Graham & Harris, DeLaPaz & Graham, 2002).
With Whom: SRSD writing strategies have been shown to be effective will all adolescent students. (Graham & Perin, 2007) They have also been specifically demonstrated to have a positive effect on students with learning disabilities and emotional disturbances. (Hoover, et al, 2007). Students should have previously been exposed to the 5-paragraph essay.
When: Strategies that are taught using the SRSD framework generally are not intended to be used on specifically designed tasks in the instructional environment. Rather, the goal is to have students apply these strategies outside of the direct instructional environment. Therefore, this strategy should be taught in a SETSS setting, during AIS periods, or as an alternate teaching strategy during an ICT class. The goal is to have the students generalize their understanding of the strategy and to apply them to a variety of instructional setting throughout the day.
How/Procedure: PLAN + WRITE is particularly effective for planning and writing expository essays.
Utilizing the SRSD teaching strategy, students will be taught how to both plan and write an essay. Steps for the PLAN are as follows:
1. Pay attention to the prompt (this is to help students to fully consider the prompt – state and underline what they are being asked to write about)
2. List the main ideas
3. Add supporting ideas
4. Number the major points (or ideas)
The second mnemonic, WRITE, helps students to continue the planning process while composing their essay.
1. Work from your plan to develop your thesis statement
2. Remember your goals (goals include maintaining control of the topic, providing clear organization, etc – these goals should be provided to the student and student should select which goal they are working on)
3. Include transition words (a list of transition words can be provided to the student)
4. Try to use different kinds of sentences
5. Exciting, interesting, million-dollar words
Risks: It is important to remind students that these strategies are guides to help them improve upon their writing. Students must be careful when trying to use exciting, interesting, million-dollar words” to be certain that meaning is not lost.
PLAN + WRITE is mnemonic strategy essay writing. This strategy is designed to teach students strategies for planning, drafting, and revising text, along with the knowledge and skills needed to support these processes. (DeLaPaz & Graham, 2002). This strategy organizes and directs the processes for both planning and writing an essay.
Why: Being able to write effective is a critical skill for academic success. However, before writing can even begin, students must be able to plan their writing. Planning is a critical element in skilled writing. College students devote about one fourth of their writing time to planning (Kellogg, 1987). Skilled writers not only plan what they will write, but how they will write it. They establish goals for their writing, structure their ideas and consider their audience (DeLaPaz & Graham, 2002).
According to DeLaPaz and Graham (2002), school age children do not spend much time planning deliberately what they will write in advance, and even when they do, those plans are usually unsophisticated.
“Skilled writers activate and coordinate an impressive array of mental operations, skills, and knowledge as they make plans, draw ideas from memory, develop concepts, organize ideas, create a written draft, reconceptualize plans, revise text, and so forth (Graham & Harris, DeLaPaz & Graham, 2002).
With Whom: SRSD writing strategies have been shown to be effective will all adolescent students. (Graham & Perin, 2007) They have also been specifically demonstrated to have a positive effect on students with learning disabilities and emotional disturbances. (Hoover, et al, 2007). Students should have previously been exposed to the 5-paragraph essay.
When: Strategies that are taught using the SRSD framework generally are not intended to be used on specifically designed tasks in the instructional environment. Rather, the goal is to have students apply these strategies outside of the direct instructional environment. Therefore, this strategy should be taught in a SETSS setting, during AIS periods, or as an alternate teaching strategy during an ICT class. The goal is to have the students generalize their understanding of the strategy and to apply them to a variety of instructional setting throughout the day.
How/Procedure: PLAN + WRITE is particularly effective for planning and writing expository essays.
Utilizing the SRSD teaching strategy, students will be taught how to both plan and write an essay. Steps for the PLAN are as follows:
1. Pay attention to the prompt (this is to help students to fully consider the prompt – state and underline what they are being asked to write about)
2. List the main ideas
3. Add supporting ideas
4. Number the major points (or ideas)
The second mnemonic, WRITE, helps students to continue the planning process while composing their essay.
1. Work from your plan to develop your thesis statement
2. Remember your goals (goals include maintaining control of the topic, providing clear organization, etc – these goals should be provided to the student and student should select which goal they are working on)
3. Include transition words (a list of transition words can be provided to the student)
4. Try to use different kinds of sentences
5. Exciting, interesting, million-dollar words
Risks: It is important to remind students that these strategies are guides to help them improve upon their writing. Students must be careful when trying to use exciting, interesting, million-dollar words” to be certain that meaning is not lost.
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