"Prewriting is the 'getting ready to write' stage. The traditional notion that writers have a topic completely thought out and ready to flow onto the page is ridiculous: If writers wait for ideas to fully develop, they may wait forever...Prewriting has probably been the most neglected stage in the writing process...Murray (1982) believes that at least 70% of writing time should be spent in prewriting" (Tompkins, p. 52).
This part of the reading was really inruiging to me. I remember when I was a student I hated to prewrite. I didn't see the point of it. I hated making those little bubble webs with all my ideas. Often I would write my essay and then make my prewriting map. After reading more about the importance of prewriting I wish I had a teacher who helped me to see how important it is. If I had learned to effectively prewrite I would have been a better writer and would have saved myself a lot of stress.
What prewrite strategies do you want to use in your classroom? What will be most effective for your students?
I really loved the idea that Dr. Wimmer had about keeping an idea journal. That way students are constantly thinking about topics that they would find engaging to write about. I also think that writing webs could be useful to use in the classroom as well. Sorry it took me so long to fix my blog stuff but its all working. I hope you are having a happy day my friend :)
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