One of the most important things we should be teaching our students is the steps of the writing process. I feel it’s important for them to see what’s coming up so they can begin to understand writing is a process, just like math or science have a process.
First Step - Planning
I like to call the first step planning. It’s also usually called brainstorming but I feel when you call it planning then you can share with your class that there are different types of plans. One of these is brainstorming.
In the beginning of the year I feel it’s important to introduce these different types of planning. One day we might use a circle map each day. Another day we might use a graphic organizer. Another we might just use a piece of notebook paper and braindump. The point is just to expose the class to different ways of planning. As adults we favor one type (at least I do) so it’s important that students learn to choose what feels good for them.
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Second Step - Writing
The second step of the writing process is writing the piece or the story. Here I’m showing students how to use the plan to write. This can be difficult for first and second graders and can take a few weeks so don’t get discouraged. Just keep modeling and your students will begin to figure it out.
Some of the common mistakes I see my students do is writing out their story on their planning page. They have been taught to use complete sentences and it’s hard to let go of that when creating their plan. Many students haven’t been clearly taught that the planning is one step in writing and the writing of the story is another step.
Another mistake is trying to fix their spelling mistakes as they write. Too often students get stuck when writing because they have trouble sounding out words. Then suddenly the writing block is over and they barely have a sentence on their page. Make sure to add some mini lessons about figuring out tricky words to overcome this issue.
Third Step - Revising
Next, I teach my students to revise their writing piece. However, we don’t revise every piece we write. I don’t want my students to hate the writing process by repeating all 5 steps each time they write. Instead we only enter the revision stage when we are ready to publish.
I like to teach my students to use a revision checklist to revise their writing rather than memorize an acronym. I’m always thinking of how my students transition to upper grade levels and how to make them more successful. There’s no right or wrong here, this is just my opinion.
Fourth Step - Editing
Just like with revising, my students won’t always fully edit after each writing piece. I do, however, want them to learn to look for at least capital letters at the start of each sentence and punctuation at the end! This should be a non-negotiable for every second grade teacher.
Once we are ready to publish they will be given an editing checklist that is similar to the revising checklist. This builds consistency and helps students understand the routine involved in the writing process.
Fifth Step - Publishing
The final step in my 5 step writing process is to have my students publish a piece of writing. When I teach my writing units my students will produce several pieces of writing. They will then pick one to publish or be asked to complete all the steps over a few days with a new piece of writing. Instead of using a checklist, I provide my students with a rubric for what to check when they are done publishing.
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