COGNITIVE STRATEGY INSTRUCTION IN WRITING
Carol Sue Englert and Taffy E. Raphael
Institute for Research on Teaching
Not for Distribution
Contents:
1. Passages (1-4) for Unit 1 (Introducing Explanations)
2. Unit 1: Lesson 1 Script
3. Plan (Think-sheet)
A. Think-sheets
B. Outline of Lesson
C. Lesson 1 Script (Introducing Plan Think-sheet)
4. Organize (Think-sheet)
A. Think-sheet
B. Outline of Lesson
C. Lesson 2 Script
5. Write First Draft
A. Think-sheet
B. Overview of Lesson
C. Sample Lesson #3
6. Edit Think-sheet
D. Edit Think-sheet
E. Outline of Lesson
F. Lesson 4 Script
7. Editor Think-sheet
G. Think-sheet
H. Outline of Lesson
I. Lesson 5 Script
8. Revise Think-sheet
J. Think-sheet
K. Revising Think-sheet: Suggestions for Implementing
UNIT 1
LESSON 1: Presenting Examples and Nonexamples of the Text Structure: Writing
Explanations
In the first lesson we focus on developing knowledge of the task: You'll begin by
talking about the fact that students will be engaged in writing activities that
require that they:
(1) learn to write reports and papers,
(2) learn to write a particular type of text structure (e.g., explanations)
(3) read, monitor, and check papers for that text structure (e.g., explanations)
to make sure that they answer the text structure questions and contain the
keywords that signal the text structure elements
(4) revise and fix up papers so that they make well-written explanations .
Point out that a sample of one of papers that they are going to write is on the
overhead. Then, continue by saying: I have put an example of one of the types of
writing on the overhead.
This paper was written by a fourth grade student last year. (Put up enchilada story
on overhead). I have a copy on the overhead, but I will hand out the paper for you
to read with me. (Distribute printed copy of the following passage).
My explanation is on my favorite mexican food ...Enchiladas. The way
you make it is you take a corn tortilla and you put it in some cooking oil
in a pan. You leave it in the oil for a few seconds next you put it in a pan
with a kind of hot pepper for a few more seconds. After that you lay it on
a plate. Then you sprinkle grated cheese on the tortilla. You roll the
tortilla up with the cheese in it. If you desire sprinkle some more grated
cheese on top of the rolled up tortilla. After all that then you put whatever
amount of them you choose to make in a pan. The size of the pan depends
on what ever amount of the enchiladas you wish to make. Then you put
the pan in the oven and heat them up. You heat them and whala there are
your enchiladas.
T: Who thinks that they have an idea about what this paper is mainly about?
(Someone answered: Making enchiladas.)
T:
That's very good. I think it is about how to make enchiladas, but what clues
are there? How do you know that?
(Someone answered: I knew right away after you read the first sentence.)
T:
The first sentence says, "My explanation is on my favorite mexican food ...
Enchiladas." You know what I thought when I read that sentence? I thought
that I bet this person is going to tell me why it's their favorite mexican food.
Or maybe how to make enchiladas. But I was thinking that it was going to
be one of those two things. When I read the part that said "The way you
make it is ... " I was more confident that the person was telling me how to
make enchiladas. So the first thing a good explanation does is answer the
question: “What is being explained?” In this case, the explanation is about
“How to make enchiladas”, so I’ll write that question (e.g., “What is being
explained?”) and the answer (“how to make enchiladas”) on a sheet that
records the important information from this explanation paper.
T:
Can anybody tell some other ideas that they see in this paper about how to
make Enchiladas. When I hear the author say, “corn tortilla”, “cooking oil”,
and “pan”, I’m starting to think about another type of information that is
included in explanation papers. What can we call those ideas …. Corn
tortilla, cooking oil, and pan?
T:
Yes, those are the materials you need. A good explanation always answers
the question “What materials do you need?”. Let’s start by highlighting and
underlining the words that tell the materials that you need. You tell me what
materials you find in this paper, and I’ll circle those ideas in this explanation.
While I circle the materials in this copy, you can circle the materials on your
own copy of this story (Highlight the materials as they are found).
My explanation is on my favorite mexican food ...Enchiladas. The way
you make it is you take a corn tortilla and you put it in some cooking oil
in a pan. You leave it in the oil for a few seconds next you put it in a pan
with a kind of hot pepper for a few more seconds. After that you lay it on
a plate. Then you sprinkle grated cheese on the tortilla. You roll the
tortilla up with the cheese in it. If you desire sprinkle some more grated
cheese on top of the rolled up tortilla. After all that then you put whatever
amount of them you choose to make in a pan. The size of the pan depends
on what ever amount of the enchiladas you wish to make. Then you put
the pan in the oven and heat them up. You heat them and whala there are
your enchiladas.
T:
What are the materials that we found and circled? (corn tortilla, cooking oil,
hot pepper, grated cheese).
T:
So a good explanation always answers the question: What are the materials
that you need? (Write the question on the board/poster paper). Below that
question, I’m going to copy the materials that the author told us that we
needed.
T:
Did the author omit materials that you would use to make enchiladas?
(Discuss and add additional materials below the author’s list, using a
different colored pen. Call that the editor’s pen). An author often omits
information that we need to make an enchilada. So as you read, you ask
yourself what are the materials you need, and you ask yourself what
materials might be missing. A good reader always checks himself/herself to
see if the explanation makes sense, and edits the information in his/her mind
to make sure that all the parts and materials are included. A good writer has
to be a good reader and good editor.
T: Now that we have the materials, what do we do? Yes, a good explanation
names the steps so that we know what to do with the materials in order to
create something (in this case, an enchilada). So the third question that a
good explanation answers is “What are the steps? What do we do first?
Second? Third?: … We will look for the steps in this paper until we reach the
end of the explanation. Let’s find the steps in this explanation. I’ll box the
steps as we find them and number the steps in order. We’ll also look for
keywords that might help us follow and find the steps. We’ll look for
keywords such as, “first, second, third” and so forth.
My explanation is on my favorite mexican food ...Enchiladas. The
way you make it is 1 you take a corn tortilla and you put it in some
cooking oil in a pan. You 2 leave it in the oil for a few seconds
next 3 you put it in a pan with a kind of hot pepper for a few more
seconds. After that you 4 lay it on a plate. Then you 5 sprinkle
grated cheese on the tortilla. You 6 roll the tortilla up with the
cheese in it. If you desire 7 sprinkle some more grated cheese on
top of the rolled up tortilla. After all that then you 8 put whatever
amount of them you choose to make in a pan. The size of the pan
depends on what ever amount of the enchiladas you wish to make.
Then you 9 put the pan in the oven and heat them up. You heat
them and whala there are your enchiladas.
T: Let’s find the first step in this explanation. (ask students). So the first step is
take a corn tortilla and put it in some cooking oil in a pan. I’ll box that step
and label that step with a number 1. You do the same on your copy. Did the
author use the keyword, “first?”. Would that have helped you read and find
the information?
T:
Make a picture in your mind of that step. Imagine yourself doing that step in
your mind. Does anyone have any questions about how to do that step?
Anything that you might want to ask the author to make it clear? (Record
students’ questions in the margins in the same editor’s pen color used to add
the materials. If they have difficulty, model for them the uncertainty of the
information, such as “How many seconds?” What kind of pan should they
use?” “How much cooking oil?” “What kind of oil?” “Is the pan on a fire on
a heated stove?”).
T:
What’s the second step? (“put it in the oil for a few second”). So I’m going to
box that step and number that step “2”. You do the same on your paper copy.
I’m already thinking of questions in my mind that I would want to ask the
author. What questions come to your mind? (“How many seconds?” “How
high should the fire be?”). I’m going to record your questions for the author
using our editor’s pen. We’ll call this step, “Questioning the author.” That’s
what good readers and good editors do.
T:
What’s the third step? (“you put it in a pan with a kind of hot pepper for a
few more seconds”). So I’ll box that idea and record a number 3 to show that
it is the third step. Let’s question the author. What are questions we can ask
about this third step?” (“What kind of hot pepper?” “Should you use a second
pan?” “How many seconds?”). I’ll record your questions with the editor’s
pen. These are good questions.
T:
Is there a fourth step? (“lay it on a plate.”). I’ll box that idea and record a “4”
to show it is the fourth step. Do you want to question the author about this
step?
T:
Is there a fifth step? (“sprinkle grated cheese on the tortilla.”) I’ll box that
step and record a “5” to show it is the fifth step. Can we question the author
about the information? What questions do you have?” (What type of grated
cheese? “How much cheese”). I’ll record those questions with the editor’s
pen.
T:
Is there a sixth step? (“roll the tortilla up with the cheese”). Let’s box that
step and record a “6” to show it is the sixth step. Can we question the author
about the information? Is it clear, or do you have questions?
.
.
.
.
(Repeat for steps 7-8)
T:
What is the ninth step? (put the pan in the oven and heat them up”.). Let’s
box that step and record a “9” to show it is the ninth step. Question the
author. What questions do you have? (“What type of pan?” “What
temperature should the oven be set?” “How long should they cook in the
oven?”)
T:
Are there any other steps? (“Whala you enchilada is done.”)
T:
So a good explanation answers three big questions. A good explanation
answers the questions:
1. What is being explained (making an enchilada)
2. What are the materials/setting that you need? (tortilla, cheese, oil,
pan)
3. What are the steps? What do you do 1st? 2nd? 3rd?.... finally?
T:
I have an organizer that we can use to help us monitor and plan a paper to
write an explanation. This organizer has a list of these questions on this
paper. I want you to look at your copy of this story to fill out this organizer.
You tell me quickly what information to put in what boxes, and I’ll fill out
the explanation organizer.
1. So what should I put in the box that says “What is being explained?”
2. What should I record in the box that says “What are the materials?”
3. What I record in the boxes that says “What are the steps?”
T:
Let’s look back at the questions that we recorded with the editor’s pen. Did
this author do a good job of telling us what was being explained? Put your
thumbs up if you think “Yes. He did a good job of telling us what was being
explained.” Put your thumb pointing sidewise (model) if you think “Sort of.
He ‘sort’ explained what the paper was about. Point your thumb down if you
think “No.” He did tell us what was being explained.
T:
Let’s look back at the questions that we recorded with the editor’s pen for the
materials that we needed. Let’s vote on how the author did. Did this author
do a good job of telling us what materials we needed? Put your thumbs up if
you think “Yes. He did a good job of telling us what materials were needed.”
Put your thumb pointing sidewise (model) if you think “Sort of. He ‘sort’
explained what materials we needed. Point your thumb down if you think
“No.” He did not tell us what materials were needed. (Discuss. Ask students
to justify their thinking and explain how they would improve the paper).
T:
Let’s vote on the steps. How did the author do? Did this author do a good job
of telling us what steps to follow? Put your thumbs up if you think “Yes. He
did a good job of telling us the steps in his explanation about how to make
enchiladas.” Put your thumb pointing sidewise (model) if you think “Sort of.
He ‘sort’ explained the steps. Point your thumb down if you think “No.” He
did not tell us the steps. (Discuss. Ask students to justify their thinking and
explain how they would improve the paper. Explain that writers can always
think of ways to improve their papers).
How did you know that?
(Well why else would you put oil in a pan, you know.)
Have you ever cooked anything?
(Or once or twice in my lifetime.)
Part of what I'm doing is I'm from the group through my questions, "What is this
mainly about, What is it you learn?" I start helping them see the questions that I
had as I read the explanation.
As I read this I thought this was a very interesting explanation. This is an
explanation about how to make tortillas. There were some key words in there that
helped me figure out.
You could go into key words at that point. In other words, what you are doing is
talking to them about what made the paper an explanation. Then what I would also
do is ask some other questions about it.
Can anybody tell me what the steps in the explanation are? Can anybody tell me
what you would do to make an Enchilada. Any volunteers?
(The first part was inaudible ...
In another pan I'd put hot peppers and green onions in it)
You know what I'm wondering, I'm wondering if there isn't some information in
that was left out. I didn't think about it when I first read it. I'm wondering whether
or not the Enchilada gets fried on the stove or does it get baked in the oven. I'm
confused about that. I’m going to record my question on this post-it note. That’s
an important question to answer. Is there anything that you might be confused
about or have questions about as you read that?
(I'm going to go back and circle the key words that help me find the key
information in an explanation. So I’m looking for words that tell me what to do
first, second, third, and so forth. Here is the word “First”. Some words that you
said though was ‘next,’ ‘after that’. So I’m going to back and reread the paper and
see what key words the author used. Help by telling me what key words you see.
[Discuss.]
This paper did a very good job in signaling to readers where the steps might be
found found. I'm not that confused about where the steps are because the key
words really helped do that. But, I'm confused about some missing steps.
(First part is a little unclear because I don’t know if you cook it in oil or if you
would bake it. Then there is the question about how to heat in the oven and like
what temperature should the oil/oven be set at, e.g., 100 or 400 degrees. Would
you put it an oven, the pan, or the microwave oven?
I’ll write those questions on post-it notes, or you can write your questions in the
margins. We can that talking-to-the text (author).
Good those are excellent questions. If I were a writer and had written that paper,
these questions would be very helpful for me in order to figure out what I need to
add to that paper. Are there any other questions that anybody else has?
(I want to know what kind of hot peppers.)
Yeah I know I've had hot peppers, like I remember going to a mexican restaurant,
and having a hot pepper that was so hot that my tongue burned and my eyes teared
up. I drank a ton of water. I wouldn't want to put any hot peppers in my corn
tortillas, if it will make my guests tear up or make their tongues burn. I wonder if
there are different kinds of hot peppers. That is something I don't know very much
about. These are good questions that I should answer.
What you are doing you is pulling questions out. You're not saying, "boy this isn't
a good explanation." In fact, it's a pretty good one. There are key words and
phrases, and there is a fairly clear statement at the beginning. But there are still
things the author could work on. It could be modified to clear up the confusion
about what the author is going to talk about - - such as why enchiladas are his or
her favorite food or how to make them. That part is not clear, and the specific
questions we've asked could be answered in the paper.
A good explanation is very dependent upon the background knowledge of the
person we are explaining things to. Because students assume that their teacher
ought to know about things they, as students, know about (such as frying). But if
the author thought they were writing for other students -- those students' questions
are legitimate. So as a teacher I would respond to the child and say, I'd like to
know the temperature of the oven, and I would like to know where you get the
corn tortillas, I'd like to know this. Good writers answer the readers’ questions.
[This is a side note to teachers.
Sometimes teachers have said they've told their kids, "I'd like to know more about
it," and the students don't tell them. The key is having other KIDS read their
papers. One of the reasons is, if you say to a child, "I'd like to know more," they
can very well interpret that to mean "she'd like to know more, but I bet she already
does, so I'm not going to waste my time." Whereas, if children were asking these
questions of other student authors, they really don't have the answers. That makes
them legitimate questions. As an author, I would want to make sure that I
addressed these questions in my revisions. ]
In addition, you also are modeling the explanation text structures for the kids. You
do this by saying:
This paper was a good explanation paper. It was very, very good. I think that
whoever wrote this has a lot of information about what things could be put in or
taken out of the paper. Clearly, we knew this paper was an explanation. I knew
right away in that first sentence that I should think about an explanation. When I
read the word explanation, you know what I thought, explain. This means that the
author should teach us how to do something in the written text.
Sometimes when I have friends come over and I want them to play games with
me, and they don't know how to play, sometimes I have to explain to them how
the game works. I have to tell them the rules and all. So I thought of the word
explain, and then I knew that this must be explaining how to make some mexican
food, called Enchiladas. So that was the first thing I thought of when I read it.
Then I thought to myself, if it's an explanation, they have to explain something.
They are going to have to tell me the steps, so I'm thinking as I start reading that
I'm going to read and see if there are steps about how to make explanations.
(Someone asks: What's an Enchilada?)
Okay an Enchilada, any of you ever seen, have you ever gone to the grocery store
with your mom and your dad.
(Could another kid offer the explanation?)
They could. The first thing is, has anyone ever eaten an Enchilada? If you've got
kids looking at you like, they don't know what you're talking about, then you go
back and talk. This is an Enchilada. Then you say, that is a wonderful question.
I'm wondering why this author in their explanation, didn't tell me first of all, what
is an Enchilada. You know something, I think I would be less confused if they
started by saying an Enchilada is a mexican dish that has beans, lettuce, and
chicken, you know, somehow explain it. Because I bet if they know how to make
an Enchilada, they could give a better explanation about what it is than I could.
So you quote, from the different kids, you start way back.
If they have no vocabulary at all then you model all of it. You slowly transfer, you
might say, "this is what I'm thinking."
The way you make it is to take a corn tortilla and put some cooking oil in a pan.
I'm wondering where the corn tortilla came from, are you wondering about
anything else in that sentence, is there anything at all that you might have a
question about. The way you make it is to take a corn tortilla and you put it in
some cooking oil in a pan. Is there anything else you might wonder about?
(Are you suppose to heat it?)
Yeah, that's a question I might have, it doesn't say if you are suppose to heat it or
not.
(It also different kinds of oil, corn oil, peanut oil.)
You know a lot about cooking, which kind oil, that might make a difference. You
know what else I'm wondering, I'm wondering whether it's like a great big pan to
cook spaghetti in or is a little tiny pan that you make a fried egg in or something. I
wonder what kind of pan to use.
(Is it electric?)
That's another good question. You can't do this on every single lesson because
you'd spend hours talking about the questions you could ask about each sentence.
But what you are teaching each kid here is important. You're teaching them to ask
questions, to think as they read, to predict, to see if they can predict what's coming
up next. Because if they cannot predict, there's something missing that the author
needs to provide. You're also getting them to think about their audience because
maybe your class has a large Spanish population or the kids live in a
neighborhood with Mexican restaurants. Some other kids might say, I'm
wondering why she would tell us all of that because I've eaten lots of enchiladas.
These kids may not need nearly as much explanation as a class with one hispanic
child or a class with kids who haven't even eaten at Chi Chi's. You have situations
that vary, but what we are doing here is teaching kids to think of questions. We do
this with a paper that's pretty good. You want to also give them more questioning
opportunities than are available from just presenting this one nice neat typed story.
And you don't want to use only a perfect story, because you have nothing to ask
about. You want to show that writing is a process that involves change.
Are there was some other comments and questions?
(Would you mark on the over head as you were talking?)
I would do that more when you're demonstrating the revision and editing and all
of that. I think at this point you're just initially talking to them, and teaching them
to talk to the text. You can mark up the text with little symbols to show where the
class has questions. You might mark by writing a little note to yourself or by
saying things like, "I'm going to put that here just to remind me that later if I want
to go back and work on that part," I would tend to write more general global
comments; use question marks, checks or that kind of thing - without going into
the specific ways to change it. What is useful is coming back to this same
explanation when you're modeling revision and talking about how to revise. What
you are doing right now is building the idea, not about how to write this, but about
what an explanation is and what information goes into an explanation. You are
teaching them to monitor the text.
In summary, I began by telling students "what" they were learning. The "what" is
an explanation. Then I used my thinking aloud and pulling from the passage on
the overhead to talk and expand the idea. I talked about "how" in terms of the
steps. I didn't directly say, "These are steps of an explanation"; but in thinking
aloud I modeled the different steps. I mentioned that there were key words and
phrases. That's part of "how", how you would write an explanation. I didn't talk
very much about "when" you would use it or "why" except to talk about an
audience awareness, laying some ground work for later on. "When" would you do
this? When you want to explain. When you are telling somebody how to get to
your house, or how to playa game. The "why" is implicit at this point, but that will
be more explicit as you talk about purposes for writing. The "where" and "why" in
this program are going to be important because students are going to share their
writing. In other words, the purpose (the "why") is defined in terms of audience.
So when we talk about the "when" and "why" - - when would we write an
explanation and why - - it's going to have some focus on this idea of sharing.
Sharing is going to come about through: (a) publishing the kids papers, (b) authors
chair (c) other kinds of activities where an author reads to a group of children for
general responses, (d) peer editing sessions when they are going to share with
other peers in their room as their readers and as their editors, and (e) conferencing
with you, the teacher. When we talk about purpose being "for publication", I think
the better way to think about purpose is that the purpose for writing these paper is
that somebody else is going to read it. In every single lesson you won't necessarily
say: this is going to published and/or this is going to be shared. That's going to be
implicit through all the things you do and explicitly stated at different times.
Another thing students are learning is the dialogue and thinking that guides text
analysis. The idea is that, after one think aloud they might have a general sense of
what an explanation is, but they are not going to be an expert in thinking aloud
after just one model. It's going to take a lot of exposure. You will want to present
several more explanation examples because what you to build the idea of what an
explanation is, but you also want them to use chat; knowledge to explain
themselves and their thinking to other teachers. In your next explanation example,
you might even focus a little bit more on thinking aloud. You want students to
hear and internalize the dialogue and thinking that directs strategy use. You do
exactly what you did last time.
Lesson 2: Scatterball Explanation
Goal of lesson 2: Extension of first lesson, modeling the thoughts readers and
writers have as they read and write explanations.
Let's read this together, I'm going to read it outloud and I want you to follow along
with me. As I read this to you, I want you to think about two different kinds of
things: think about how you know that this is an explanation (what does it tell you
so that you know it is an explanation), and second, I want you to think of
questions you have. Last time I thought of all these different questions and then
you thought of some questions. This time I'm not going to ask any questions. I
want you to think of questions that you have as I am reading this outloud. For
example, you might have questions about things in the paper that you would like
to know more about. So you are going to think of two things: how you know this
is an explanation, and what are some more things that you would like to know
about. The paper we are going to read is about scatterball.
Read orally:
Everyday after school I play scatterball with lots of other people. To play you
need about 4 or 5 people or more. To start the game you have to pick someone to
throw the ball up. After someone does that you try to get the ball and hit
somebody with the ball by throwing it. If you hit them they're out. Or if you catch
it the person who threw it is out. If you got someone out then you get get out that
person is back in. When one person is left and got everyone out wins.
(Taped stopped and something was missed here.)
I like that. That is a very good idea because in an explanation, you have to tell
how to do something. You also pointed out that an explanation talks about what
you need to play the game. Is there anything else? What are some keywords?
(after, start, when)
Okay I'm thinking that because it says "to start", "after" and "when" that these are
signals telling me the paper is an explanation. Anything else that you were
thinking that told you this was an explanation?
(You kind of told me what to do first, and second and that kind of thing.)
Good, when you explain something, you have to tell how to do it in a certain
order. It doesn't talk about how you win first and then later on, tell how many
people you need and how to play. I notice as I read it that it started out telling me
how many people I need, and then it started telling how to play the game, and then
it ended by telling how to win. One of the things I liked about this paper is that it
explained how you try to get people out, and it explained two ways to do that. It
says the people get out when they are hit with the ball, the person throwing it gets
out if you catch the ball. Is there anything else in the paper that tells you that it's
an explanation?
Depending on their questions, you would either model again much as you did in
the first example, or you would have them think aloud as well. You again want to
remind them that texts are written to answer questions, so you might talk about
questions again. You might say, "What are some questions about scatterball that
this author has already answered? Can anybody tell me some questions that you
think there is an answer to in this paper. I think this author did a wonderful job of
saying how you win. At the end it says about how when everyone's out and you're
the only left, you won.
(It says how you get them out.)
How does it answer the question, how do you get people out?
(If you hit them - oh, by throwing the ball.)
By throwing the ball, right. I wonder - I might be a little bit confused, it says, if
you hit them they are out. I am wondering if maybe they should say, if you hit
them with the ball, because I might read that as, "I am supposed to run over and
hit them." By getting children to raise questions and by having children begin to
recognize when the answers aren't in the text, you are starting to get them to
analyze the text.
(But when he plays it, where are you suppose to play it, in the basement, or in the
living room, or)
That's a good question. I don't how to play scatterball, so I don't know the answer
to that either. What other questions might you have about how to play scatterball.
As the students start learning this routine you are going through they'll start
getting in there to ask questions about it. They will use the language you use just
as you saw on the tape, the children saying, "I'm curious," "I'm wondering about,"
"I wish I knew," "I wonder if." But if you get kids to practice what they are
thinking by saying, "I'm thinking about," or "I wonder if," they are learning to
recognize when they have unanswered questions - which tells them that something
needs to be added to the text in addition to what's up there. In this paper you will
find there is a lot more you can do with it than the Enchilada one, in terms of
figuring out what's wrong and how they might go about fixing it. These are
gradually "deteriorating" examples. Don't start with a poor example that can't even
be identified as an explanation. They'll need that; knowledge (i.e. of an
explanation) in order to analyze the next paper or else they don't even know what
to respond to. Once you take them through two obvious explanations, you put up
the next one which is somewhat less well done.
Here is another sample of writing. I am going to read this one out loud and I'm not
going to tell you much about this one. What I want you to think about is two
things: (1) whether this paper is an explanation, and (2) how do you know if it is
or isn't an explanation? - What signals or cues tell you what kind of paper it is?
Then we will talk about it.
You know we've looked at two papers so far. We looked at the one about making
Enchiladas, the Enchilada paper was a pretty good explanation, although it was
missing some of the details. We looked at the scatterball paper. The scatterball
paper was also pretty good but it was missing some details. I've got one more
example I want you to look at. Remember it's not an explanation unless it answers
two questions: (1) what is being explained? and (2) what are the steps? It should
also tell us what do we need? what's involved?
This example might need a lot of work, and I think you should be pretty good at
figuring out what is missing from this explanation. So I want you to think about
the questions the other explanations answered, and when you look at this one see
if you can think about what it is supposed to be about. Think of three things: (1) Is
this an explanation? (2) Does it tell what is being explained? (3) Does it tell the
steps? See if there are questions you still have after reading this paper that you can
recommend to the author what to work on and how to fix it. Okay, I'm going to
read this to you.
(Put card game overhead up)
How to play a game is based on skill. You got to know when to play a card or not
and think about it before you do it. And once you do that you've got to look at the
card.
What do you think of this paper? Is this an explanation?
(I think this author is explaining a card game, but I have a lot of questions about
what the game is about.)
What are some questions that some of you might have?
(Somebody said something, but was inaudible.)
Very good. Let me put a question mark in the text and write your question in the
margin.
Are there any other questions?
( .... even have to know when to play the card or not, but it doesn't explain the any
rules when you play a card. You must know that.)
I'm very confused. I don't understand. Like I know there are some games like with
fish that you can use two decks, and some games like war that you use two decks,
and other games like solitary that you play all by yourself. I'm thinking about all
the things I know about other card games and that I should be able to understand
this paper/ What are some things that should be included then? The name of the
game, what else might the author want to think about improving here?
(The object of the game, ..... )
These questions should remind the students of the other questions, "what is being
explained?" "In what order do things happen?" Specific questions might be, "what
are the steps in the game?" "How do you win?" The reason for doing all this
modeling is to show children how questions help them analyze and write
explanations on other papers. We don't want to simply teach them rules. It doesn't
take all this time to teach students that explanation answers two questions. You
can accomplish that very quickly; merely have them memorize the 2 questions.
You are using the two explanation questions as guides. You'll want to use them,
but accept any other questions that are good. You get all these different questions
that explanations can answer, then in your summary you'll bring it back to what
we know explanations need to deal with. Explanations tell us (1) What's being
explained, and (2) what the steps are. It isn't so much memorize the questions;
questions are merely one way to monitor the text to see whether the information is
there or not. What you are doing is building a shared vocabulary. You all know
what you mean when you talk about explanations now. You've all got four papers
in your background knowledge that represent good to poor examples.
We're also teaching children that writing and reading involve asking and
answering questions. We do this by teaching them the importance of questions in
the comprehension and communication process. A paper isn't complete if the
reader or audience has questions. Questions also help children know what is
appropriate to think about. None of these questions have dealt with mechanics.
We didn't model - I'm thinking that the word "base" is spelled wrong or- "skilled"
is spelled wrong. But I stumbled as I read it aloud. That wasn't an accident. It
models - - without making it explicit - - that I'm stuck - I can figure it out but it
was hard. As you move through the think sheet and as you get toward revision you
can spend more time on it. You can say "I'm very confused I can't read this. We
are moving towards final draft and we need to know."
This would be a good example at some other point to go back to and talk about
quotation marks. You can say "You know when I read this it was sort of hard for
me to figure out where one person started talking and the other person had
stopped." (Read from paper to show problems with quotation marks.) So in other
words, it's not that I'm ignoring any of these things as much you can't teach
everything at once. Initially we are trying to develop knowledge of text structure.
That is the piece that we have been modeling and focusing on.
ADDITIONAL REMARKS
The same kinds of things would be done if we were presenting the
compare/contrast text structure. You have four passages: "sneakers" and "dress
shoes", "Cedar Point" and "Disneyland". There is a good example and it gets
progressively worse.
You would teach the compare/contrast structure at another time, not do all 8
passages (4 for explanation and 4 for compare/contrast) at once. The explanation
would be done in one or two sessions - - with the next week or two spent on the
think-sheets for that structure, and compare/contrast introduced later. The
compare/contrast should go a lot faster than the initial teaching of explanation
because they already understand that when you read and write you need to answer
questions. What they are learning is just like explanation. But when they get to
compare/contrast, they will be focusing on a different set of questions; (1) what is
being compared? (2) what are you being compared on? (3) how are they alike?
and (4) how are they
different? And different ways of doing that - - but those are the four questions that
you will keep coming back to.
Lesson 1 Materials
PASSAGE 1
My explanation is on my favorite mexican food .....
Enchiladas. The way you make it is you take a
corn tortilla and you put it in some cooking oil in a
pan. You leave it in the oil for a few seconds next
you put it in a pan with a kind of hot pepper for a
few more seconds. After that you lay it on a plate.
Then you sprinkle grated cheese on the tortilla.
You roll the tortilla up with the cheese in it. If you
desire sprinkle some more grated cheese on top
of the rolled up tortilla. After all that then you put
what ever amount of them you choose to make in
a pan. The size of the pan depends on what ever
amount of the enchiladas you wish to make. Then
you put the pan in the oven and heat them up. You
heat them for a while and whala! There are your
enchiladas.
PASSAGE 2
Everyday after school I play scatterball with lots of
other people. To play you need about 4 or 5
people or more. To start the game you have to
pick someone to throw the ball up. After someone
does that you try to get the ball and hit somebody
with the ball by throwing it. If you hit them they're
out. Or if you catch it the person who threw it is
out. If you got someone out then you get get out
that person is back in. When one person is left
and got everyone out wins.
PASSAGE 3
Play Dodge Ball
One day I was bored, I had nothing to do except
walk around. About one hour later one of my
friends came over. He told me he was bored so
that why he came over. He asked me what I
wanted to do I said "how about playing Dodge
Ball. Great. then he said how do you play Dodge
Ball So I had to show him I took a week till he got
the hang of it. the end.
PASSAGE 4
How to playa game a game is bas on skill You got
to play a card or not and think about it be four you
Do it and ones you Do that you gut to look at the
card.
Plan Outline
THINK-SHEET 1: Plan
OUTLINE OF LESSON
A. Review
1. Review characteristics of good informational papers
2. Review of steps of writing process (P-O-W-E-R)
B. Introducing Planning - Think-Aloud
1. Introduce Who, Why, What, How for planning - Define them
2. Model taking notes & using planning think-sheet
a) Have students brainstorm topics then select topic for a group-generated story
(model considerations for selecting topics)
b) Model Who (audience, interest of audience)
c) Model Why (purpose for writing)
d) Model How (brainstorming - class can help after you model a few)
e) Discuss When students should plan papers like this
C. Review Strategies
1. Review strategies for planning a paper (e.g., Who, Why)
2. Review brainstorming strategy (How)
D. Student Practice in Planning a Paper
1. Independent practice in planning an explanation paper on their own topic
2. Invite, at some point, sharing plans for peer feedback
E. Discuss Student Plans
1. Sample student plans orally - guide thinking and understanding
2. Discuss strategies - how they help, what was hard, etc.
F. Make Links to Reading
1. Discuss categories for specific topics
2. Discuss categories while reading or listening to expository text
3. Discuss how planning might occur in reading (e.g., accessing background knowledge,
thinking how text is organized)
PLAN
Name ____________________________________
TOPIC:
WHO: Who am I writing for?
WHY: Why am I writing this?
WHAT: What do I know? (Brainstorm)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Date _______________________
Lesson 1 Script
Think-Sheet #1: Planning
Goals: Make students aware of things (strategies) to think about during planning, including their (1) topic,
(2) audience, (3) purpose, and (4) organization/structure.
a. Introduce students to technique(s) for generating information to include in their writing.
b. Make students aware of different audiences (peers, parents, teacher, family, friends outside
school or classroom, principal, other teachers, etc.).
c. Make students aware of purpose(s) for writing, primarily that writing is to communicate
information, ideas, and to share.
d. Introduce students to the idea that writing must be organized. In addition to "beginning, middle,
and end" they must think about ideas that go together, about all the information they need to
communicate their topic.
Reminder: Terms such as "I'm thinking about," "I'm wondering if," "I'm deciding to," are helpful to use
as they signal students that you are conveying what is going on mentally as you plan your paper. Bear in
mind that the following are suggestions and ideas that you can model your presentation upon. Please feel
free to "make this lesson your own". This is not a scripted lesson to follow verbatim, but an example of
things you can do or say when you model the planning think-sheet.
Getting Started
For the last week, we spent a lot of time looking at some papers that students had written. What did we
say good informational papers have to have? Yes, a good informational paper: (a) tells what is being
explained, (b) answers readers' questions, (c) names the categories or parts of the paper (e.g., materials,
setting, steps), (d) provides details for each category, and (c) has key words or phrases (e.g., first, second)
to tell the reader where the parts of the paper are located.
I remember that one explanation passage told us how to make enchiladas, one explained how to play
scatterball, and one tried to explain how to play cards. We talked about ways each of these papers could
be improved, by making a clear statement at the beginning telling what is being explained, adding
categories to tell about materials or steps, and including details that told us more about each part -- such
as the types of materials we needed, and sometimes taking out information that did not fit. This week, we
will have a chance to write our own papers. I wonder what each of us will pick to explain about. (Elicit
types of explanations students could write.)
When we write our papers, we will follow certain steps. POWER stands for the steps we are going to
follow. The steps are P – Plan; O - Organize; W- Write; E - Edit; and R - Revise/Rewrite.
PLAN
Today we are going to talk about how to plan a paper. What are some things you do when you plan a
paper? (Discuss) One of the first things that you mentioned was decide what to write about. Sometimes
it's kind of hard at first to come up with a topic. When this happens to me, I have to think about topics or
things that I know a lot about. Once I come up with several topics, it helps me pick a topic by thinking
about three things: the WHO, WHY, and WHAT. (Put these words on overhead or blackboard.)
The WHO is who I want to read the paper when it's done. Knowing who is going to read the paper helps
me decide what to put in the paper. If the person I'm writing for knows a lot about a topic, then I don't
have to include as many details as I might for someone who knows less about the topic (as an example,
contrast writing an explanation but how to make a snowman for children in Michigan versus children in
Florida).
Sometimes it helps me, too, to think about WHY I'm writing about my topic. The WHY has to do with
what I want people to know or be able to do when they've read my paper. For example, if I was writing a
paper comparing and contrasting two types of dogs (e.g., cocker spaniel and collie), I'd include different
information than if I was explaining how to train a dog. Knowing the WHY helps me select information
to put in my paper.
The WHAT is what I know about the topic - all the ideas that I can possibly think of (e.g., all my ideas
about training dogs). I brainstorm all the ideas I can think of in whatever order they come to mind.
I'm going to think out loud as I plan an explanation, and I want you to listen carefully as I think about
these four areas in my planning: WHO I want to read my paper, WHY I am writing, and WHAT I will
write about.
[Notice in this initial planning think-aloud you are linking this activity to the previous lessons where they
analyzed explanation passages. In addition, you remind them of the questions that explanations should
answer (e.g., What are the categories? What details explain each category?) You remind them of
problems and strengths from the papers they analyzed -- focusing on adding important information and
deleting irrelevant details. You also introduce them to the concepts of topic , audience, purpose, and
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE (i.e., the WHAT, WHO, WHY, and WHAT I KNOW). In the next
section, notice how the think-sheet is introduced as a note-taking device. You may choose to do this
activity as a group activity with the students providing information in each category. In this case, you'll
need to replace some of the "I" statements in the dialogue with "we" statements although you will still
need to model thinking and summarize what happens at each step by using terms such as "I'm thinking
that" or "I'm wondering if."]
The first thing we do when we write an explanation is PLAN. There is a lot to remember when I plan my
explanation so I think that I will take notes to remind myself of what I was thinking about since I
probably won't finish my paper today. I like writing down ideas so I don't forget them later on. I need to
begin by thinking about what I want to explain. I need to brainstorm topics to write about. What do I
know a lot about? I know about catching the bus to school (record topics on board or overhead). I know
about how to raise a dog and how to give a dog a bath. What else do I know about? I know how to play
the card game, "Go fish." I'm thinking that the best explanation I can write will need to be on something
that I know a lot about. But also, I need to think about what might be interesting for my reader to read.
Notice how you are modeling that writers know something about a number of different topics. In addition,
you need to model that selecting a topic is somewhat determined by your purposes. (e.g., teaching the
game so that someone can play it with you), and your audience interest (i.e., entertaining, to learn about
something; that drawing a tree would be boring to read). In the following section, you will highlight the
role of purpose/audience interest in selecting the topic.
If I explain how to "raise a dog" then whoever reads it would be able to take care of their own pet! I could
even explain how to give a dog a bath. That might make it a funny explanation, and then maybe my
reader would not only learn how to give their dog a bath, they might also laugh when they read it. I think
explaining how to draw trees might be too boring to read. I think I could tell how to play the card game,
but I think other people might know how to play it already so I'll explain something that other people will
need to know.
<When you select a topic, try to pick a topic both you and the students know a lot about. They can even
help pick one and participate in suggesting information for the planning sheet. This helps make the
session interactive to maintain student interest and attention.>
Introducing the Planning Think-Sheet
[In this part of the lesson, you will begin to introduce the think sheet as a means for helping writers
remember what they want to say in their papers. At this point, you probably will model for students on the
overhead rather than have them each complete one. However, depending on the students' ability to do the
task, you may want to have them complete topic choice at least, immediately following your modeling, or
have them follow your demonstration and topic choice by filling in a planning sheet in a group activity for
the topic you are modeling.]
I'm going to write some notes to myself on my planning think-sheet so that I won't forget about my topic.
This plan think-sheet has all the questions to help you plan a paper. It asks you "WHO?", "WHY?" and
"WHAT?" If I use the plan think-sheet, I can remember everything I know about my topic and I can
write a better paper.
<PUT THINK-SHEET ON OVERHEAD AND FILL IN INFORMATION UNDER TOPIC>
In the middle of the top line, I'll write the topic, "How to raise a dog." Now I won't forget my topic even if
I have to quit before I'm done planning. The next section of the planning think-sheet asks me questions to
help me think about who will be reading my paper.
Now I want to remind myself WHO will read this paper. Let’s see .... First, I want my friends to read it
because then they might want to have a dog as a pet. Also, I think I'll give this to my brother to read too,
because he sometimes forgets what to do to take care of our dog. When I write it, I want my readers to be
interested in this and want to learn how to raise dogs too. So I'll write that the "WHO" are my friends who
want to own a dog and my brother. I'm going to just use phrases rather than whole sentences because
these are just notes to myself.
[At this point, make sure that you have modeled the WHO, WHY questions that are asked on the thinksheet, and possible ways of answering. You might also want the students to "help" you on this by thinking
up related audiences, and WHY their readers would want to read their paper or how they should respond
to your paper.]
The next section of the planning think-sheet - - the WHAT section - - asks me about the information I
should put into this explanation on Raising Dogs. It tells me to brainstorm. I do this by thinking about all
the things I want my reader to know. I list all my ideas on these lines by pulling all my ideas from my
head in any order that I think of them. Let's see, I want to explain to my audience how to raise dogs. What
do I know about raising dogs? I have to feed my dog, bathe my dog, take my dog to my vet, heartworm
shots, choosing a dog, different types of dog breeds, training my dog (e.g., housebreaking, barking,
chewing) .... (After brainstorming several ideas, you might tell them a strategy for thinking of additional
ideas for papers). Sometimes when I want to tell people how to do something that involves steps -- such
as the steps in feeding my dog, or the steps in bathing my dog -- I put a picture in my mind like a movie
camera -- and I play the thing I'm explaining in my head. Let's try that now and see if it jogs our
memories some more. I'm going to start the camera at the very beginning and imagine I'm getting ready to
feed my dog. Let's see, what is something I'd do if I were about to feed my dog? What are the steps I'd tell
someone to follow? (Or have them picture the entire day and the activities that a dog owner has to
perform at various times in the day).
<NOTE: FILL IN THE INFORMATION NEXT TO THE NUMBERS ON THINK-SHEET UNDER
"WHAT," MODELING FOR STUDENTS HOW TO USE THE SPACE. WRITE BEYOND THE 12
NUMBERS LISTED, FILLING INFORMATION IN THE SPACES AROUND THIS AREA OR IN
THE MARGINS! BRING TO STUDENTS THE FOLLOWING: (1) BRAINSTORMED IDEAS ARE
NOT WRITTEN IN COMPLETE SENTENCES -- WRITERS CAN USE PHRASES AND WORDS TO
RECORD BRAINSTORMED IDEAS; (2) BRAINSTORMED IDEAS ARE WRITTEN IN ANY
ORDER; (3) DIFFERENT BRAINSTORMED IDEAS ARE RECORDED ON DIFFERENT LINES;
AND (4) IT'S OKAY TO WRITE IN THE MARGINS AS LONG AS YOU GET YOUR IDEAS
DOWN.>
I have a lot of things listed that could go in my explanation about how to take care of dogs, but it isn't
very organized yet. I don't have to worry about that yet, because I will organize my ideas in the next step.
I can even put my brainstormed ideas away and pick them up later to see if I can remember any other
ideas.
When the planning think-sheet has been completed, review the strategies that they use in planning a
paper.
Talk about
 WHAT to do when one plans a paper,
 HOW to plan a paper (e.g., strategies),
 WHEN to use these strategies (and how it might be adapted for different topics, assignments,
etc.), and
 WHY the strategies are important.
When this activity has been completed, have students complete a planning sheet independently for their
selected topic or do a class generated planning sheet if more guided practice is needed. Follow this guided
class-generated planning with an independent planning activity. You might find it useful to have students
share their explanation plans with classmates and dialogue about their decisions about WHO, WHY,
WHAT, and HOW. You might do this by having students share what they did with a peer, then sample
some of the students' plan sheets. What is important about these classroom dialogues is the opportunity
for students to verbalize and rehearse their thinking strategies while developing a shared vocabulary for
talking and thinking about writing. WHY questions for example, will elicit the thinking that underlies
their planning decision for the WHO, WHY, WHAT, and HOW.
Finally, (in the next lesson) select the organizing think-sheet for explanation and model how you
determine the order of information to best answer the explanation questions.
Comments
If you wish, you can make use student responses on their independent plans to model problems and ways
to solve problems. Simply use your planning overhead and record information on the sheet that
corresponds to the problem. Have students brainstorm solutions and talk about the thinking process that
helped them decide what to do.
THINK-SHEET 2: Organize
OUTLINE OF LESSON
A. Review
1. Review characteristics of good papers
2. Review steps of writing process (P-O-W-E-R)
3. Review strategies for planning (e.g., what, how, when, why)
B. Linking Planning Sheet to Drafting and Organizing
1. Review Planned ideas on planning think-sheet (ditto off think-sheet plan produced in
lesson 1)
2. Discuss what to do with planned ideas (e.g., putting ideas into groups or categories,
putting grouped ideas together, and labeling each group).
3. Demonstrate importance of organizing and ordering ideas - model how going from just
planned ideas to drafting can lead to ideas coming out of order
4. Number ideas on organizing think-sheet
C. Introducing Organizing Map
1. Introduce map analogy -- Map shows destination. Information map shows destination;
tells all the places (ideas) that need to be visited and the order that they need to be visited
(helps you organize your ideas -- just like map helps you organize your trip)
2. Show Map -- identify parts (e.g., categories, details). Point out questions to guide
grouping and ordering process.
3. Transfer ideas to organization map. Use modeling (think-aloud) combined with studentgenerated ideas. Model how to elaborate on major ideas with details.
4. Remind students about what readers will need to know.
D. Review Strategies
1. Review strategies for organizing a paper (e.g., WHAT, HOW)
2. Review what good papers have (e.g., answers certain kinds of questions, names each
category or part, provides details for each category, uses key words to tell the reader
where the parts of the paper are).
E. Student Practice in Organizing a Paper
1. Independent practice in organizing a paper on their own topic
2. Have students look at their planning think-sheet and verbally describe the steps they need
to follow to go from planning think-sheet to organizing think-sheet.
3. Invite, at some point, organizing plans for peer feedback
4. Have peer ask questions if planned steps aren't clear.
F. Discuss Student Plans
1. Sample student organizing plans orally - guide thinking and understanding
2. Discuss strategies - how they help, what was hard, etc.
G. Make Links to Reading
1. Discuss categories for specific topics
2. Discuss categories and maps while reading or listening to expository text
3. Discuss how organizing might occur in reading (e.g., accessing background knowledge,
thinking how text is organized)
4. Have students identify explanation maps if they occur in basals, social studies, etc.
5. Explain that there are different maps for different topics and purposes.
Name ___________________________________
Date ____________________________
ORGANIZING MY IDEAS
TOPIC:
1. How can I group my ideas into categories?
2. How can I order my ideas?
LESSON 2 SCRIPT
Think-Sheet #2: Organize
Goals: Make students aware of strategies to use when organizing papers, including the (1) grouping ideas
into categories, (2) adding details, (3) ordering the groups of ideas.
(1) Introduce students to technique(s) for generating, organizing, and ordering information to
include in their writing.
(2) Introduce students to the idea that writing must be organized. They must think about ideas that
go together, how to order the ideas in their paper, and how to signal the relationship between
the ideas.
Reminder: Terms such as "I'm thinking about, " "I'm wondering if", "I'm deciding to," are helpful to use
as they signal students that you are conveying what is going on mentally as you plan your paper. As you
do this lesson, you should ditto off a planning sheet for all students that has the information from your
previous demonstration of the planning think-sheet. This will give students something to look at while
you demonstrate the organizing think-sheet. We also think that a class-developed organizing think-sheet
should be demonstrated before having students work independently on an organizing think-sheet.
Getting Started
Review: Linking back to/Planning Lesson
We've been working on how to plan a paper that explains something. What strategies or things did we
learn that writers do when they plan? (e.g., WHO, WHY, WHAT and HOW when they plan a paper).
What do writers think about when they consider each of these strategies? Why are these strategies
important? When would you use these strategies?
I remember that at the end of planning a paper, I had a set of brainstormed ideas (show filled-in overhead
from previous planning session). Thinking ahead to when I write my paper, I'm wondering what we need
to do with these ideas?
<This is the planning think-sheet for the topic you demonstrated in class in the planning lesson. We
recommend that this be dittoed off so that students use it continuously in developing the organizing thinksheet.>
<In the next part, you will demonstrate orally how to group ideas into categories, label categories,
generate related details for each category, and order categories according to the order they will appear in
the paper>.
Demonstrating Importance of Ordering Ideas
<It is important to demonstrate to students that ordering of ideas is important. Even if you must take the
brainstormed ideas out of order (e.g., steps for playing or doing something before talking about
materials), it is important to show students that it is not enough to brainstorm ideas without thinking about
how those ideas should be ordered. In this and other lessons, an important feature of the Organize page is
to model which ideas should be put first in the paper and why ideas should go first. In the next portion of
the lesson, you will see how this discussion might take place>.
There is something else that has to happen before I write a paper. Listen to me read my brainstormed
ideas and see if you can figure out what a writer has to do before he or she writes their first draft. (Read
brainstormed ideas in any order).
Did you notice anything strange when I started reading my brainstormed ideas? (Ask "why" questions
following student responses.) Yes, it seemed to me, too, that it might be confusing to my reader to hear
my brainstormed ideas. I talked about this __________ before talking about __________, and that might
be confusing to my reader.
So I'm thinking that it's not enough to brainstorm my ideas. I have to put my brainstormed ideas together
and decide which of my ideas I should put first, second, and third in my paper. Today we are going to
learn how to organize and order our ideas so that everything makes sense.
Introducing the Organizing Map (Put up overhead of organization page)
Here is what we are going to use to help us order our ideas. This is a map of our paper. Like a map of a
trip, it shows our destination (informing someone about the topic is where we are going), and it tells us
what ideas (like cities) we'll need to visit first, second, third, and so forth until we reach the destination.
Like a real map, our writing trip is complete only if we include all the necessary ideas to help us reach our
destination. A writing map helps us because it helps us plan our writing trip and the order of our ideas.
Let's look at our writing map and examine its parts. First, in the middle of the map is a place for me to
write the topic of my paper -- I put in what the paper is about. For example, if my paper is about playing
"Taking Care of a Dog", I would write "Taking Care of a Dog" in the middle circle.
Around the middle circle are other circles. These are all the parts of my paper (like cities to visit), and I
have to decide what are the parts of my paper -- I'll call them categories -- and put their names in the
circles. For example, I might have parts or categories in a paper about Dogs such as "feeding my dog,"
"washing my dog," "Caring for the health of my dog," and "training my dog." If those were my parts, I
would write their names in these circles.
Once I have decided on all the parts or categories in my paper, I have to decide the order in which I will
visit them. This is the last part of the organization page. Down at the bottom of the Organize page is a
question that asks me look back at all the parts of the map, and number them according to show the order
in which I will write about them in my paper. That would be just like deciding the order of the cities I will
visit when I take a trip. What would happen if I didn't plan the order?
That's right. The paper doesn't make sense. So to organize my ideas, I have to do two things. First, on the
top half of my think-sheet, I organize my ideas into related groups or categories. I put related ideas
together in one of the circles. Second, on the bottom half of my think-sheet it tells me to decide to order
my ideas for the paper.
Transferring Ideas to the Organization Map
Let me see if we can organize my brainstormed ideas. Let's read the first question on the Organize thinksheet. It asks me: "How can I group my ideas?" It even gives me a hint as to how I can do this. It tells me
to group my brainstormed ideas into groups or categories. I need to look back at my brainstormed ideas to
find a group of ideas that go together.
Okay. I'm looking back at my plan sheet at my brainstormed ideas about taking care of my dog. I wonder
if any of my ideas go together?
For example, I'm wondering if the ideas about giving my dog heartworm medicine in the summer, taking
my dog to the vet for a yearly checkup , and getting shots - - go together? Do you think they go together?
Yes, I think they might, too. So I'm saying to myself that I can write these ideas on the lines around a
circle because they go together. I'll write each detail on a different line. I know that if there aren't enough
lines, I can draw new lines. Now I'm wondering what I can call these ideas. I'm saying to myself, "What
word or phrase can tell me what all these ideas have in common?" (Ask why questions to help students
come to understand what the ideas have in common, e.g., "Why do we give dogs heartworm medicine?"
"Why do they get shots?" "What word do we keep using when we talk about these things?")
That's right. These words all have to do with "Keeping your dog Healthy" or taking care of dog's health.
So I'll write in the category box the phrase that tells what these details all have in common -- I'll write the
phrase "Keeping Dogs Healthy."
I'm also wondering about my audience. I'm asking myself whether my brother or friend would know what
heartworms are or when to give a dog the medicine. So I'm going to put notes to myself next to these
details to talk about what this means and when to give the medicine.
Okay, let's see if I can find other ideas that go together -- or even names of categories related to taking
care of dogs that might help me group my ideas or think of new ideas. I go back to my brainstormed page
and find other ideas that go together.
<Pull out other categories, such as grooming your dog; training your dog; materials for your dog; feeding
your dog. Use I wonder if statements. Give students two related details, see if they can find third detail,
etc.. Model the questions to ask themselves as they look for ideas that go together and labels to describe
their relationship. Remind them of the question that readers will have about details and categories. Show
students how to use the organize page to flesh out details and ideas>
<For the previous and remaining parts, be sure to remind students to look at the plan think-sheet in front
of them; otherwise, students aren't learning to use their planning forms when they recommend the order of
ideas>
<Continue to list the categories in each category box, and have students generate ideas or related details
under each one. Be sure to model how the Organize sheet is a note-taking tool by making notes about
details, adding details beyond the lined spaces, writing in margins, etc.>
We anticipate that the most difficult part of planning involves the categorizing strategy. However, this
step is important because you are modeling and laying the basis of a strategy that students will use when
they begin to independently plan and generate their own categories for papers.
Ordering Ideas on Organize Page
The next step is ordering (outlining) the ideas for the paper. Have students look back at their categorized
ideas and number them according to the order in which they are to appear in the paper. Beside each
category box have them place a "1", "2," "3," etc. until all categorized ideas are ordered. Discuss why
certain ideas should go first in their paper and how those ideas are decided upon.
Are we done with the organize page? No. I'm looking at the hints on the think-sheet to see if I have
answered all the questions that will help me organize my paper. The next question asks me to order my
ideas. I wonder what it means to order my ideas. I know we've ordered the events of a story, and ordered
things in the sequence in which they happened. I wonder what it means to order the ideas on our map?
Yes. When we order our ideas. We put things in order. We number our ideas 1 .... 2 .... 3 .... 4 .... 5 ... 6 ....
until all our ideas are used. But this is hard. How can I order my categorized ideas?
That's a good idea. We could look at each category and ask ourselves, "Which idea should come first or
next in our paper?" What is the most important thing that my reader would want to know or would need
to know first? Look back at the ideas for my paper, which should go first? (Ask Why? question).
I'm thinking, too, that my reader is going to have to know about different dog breeds in order to choose a
dog to raise. It might be the first thing my reader would need to know. I remember, too, in the Enchilada
story that it mattered what kind of tortillas to get and I had a question about that. So I have to be careful
when I write an explanation to be specific about the kinds of things my reader might need to know or
otherwise he or she is going to have a question. I'm thinking that this is one of the more important things
to put first in the paper because it is an important idea that the reader would need or would most like to
know about first. I'm going to put a big number "1" next to this idea so I'll remember that I want to talk
about this first in my paper.
Now I have to decide on the second part of my paper. I'm thinking to myself, "What's the next thing I
need to tell my reader about? Does anyone have ideas as to what I should put second? Is there anything
else or other details about that I should include?
General Tips:
You might find it helpful to make the purposes of the organ1z1ng and ordering strategy clear to your
students by doing any or several of the following (depending on your students' needs and abilities):
(a) talk about the categories for a informational papers (materials, agents, persons settings, steps, etc.) and
have them consider whether other explanations have these same categories. Discuss the different
categories that students might use for the different topics they have selected. You might want to do
another lesson in which they practice generating the categories and details for other informational papers.
(b) talk about categories in a general way - - by saying that categories vary according to the topic selected
and the purpose of the paper. This can be modeled by asking students what categories they would include
in a report about an animal; a report about a country; a report about a famous person, etc.,
(c) discuss relevant categories in their reading of content area materials, discuss how categories that one is
reading for changes depending on the topic and purpose, e.g., what categories of information would they
expect to find in a biography, in a social studies book, in a science book. This provides greater practice
and provides the writing-reading connections necessary for transfer.
(d) tell students that the strategies listed on the planning sheet are merely tools to help them plan a paper.
Like all tools, students may not need to use all the parts of the tool. For example, if they know a lot about
the topic they plan to write about and know the categories they plan to use, they may decide to skip
brainstorming and go right to the HOW (category) section of the planning page. Other times, when they
don't know much about the topic, they may want to spend more time on brainstorming their ideas first
(WHAT), and then organizing them (HOW).
(e) remind students to think of their readers in deciding what ideas to include and how much detail they
need to give so the reader can follow the explanation. You may want to contrast information that a very
naïve reader needs with the information a more knowledgeable reader needs. Ask such questions as, "Can
anyone think of anything else my reader should know?" (Guide their thinking through "I wonder"
statements if they give information that doesn't fit. If information fits, add notes in the box and in the
margins).
(f) Discuss how related ideas will appear in a paper -- what should we do with groups of categorized ideas
in our paper? I'm wondering if these groups might be like the paragraphs in our paper (point out groups to
students). When I write my paper, for example, the ideas in each group might be put in the same
paragraph, or at least, I'll have to remember to put ideas that go together in the same part of my paper. I'm
also thinking that when I begin to write about the ideas in another group, I'll have to be sure to tell the
reader that I'm talking about something new. Looking back at what I wrote on my planning page, how
could I do that?
(g) this is important because it helps students know how grouped ideas will be treated in the paper and
how they will need to be introduced. For students who understand about paragraphs, this will help them
know how these ideas correspond to other text units they know already, while establishing connections
between the new and old vocabulary for talking about writing. This is important in developing a shared
knowledge among students about text and writing.
(h) Point out that map is temporary. "With practice, I'll probably be so good at writing explanation that I
can put a picture of the explanation map in my head and follow it when I write explanations. But for now,
I'm going to really practice writing papers by putting my ideas in this map to be sure that I've got
everything I need in the order in which I need it".
(i) Notice in this section you are asking students to elaborate on the steps by providing additional details
about each step. When they make suggestions, their responses should be written on the organize
overhead. It is important to model how the organize page is still a tool -- by showing how responses can
be written in the margins, below the boxes, or by using partially complete sentences. Whenever possible,
reinforce students for looking back and using their planning sheet. Repeat the dialogue for each of the
remaining steps of the explanation.
During Lesson: Attending to Audience
Try to call attention to audience through the following techniques:
(a) Continue to raise questions about what the reader will need to know.
(b) Ask students how to make the paper interesting to the reader – how can they begin/end the paper so
it's interesting to someone else and which will make them want to learn about playing Go Fish?
(c) Show students how to flesh out steps with additional details.
End of Lesson: Attending to Text Structure
Call attention to text structure through the following questions asked in a review at the end of the lesson:
(a) Review what good informational papers have
(b) Have someone identify the parts of the organize page; how each part is completed; and how they help
the writer
(c) Have students identify What an organize strategy is, Why it is useful, How to organize their ideas, and
When they might use an organize strategy when they write a paper (e.g., when they would organize their
ideas and how the organize strategy might be adapted for different text structures, writing purposes, and
writing assignments)
End of Lesson: Independent Application to Organizing Think-Sheet
(a) Have students look at their planning think-sheet for their topic
(b) Have them tell what steps they need to follow with their planned ideas to prepare for and complete the
organizing think-sheet (number the groups of ideas, write in what they are explaining, write in the steps,
think of added details for steps, etc.)
(c) Have them number their groups of ideas on their planning sheet "1", "2", "3", etc.
(d) Have them turn to a peer and verbally discuss their steps. Have them take turns, and ask questions
about steps if they aren't clear.
(e) Have them begin to fill out the organizing think-sheet for their planned ideas. Have them complete
think-sheet up to the third step.
(f) Have them share their organizing plan with a peer.
(g) Survey some of their responses so that the class hears what other people are doing and to monitor their
understanding. Ask "why" questions (Why did you put that idea first?). Ask students if they have any
questions of the writer - the writer can call on a student for the question and answer it.)
Transfer to Reading
When doing expository reading such as in social studies, science, or health lessons, or if reading a nonfiction book to your students (particularly when there is an obvious connection between the structures
they are learning about in writing and those they are seeing in reading), talk about the maps authors
follow in writing books for children to read. If explanation maps occur in their content area texts, have
students identify them and the parts of the explanation. Point out maps can vary according to the purposes
of the author. For example, compare/contrast maps contain different information in them than explanation
maps. Furthermore, some maps simply arrange the grouped ideas from the planning sheet into an order
that makes sense (e.g., animal story maps talk about what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, what
are its unique habits, etc.). In this way, there are maps other than the explanation map for selecting and
ordering ideas. This latter type of map is often composed of the categories identified on the planning sheet
for that topic. Story maps are yet another example but are based on the same principles e.g., contains
elements such as setting (who, when, where), problem, response (what does the main character do about
it), outcome (what happens), conclusion.
By helping students anticipate the categories of ideas for a given topic, and then helping them identify
how those categories are ordered in a text, then their comprehension is likely to improve. When students
predict categories, of course, they should be asked to confirm those predictions by locating the categories
of information in their text.
Think-sheet 3: Write
Overview of Writing Lesson
Review POWER Program
1. review individual steps
2. remind that during writing, they will use planning and organizing think-sheets
Model First Draft
1. check planning sheet for reminder about audience and purpose
2. check organizing sheet for reminder about information to include
3. begin writing
4. move back and forth from organizing think-sheet to drafting
5. note when key words and phrases are appropriate
6. introduce concept of paragraphing if appropriate to your students
Students Write
1. Pass out first draft think-sheet as students get out their planning and organizing think-sheets
2. Have students tell a partner what they plan to do (as you circulate and listen)
3. Have students write first draft
WRITE FIRST DRAFT
Name __________________________________________ Date _____________________
Sample Lesson #3: Writing the First Draft
The goal of this lesson is to help students draw the connection between their Planning and Organizing
activities as they relate to the drafting of their first explanation. The following components should occur:
1. Review the POWER program, eliciting from students that they have already completed the planning
and organizing. Have them predict what they will be doing in today’s lesson.
2. Remind them tat in writing tieir first draft, they have both their planning and their organizing thinksheets to help them. Review that their planning sheet reminds them of their audience, purpose, topic, and
ideas that they want to include. Their organizing sheet reminds them of the order they want to write about
their ideas.
3. Model for students using the group generated example (Go Fish in the previous sample lessons) how to
begin the first draft: including (a) an overview about what is being compared, (b) the steps, and (c) other
things that may be put in to engage their audience and make them want to read the paper.
4. Remind students that they will have a chance to react to each others’ papers and then revise their paper
using other students’ suggestions to make it better (more interesting, more clear).
Reviewing the Previous Think-sheets
To begin the lesson, focus on the POWER program, and the think-sheets already presented and
completed.
We are continuing today with the writing of our first explanation. I can remember that so far we’ve
finished the first two parts of the POWER program to get ready to write this paper. The first part was
Planning the paper. I remember that I thought about who would read the paper and why they would read it
(my friend that I hope will learn to play Go Fish and then play it with me). I think the thing I’ll do is look
back on my planning sheet to remind myself of what ideas I wanted to include (NOTE: PLACE
PLANNING SHEET ON OVERHEAD SO STUDENTS CAN SEE AND BE REMINDED OF THE
IDEAS THAT HAVE BEEN GENERATED). To remember what order I have decided to put these ideas,
I wil1look at my Organizing Think-sheet (REPLACE PLANNING THINK-SHEET WITH
ORGANIZING THINK-SHEET).
By looking at the organizing think-sheet I can see that I want to first explain the kind of game that I want
my reader to learn to play, then I will write about the materials that we need to play it. Then I'll write
about who the players are. Next, I'll give the steps and the rules. And 1ast, I’ll tel1 how to win the game.
(NOTE: THE IMPORTANT POINT HERE IS TO MAKE WHAT YOU ARE WRITING IN THE FIRST
DRAFT CONSISTENT WITH WHAT IS ON THE PLANNING AND ORGANIZING SHEETS.)
Introducing First Draft Think-Sheet
At this point you are ready to introduce the new think-sheet. Place the First Draft Think-sheet on the
overhead, noting for students that this think-sheet only has blank lines, no questions, because it is
designed to allow them to write without interruption.
I’m looking forward to getting to write my first draft of how to play Go Fish. I'm wondering if it will be
as good as I think it should be given all the planning and organizing that I’ve done! I know that first of all
I want my reader to know what it is I’m writing about. I'm really wondering right now exactly how to
start it. 1 want my friend to want to learn to play the game, so maybe if I start off asking if she knows
how to play it, it would work. And then I’ll write a sentence that might convince her that she should want
to learn how to play it. Well, the only way to get started is to write, so here goes! (WRITE ON
OVERHEAD: "Do you know how to play Go Fish? It's one of my favorite games. If you knew how to
play it we could play together on rainy days, cold winter days, and days when we didn't want to play
something else. I am going to explain to you how to play “Go Fish”.
I’m thinking that I need to look back on my organizing think-sheet to see what information I had planned
to include next. (PUT ORGANIZING THINK-SHEET BACK ON THE SCREEN). Let’s see, here it says
that next comes information about the materials, like a deck of 52 cards, a scoring pad. Boy that's not
much in the way of materials. That’s good, because it means it is easy to get ready to play. I think that’s
how I’ll start my next sentence. (REPLACE FIRST DRAFT
THINK-SHEET AND CONTINUE WRITING. E.G., It is easy to get ready to play go fish because all
you need is a deck of cards, and a piece of paper or notepad to keep score of the points.).
Continue on in this fashion, alternating between the organizing think-sheet and the first draft sheet, until
all the information that had planned to be included in the paper has been written. Be sure to model the use
of key words and phrases such as "explain" in the first few sentences, and Key words and phrases dealing
with sequence as you go through and list the steps. You may tie back to the original examples such as
with the following types of statements.
When the author of the enchilada passage explained how she made them, I remember that she used words
like “next” and “then”. I'll keep thinking of places to put key words about order as I write the steps of the
game. Like, I can write this sentence: (WRITE ON OVERHEAD) The first step in playing Go Fish is to
deal the cards . . .
Then model for the students how they might double check against their planning and organizing thinksheets before deciding they are completely finished.
I'm wondering if I’m done. I think I’ve included everything from my planning think-sheet and my
organizing think-sheet, but I think I should double check. (PUT PLANNING ON OVERHEAD). Let’s
see, I’m writing for my friend to help her learn to play Go Fish. I included all the information that was
important from my brainstorming and categorizing. (PUT ORGANIZING ON OVERHEAD), Mmmm. . .
I told that I was comparing something. I put in all the information that I had listed. I wonder if my key
words and phrases are clear and help my reader figure out the steps?
For some students, it may be appropriate at this point to do an ongoing evaluation of the paper and
introduce the concept of paragraphing. If you wish to use this as an opportunity for modeling
paragraphing, it could possibly be handled as follows.
I think I'll check one more thing before I quit for the day. I remember that when you write, it is helpful to
make it clear to the reader which ideas are supposed to go together. Like, some of my ideas fit into
different categories -- materials, players, and steps. I think that each of these categories should really be a
single paragraph. I’m wondering if that will make sense, so I think I’ll go back and read over my paper
one more time. If something should be grouped in a paragraph, I can just put a mark to remind me to do
that on my next draft. I know that I'll want to make other changes anyway, so I don t need to rewrite
anything now. <NOTE: MODEL THE REREADING TO LOCATE NATURAL PARAGRAPH
BREAKS, AND INTRODUCE THE SIGN FOR PARAGRAPHS HERE AS YOU GO THROUGH AND
NOTE THE PARAGRAPHS).
I think that this is all for today. I real1y accomplished a lot! I wonder if all the steps are clear? I also am
curious about whether or not my friend will want to play the game after she reads this!! I hope so!
Students Write First Draft
As you end this lesson, remind students that they will have an opportunity to write their own
explanations. To get them ready, review what you modeled for them:
1. Reread your planning and organizing think-sheets before starting.
2. Think about a way to begin that tells your reader what your explaining, and encourages them to want to
read about it.
3. Keep referring back to your organizing think-sheet as a reminder of what information to include in
what order.
4. As you write, think about places where key words and phrases can be included to make your paper
clearer to your reader.
5. Double check when you are finished to make sure your paper has everything that you think it should
have.
Have students get out their planning and organizing sheets and reread them as you pass out a first draft
think-sheet to each student. If you are comfortable, you may want them to discuss with a partner how they
plan to begin their paper. Then have them write their first drafts as you wander around the room providing
feedback on the areas covered above.
THINK-SHEET 4: Edit Think-Sheet
OUTLINE OF LESSON
Review POWER Program
1. Review Individual Steps - Have students name each subprocess of the writing process and tell how to
do each subprocess
2. Remind them that during writing, they will use edit think-sheet to help them edit their own papers.
Model Edit Think-Sheet
1. Introduce the three parts of the think-sheet (check information, check organization and parts of the
explanation, plan for peer editing session)
2. Model each part of the edit think-sheet
A. Information part - Talk about finding good parts of paper
Talk about finding parts that don't make sense
(e.g., based upon knowledge of reader, world, topic)
B. Organization part - Talk about answering each question
Move back and forth from editing think-sheet to first draft
Show the range of rating responses
Have students talk about reasons for ratings
Reinforce that this part helps them check the organization of their explanation and to make sure that all
the parts of a good explanation are in their papers
c. Planning part - Discuss how to use information gathered during information and organization parts
can be used to plan for the peer editing conference
Use ratings to develop revision plan and to develop questions for the peer editor.
Model Parts of Editing Process
1. Students self-edit (meaning, organization)
2. Peers edit (meaning, organization)
3. Plan revisions
Model Self-Edit Sheet
1. Pass out edit think-sheet as students get out their planning, organizing, and first draft sheets.
2. After students complete the edit think-sheet, sample some of their responses as a basis for further
classroom dialogue
EDIT
Name ___________________________________
Read To Check Your Information.
Date ______________________________
Reread my paper.
What do I like best? (Put a * by the parts I like best)
What parts are not clear? (Put a ? by unclear parts)
Question Yourself to Check Organization. Did I
Tell what was being explained?
YES
sort of
NO
Use 2-3 categories?
YES
sort of
NO
Name each category clearly?
YES
sort of
NO
Give details to explain each category?
YES
sort of
NO
Use key words (first, second)
YES
sort of
NO
Make it interesting?
YES
sort of
NO
Plan Revision. (look back)
What parts do I want to change?
1.
2.
Write two or more questions for my editor.
1.
2.
Lesson 4 Script
Think-Sheet #4: Edit (Self-Edit)
Goals: Make students aware of strategies to use when rereading and editing their own papers, including
the (1) meaningfulness of the paper, (2) questions, of readers, and features of good explanations.
(1) Review the POWER program, eliciting from students that they have already completed the planning,
organizing, and writing. Review what students know about planning, organizing, and writing. Have them
predict what they will be doing in today's lesson.
(2) Remind them that in rereading their first draft, they should use what they know about the topic and
explanations to help them when they reread their paper to see if it makes sense.
(3) Introduce students to technique(s) for rereading and editing their papers, including rereading it for
meaning or content, and for organization.
(4) Model for students how to check their papers for key words and phrases that are signals for the
various parts of a paper.
(5) Remind students that they will have a chance to react to each others' papers and then revise their paper
using other students' suggestions to make it better (more interesting, more clear).
Reviewing the Previous Think-sheets
To begin the lesson, focus on the POWER program, and the think-sheets already presented and
completed.
Today we are beginning to reread and edit our first draft. So far we have finished the first three parts of
the POWER program. Who can tell us what are the parts of the writing process we have completed so far?
(Planning, Organizing, Writing).
Planning: What are the things we ask ourselves when we plan a paper (Who are we writing for? Why are
we writing it? What do I know? How can I group or categorize my ideas?). How do we do each step?
Organizing: How do we organize our papers? First, I look back at my brainstormed ideas, group related
ideas into categories, and label each category. Second, I decide the order. I number my ideas in the order
that the reader will need to know them in. I should always think of questions my reader might have and
write notes to myself to be sure I answer the questions.
Writing: How do we write our first drafts? (Look back at the plan and organize sheets. Rewrite my
organized ideas into sentences and paragraphs. Use keywords to signal the parts of the paper. Add details
to make my explanation clear. Think how to make my paper interesting.)
Introducing Edit Think-Sheet
Edit/Editor Sheets
We are continuing today with the editing of our first explanation. There are three editing steps. First, I
read my own paper (Edit). As I read it, I think of my reader and see if I've explained my topic well for the
person I'm writing for -- for someone who doesn't know much about my topic.
Second, I have a peer editor read my paper to help me think more about my topic and ask me good
questions that my reader might have about the topic (Editor). Third, I'll sit down with my peer editor and
talk to the editor about his or her questions, and see how I might make my paper better.
Today we are only focusing on how to edit our own papers. This is an important step because if I don't
reread my paper with my reader in mind, I can leave out important things. For example, when the person
wrote the Enchilada story, they forgot to tell us whether they baked the enchilada in the oven or fried it on
the stove. As I reader I was confused and had a question. Good writers think of their readers' questions
and try to answer them in their paper. To help us know what kinds of questions readers have and what
they want to know about, we'll not only edit our own papers, we'll be talking to peer editors who will help
us by asking us questions about our topic and explanation.
Introducing the Parts of the Edit Think-sheet
To help remind us about things to do during the EDIT step, we use the edit think-sheet. There are three
parts to the edit think-sheet.
1. Information Part
The first part of the edit sheet asks us to check our information. We reread the paper and think of our
reader. To do this, we ask ourselves "What do I like best?" and "What parts are not clear?"
2. Organization
The second part relates to what we already know about good explanations. What does a good paper need
to have? <ELICIT FROM STUDENTS THAT GOOD EXPLANATIONS HAVE: TELL WHAT IS
BEING EXPLAINED, USE 2-3 CATEGORIES, NAME THE CATEGORIES, GIVE DETAILS TO
EXPLAIN EACH CATEGORY; USE KEYWORDS TO SIGNAL THE PARTS OF THE PAPER; AND
IS INTERESTING TO READ. THEN RELATE THEIR RESPONSES TO THE QUESTIONS ON THE
THINK-SHEET. POINT OUT THAT THESE QUESTIONS HELP THE WRITER GO BACK AND
DOUBLECHECK TO SEE THAT THEIR EXPLANATION IS ORGANIZED AND COMPLETE>
3. Plan for Revision
Finally, the third part helps us plan to revise our paper. To do this part, I ask myself, "What parts do I
want to change?" and I "Write two or more questions for my editor".
Modeling Edit Think-sheet
Now that we have seen what we have to do when we edit our paper, I'm ready to start. The first thing I do
is reread my paper. <READ PAPER ALOUD. THE PAPER MAY BE THE PAPER YOU ARE
WRITING, ONE OF THE STUDENTS THAT YOU HAVE GOTTEN PERMISSION TO USE, IT MAY
BE ONE OF THE PAPERS YOU USED IN PRESENTING INFORMATIONAL WRITING TO
STUDENTS.>
After I reread my paper, I ask myself "What parts do I like best?" and star the parts I like best. Good
writers always think what parts of the paper they like best. I'm thinking that the part I like best is the last
part that reads "If you learn to TAKE CARE OF YOUR DOG, YOU'LL HAVE A FRIEND FOR LIFE!"
I like this part because this should catch someone's interest, and they might want a dog, too. So I'll star
this part.
<NOTE: THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO PULL OUT SOMETHING YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT
THE PAPER AND SAY WHY YOU LIKE IT. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT THE PAPER'S
INTERESTINGNESS, ITS INTRODUCTION, ITS CONCLUSION, ETC.>
Does anyone else see something in the paper they like? Why do you like that part?
<NOTE: PULL OUT A RANGE OF RESPONSES TO SHOW THAT THERE IS MORE THAN ONE
PART OF A PAPER THAT CAN BE GOOD, AND THERE ARE DIFFERENT REASONS FOR
SAYING WHY A PART IS GOOD. FURTHERMORE, EVEN THOUGH STUDENTS AREN'T
EDITING OTHER STUDENTS' PAPERS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO SHOW THEM WHAT THINGS
THEY WILL BE DOING AS THE EDITOR. TELL THEM THAT ONE THING AN EDITOR DOES IS
TELL THE WRITER WHAT THEY LIKE ABOUT THEIR PAPER. EMPHASIZE THAT TELLING
WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT
A PAPER IS THE FIRST THING A GOOD WRITER OR EDITOR DOES>
The next question asks me to check my information by asking myself "What parts are not clear?" I'm
thinking that knowing "what parts are not clear" might be hard to do. I'm thinking about the explanations
that we read earlier about making enchiladas, playing dodgeball, and playing cards. I know that writers
can sometimes forget important things in their explanations. What kinds of problems should I look for
when I read my paper to see if it's clear or to find parts that don't make sense? <ORGANIZE THEIR
RESPONSES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES>
a. What the Reader Needs to Know. Look for parts where not enough information is given to a reader
who doesn't know much about the topic - When I reread my paper, I have to ask myself, will it be clear to
my reader? Do they need more information to understand? (Give an example - I remember someone who
wrote an explanation telling me how to get to her house. Suddenly, she said “And there it is!” But she
didn't tell me the address or what the house looked like. So I didn't know which house it was. She didn't
give me enough information and I had a question.)
b. Matches What We Know about the World. Look for parts that couldn't really happen or couldn't be
true because they don't match what we know about the real world. When I reread my paper, I have to ask
myself, does what I have written seem to make sense? Does it match what I know about the world? (Give
an example - I remember rereading a paper I had written about my pet that had died. After telling my
reader that the pet had died, I was talking about the pet playing with a ball. But that didn't make sense.
Why not? So when I read the paper I have to ask does this match what I know about the real world.)
c. Explains Topics and New Words. Look for parts where I explain new words or topics - When I reread
my paper, I have to make sure I explain the topic or words that might be unfamiliar. Do I know enough
about the topic to write the explanation? (For example, I wrote a paper one time about macrame, and I
forgot to explain something really important. You know what I forgot to explain? Yes, what the word
“macrame” means.)
Next, I have to look for these in my paper and put question marks by the unclear parts. Well, when I read
my paper, I wondered whether the part about housebreaking my dog was clear. I'm not sure that someone
who hasn't played Go Fish will understand what I am talking about. I'm wondering if this part is clear, so
I'll put a question mark by that part, and in the margins I'll write a question about "Is this part clear?"
Can you help me think about my explanation just like you will do when you are an editor for someone
else? Can you help me find parts that are not clear or where it would help if I gave you more information?
Let's go through the paper and read the paragraphs. Each time we’ll ask ourselves questions that good
writers and editors ask. We'll ask, "Is everything clear?" "Would a reader have any questions about this
topic?" <ACCEPT STUDENTS' QUESTIONS. IMPORANT! WRITE QUESTION MARKS ON FIRST
DRAFT BY UNCLEAR PARTS. JOT DOWN NOTES ON FIRST DRAFT TO HELP YOU
REMEMBER THE
QUESTIONS THEY HAD>
The second part of the edit sheet has me check my organization and my explanation to see that all the
parts are there. To do this part, I read these questions, then I look back at my paper to see if I have
answered each question and to make sure that the category or part is in my paper. If I have answered the
question completely, I circle the capitalized YES! If I have only partly answered the question and if I
could improve my paper further, I circle "sort of". And if I didn’t answer the question in my paper, I
circle NO!
The first question asks me "Do I tell what was being explained?" Well, this part should come at the very
beginning of my paper. So I look back at my paper and find the part that tells what was being explained.
I'm thinking that the part where I say "I am going to explain how to raise a dog" is the part where I tell the
reader what is being explained. Do you think that this sentence clearly tells what is being explained; "sort
of" tells what was being explained; or "NO", that it doesn't tell what is being explained? <CIRCLE
ANSWER THAT CLASS AGREES ON>
Next, I have to ask myself "Did I use two to three categories? Well, I'm thinking I "sort of" did, since I
talked about the categories "health care" (e.g., shots, heartworm medicine) and "feeding your dog", but I
didn't have more than two categories. I'm thinking that this might get rated "sort of" because I could have
included more categories. What do you think?
<REPEAT FOR ALL THE REMAINING QUESTIONS. EACH TIME PUT UP THE ORIGINAL
EXPLANATION AND MODEL THE RANGE IN RATINGS (YES, SORT OF, NO). FOR EACH
QUESTION, BE SURE TO DISCUSS WHY THE PAPER RECEIVED A PARTICULAR RATING.
HAVE STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN RATING THE PAPER AND JUSTIFY THEIR RATINGS. IF
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ARISE AS YOU DO THIS PART, CONTINUE TO
ADD QUESTION MARKS OR MAKE NOTES ON THE FIRST DRAFT. FOR THE QUESTION
ABOUT NAMING CATEGORIES, FOCUS ON WHETHER EACH CATEGORY HAS BEEN
CLEARLY INTRODUCED OR NAMED IN THE PAPER; FOR THE QUESTION ABOUT DETAILS,
FOCUS ON WHETHER ENOUGH DETAILS HAVE BEEN PROVIDED ABOUT EACH CATEGORY
TO ANSWER READERS' QUESTIONS. MAKE NOTES IN THE MARGINS WHEN RATINGS GET
LESS THAN YES! TO SHOW WHAT THE PROBLEM OR QUESTION WAS>
The last part of the editing sheet has me plan for the editing session with my peer editor. When I plan for
the editing session, I ask two questions. First, I ask "What parts do I want to change?" To do this, I look
back over my notes on the information and organization sections of the edit sheet. For example, in the
information part, I look to see what parts are not clear. I said that I might make the parts about making
books clearer. So I'm going to write here that I plan to be clearer about how to make books. Next, I look
at the second part of the editing sheet where I checked my organization, and I look to see which questions
I got ratings of "sort of" or "NO". Based on how we rated this paper, what parts might I want to work on
further?
<NOTE: YOU WANT TO MODEL HOW TO USE THE INFORMATION RECORDED IN THE TWO
PREVIOUS PARTS TO PLAN YOUR REVISION. YOU SHOW STUDENTS HOW TO INCLUDE
PARTS IN THE REVISION PLAN THAT WERE MARKED AS UNCLEAR, OR QUESTIONS THAT
YOU ONLY PARTLY ANSWERED (SORT OF OR NO) NEED TO BE INCLUDED IN THE
REVISION PLAN.>
Finally, I write two or more questions for my editor. One question for my editor is "Do I need to fix the
parts about making books?" I'm also wondering if my paper is interesting and how I might make it more
interesting? What are some other good questions that I might ask my editor?
Students Complete Edit Think-sheet for First Draft
As you end this lesson, remind students that they will have an opportunity to edit their own explanations.
To get them ready, review what you have modeled for them:
1. Reread your first draft before starting.
2. Keep referring back to your first draft as you answer the questions.
3. Make notes on your first draft where you have questions (use question marks, and make notes in the
margins).
4. As you edit your paper, think about places where key words and phrases can be included to make your
paper clearer to your reader.
5. As you edit your paper, think about your reader and what information the reader needs to know.
6. As you edit, think about what good explanations have (tells what is being explained, tells steps in
order).
7. After students have completed edit think-sheet, survey some of their responses so that the class hears
what other people are doing and to monitor their understanding. Ask "why" questions (Why did you think
that part was unclear?)
End of Lesson: Review Edit Step
Call attention to edit step through the following questions asked in a review at the end of the lesson:
(a) Review what one does when they edit their paper
(b) Have someone identify the parts of an edit sheet and what each part focuses on
(c) Review what good explanations have that an editor must look for
Transfer to Reading
When doing expository reading such as in social studies, science, or health lessons, or if reading a nonfiction book to your students (particularly when there is an obvious connection between the structures
they are learning about in writing and those they are seeing in reading), talk about the maps authors
follow in writing books for children to read. If explanation maps occur in their content area texts, have
students identify them and the parts of the explanation. Point out that maps can vary according to the
purposes of the author. For example, compare/contrast maps contain different information in them than
explanation maps. Furthermore, some maps simply arrange the grouped ideas from the planning sheet into
an order that makes sense (e.g., animal story maps talk about what it looks like, where it lives, what it
eats, what are its unique habits, etc.). In this way, there are maps other than the explanation map for
selecting and ordering ideas. This latter type of map is often composed of the categories identified on the
planning sheet for that topic. Story maps are yet another example but are based on the same principles
e.g., contains elements such as setting (who, when, where), problem, response (what does the main
character do about it), outcome (what happens), conclusion.
By helping students anticipate the categories of ideas for a given topic, and then helping them identify
how those categories are ordered in a text, then their comprehension is likely to improve. When students
predict categories, of course, they should be asked to confirm those predictions by locating the categories
of information in their text.
Help students complete edit step. Ask what the edit step in reading would be like (e.g., monitor their
understanding, check to see if everything makes sense, ask questions of the author). Ask how they can use
their knowledge in reading.
THINK-SHEET 5: Editor Think-Sheet
OUTLINE OF LESSON
Review POWER Program
1. Review Individual Steps - Have students name each subprocess of the writing process and tell how to
do each subprocess
2. Remind them that during writing, they will use edit think-sheet to help them edit their own papers.
Model Edit Think-Sheet
1. Introduce the three parts of the think-sheet (check information, check organization and parts of the
explanation, plan for peer editing session)
2. Model each part of the edit think-sheet
A. Information part - Talk about finding good parts of paper
Talk about finding parts that don't make sense (e.g., based upon knowledge of reader, world, topic)
B. Organization part - Talk about answering each question
Move back and forth from editing think-sheet to first draft
Show the range of rating responses
Have students talk about reasons for ratings
Reinforce that this part helps them check the organization of their explanation and to make sure that all
the parts of a good explanation are in their papers
c. Planning part - Discuss how to use information gathered during information and organization parts
can be used to plan for the peer editing conference
Use ratings to develop revision plan and to develop questions for the peer editor.
Model Parts of Editing Process
1. Students self-edit (meaning, organization)
2. Peers edit (meaning, organization)
3. Plan revisions
Model Peer-Edit Sheet
1. Pass out edit think-sheet as students get out their planning, organizing, and first draft sheets.
2. After students complete the edit think-sheet, sample some of their responses as a basis for further
classroom dialogue
LESSON 5 SCRIPT
Think-Sheet #5: Edit(or) or Peer-Edit
Goals: Make students aware of how to evaluate others' expository papers when rereading and editing,
including the (1) meaningfulness of the paper, (2) questions of readers, and features of good explanations.
(1) Review the POWER program, eliciting from students that they have have already completed the
planning, organizing, writing and self-editing. Review what students know about planning, organizing,
writing, and self-editing.
(2) Remind them that in rereading first drafts written by others, they should use what they know about the
topic and good explanations to help them read the paper for meaningfulness.
(3) Introduce students to technique(s) for rereading and editing their papers, including rereading it for
meaning or content, and for organization.
(4) Model for students how to check their papers for key words and phrases that are signals for the
various parts of a paper.
(5) Remind students that they will have a chance to react to each others' papers and then revise their paper
using other students' suggestions to make it better (more interesting, more clear).
Reviewing the Previous Think-sheets
To begin the lesson, focus on the POWER program, and the think-sheets already presented and
completed.
Today we are beginning to reread and edit the first draft written by other students. So far we have finished
the first four parts of the POWER program. Who can tell us what are the parts of the writing process we
have completed so far? (Planning, Organizing, Writing, Self-Editing).
Plan: What are the things we ask ourselves when we plan a paper (Who are we writing for? Why are we
writing it? What do I know? How can I group or categorize my ideas?). How do we do each step?
Organize: How do we organize our papers? (Look back at the grouped ideas and think which comes first,
second, third, and so forth in the paper. Think about the reader and add details that the reader will need to
know).
Write: How do we write our first drafts? (Look back at the planning and organizing sheets. Rewrite my
organized ideas into sentences. Use keywords to signal the parts of the paper. Add details to make my
explanation and steps clear. Think how to make my paper interesting.)
Edit: What do we do when we reread and edit our first drafts? (1) Check the meaning of the paper by
asking: "What parts aren't clear?"; (2) Check organization by asking: "Did I .... Tell what was being
explained? Use 2-3 categories? Name each category? Use key words to signal the parts of the paper?
Make it interesting?"; and (3) Plan changes.
Introducing Edit(or) Think-Sheet
Editor (peer editor) Sheets
We are continuing today with the peer-editing of our first explanation. I've already read and edited my
own paper (Edit). In this next Editor step, I'll have a peer editor read my paper to help me think more
about my topic and ask me questions that my reader might have about the topic. After my peer editor
reads my paper, I'll sit down with my peer editor and talk to the editor about his or her questions, and see
how I might make my paper better.
Review Editors' Roles
An editor has an important role. Every book you read in school and out of school has been read by an
editor and the editor gave feedback to the author before the book was ever published. On a newspaper,
there are sports editors, new editors, food editors, and so forth—and each of these editors reads the stories
in their respective fields written by other authors. What do you think is the job of editors?
<BRING OUT THE FOLLOWING: WRITERS OFTEN LEAVE OUT IMPORTANT THINGS THAT
THE READERS NEED OR WANT TO KNOW. (1) A GOOD EDITOR HELPS WRITERS THINK OF
READERS' QUESTIONS AND INTERESTS SO THAT THE AUTHOR CAN WRITE THE BEST
AND MOST INTERESTING STORY POSSIBLE. (2) A GOOD EDITOR MAKES SURE THAT ALL
THE FACTS ARE THERE AND THAT THEY ARE CORRECT. (3) A GOOD EDITOR HELPS THE
WRITER WHEN THE WRITER IS STUCK--OR WHEN SOMETHING ISN'T CLEAR. EDITORS
CAN HELP WRITERS SPOT UNCLEAR PARTS IN THE TEXT AND HELP THE WRITER FIGURE
OUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. (4) EDITORS ANSWER WRITERS' QUESTIONS ABOUT
UNCLEAR PARTS, AND SO FORTH. POINT OUT THAT, WHILE EDITORS HELP AUTHORS
WITH SPELLING, COPYEDITORS GO OVER DRAFTS FOR A FINAL TIME BEFORE
PUBLICATION SO THAT ALL SPELLING AND TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS ARE CORRECTED
BEFORE IT GOES OUT TO THE READERS.>
When do you think you need an editor?
<WHEN YOU WANT TO HAVE SOMEONE ELSE READ YOUR PAPER BEFORE REWRITING
YOUR PAPER FOR PUBLICATION.>
Introducing the Parts of the Editor Think-sheet
To help remind us about things we should do during the EDIT(OR) step, we use the Editor think-sheet.
The Editor form is exactly like the edit page with only a few changes. Just like the edit think-sheet, it has
three parts.
<Put up Edit(or) think-sheet on the overhead>
1. Information Part
The first part of the edit(or) sheet asks us to check the information. Just like a newspaper editor, we make
sure that all the facts are there, and we check to see that everything makes sense. To do this, we ask
ourselves three questions: "What's the paper about?" "What do I like best?" and "What parts are not
clear?"
2. Organization
The second part relates to what we already know about good explanations. We reread someone else's
paper to find out if all the parts of a good explanation are there. A newspaper editor does this when he or
she checks the organization of the story. Just like the newspaper editor, we, too, will check to
organization to make sure that all the parts of the explanation are there. What does a good explanation
need to have?
<ELICIT FROM STUDENTS THAT GOOD EXPLANATIONS TELL: WHAT IS BEING
EXPLAINED, USES 2-3 CATEGORIES, NAMES EACH CATEGORY, TELLS DETAILS
FOR EACH CATEGORY, USES KEYWORDS TO TELL READERS WHERE THE PARTS OR
CATEGORIES ARE, AND IS INTERESTING TO READ. THEN RELATE THEIR RESPONSES TO
THE QUESTIONS ON THE THINK-SHEET. POINT OUT THAT THESE QUESTIONS HELP THE
WRITER GO BACK AND DOUBLECHECK TO SEE THAT THEIR EXPLANATION IS
ORGANIZED AND COMPLETE>
3. Plan for Revision
Finally, the third part helps the editor give suggestions to the writer to help him or her revise the paper. In
this part, I ask myself, "What two parts would I suggest the author change?" I also give the author an idea
how to make the paper more interesting by answering the question "One thing that would make it more
interesting is ..... " I also need to answer the writers' request for help by looking back at the Edit sheet and
seeing what the author wanted help on.
Modeling Editor Think-sheet
Now that we have seen what· we have to do when we peer-edit, we're going to practice using the edit(or)
think-sheet to help us record our ideas and to give feedback to the author. We're going to practice being
editors with one of the explanations we read earlier.
<SELECT ONE OF PREVIOUS EXPLANATIONS -- E.G., ENCHILADA, SCATTERBALL,
SOCCER, DODGEBALL, PLAYING CARDS. IT MIGHT BE EASIER TO START WITH A STORY
THAT IS NEUTRAL AND SLIGHTLY FAMILIAR, THEN HAVE STUDENTS APPLY
STRATEGIES THEY LEARN ABOUT EDITING AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK TO AN
EXPLANATION WRITTEN BY A STUDENT IN THE CLASS>
1. Listen to Author Read the Story
Now, when we are an editor for someone, the first thing we do when someone brings me his or her
paper is listen to them as they read their paper aloud. We listen to the whole paper before we begin to
edit it. If we wish, we can even ask the writer to read the paper again. The author of the paper should
also share with the editor the questions that he wrote for the editor on the Edit sheet because the editor
will want to answer those questions during the Editor phase.
I'm going to read this story aloud as though I was the author. Since I'm not the author I can't ask you
the kind of questions that the author might have asked the editor.
<READ EXPLANATION ALOUD, E.G. ,ENCHILADA, SCATTERBALL, ETC.>
2. Reread the Story to Yourself
Next, we take the paper to our desks and reread it carefully to ourselves.
3. Look Back at the Story and Complete Editor Think-Sheet
Next, we fill out the think-sheet entirely. Using this think-sheet we look back at this story and edit it.
We're going to practice filling out the Editor think-sheet now. When we are through, we are going to
talk about how to share our comments and this think-sheet with the author.
Filling out Editor Think-Sheet
The first question the Editor think-sheet asks me is "What parts do I like best?". Then I star the parts I like
best. Good editors--like good writers--always think what parts of the paper they like best.
I'm thinking that the part I like best is the last part that reads "whala! There are your enchiladas". I like
this part because this makes the paper interesting. So I'll star this part and write on these lines that the part
I like best is "when you say whala! There are your enchiladas." Editors always tell the author why they
like something, so I'll write "It's an ending that really involves the reader!"
<NOTE: THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO PULL OUT SOMETHING YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT
THE PAPER AND SAY WHY YOU LIKE IT. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT THE PAPER'S
INTERESTINGNESS, ITS INTRODUCTION, ITS CONCLUSION, ETC.>
Does anyone else see something in the paper they like? Why do you like that part?
<NOTE: PULL OUT A RANGE OF RESPONSES TO SHOW THAT THERE IS MORE THAN ONE
PART OF A PAPER THAT CAN BE GOOD, AND THERE ARE DIFFERENT REASONS FOR
SAYING WHY A PART IS GOOD. TELL THEM THAT ONE THING AN EDITOR DOES IS TELL
THE WRITER WHAT THEY LIKE ABOUT THEIR PAPER. EMPHASIZE THAT TELLING WHAT
IS GOOD ABOUT A PAPER IS THE FIRST THING A GOOD EDITOR DOES AND THAT IT IS AN
IMPORTANT PART OF PROVIDING POSITIVE FEEDBACK.>
The next question asks me to check the information by asking myself "What parts are not clear?" I'm
thinking that knowing "what parts are not clear" might be hard to do. I know that authors sometimes
forget important things in their explanations. What kinds of problems should I look for when I read a
paper to see if it's clear or to find parts that don't make sense?
<ORGANIZE THEIR RESPONSES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES>
a. What the Reader Needs to Know. Look for parts where not enough information is given to a reader
who doesn't know much about the topic - When I reread someone's paper, I have to ask myself, will it be
clear to my reader? Do I or other readers need more information to understand? (Give an example)
b. Matches What We Know about the World. Look for parts that couldn't really happen or couldn't be
true because they don't match what we know about the real world. When I reread someone's paper, I have
to ask, does what is written seem to make sense? Does it match what I know about the world? (Give an
example)
c. Explains Topics and New Words. Look for parts where the writer explains new words or topics When I read the paper, I have to make sure that the topic and unfamiliar words are explained.
When I find unclear parts in the paper, I put question marks by the confusing words or sentence, then
write notes to myself and the author in the margins. For example, when I read the Enchilada story, I
wondered what kind of tortilla to use -- so I'll put a question mark by this sentence and write "type?" in
the margins. I also wondered what kind of pan should be used -- so I'll put a question mark next to the
part about the size of the pan and write a note in the margins about "what type of pan?". Does anyone else
have any questions for the writer?
<RECORD QUESTION MARKS IN THE TEXT AND WRITE IN THE MARGINS THE TYPE OF
QUESTION THE STUDENT HAD. GUIDE STUDENTS TO NOT BE TOO PICKY, BUT TO ASK
HONEST QUESTIONS THAT WOULD BE IMPORTANT FOR SOMEONE TO KNOW. REMIND
THEM THAT A PAPER WITHOUT ENOUGH DETAIL IS CONFUSING, BUT A PAPER WITH TOO
MUCH OBVIOUS DETAIL MAY BE BORING.>
The second part of the edit sheet has me check the author's organization to see that all the parts are there.
To do this part, I read these questions, then I look back at the paper to see if the author answered each
question in his or her paper. If the author answered the question completely, I circle the capitalized YES!
If the author only partly answered the question and if he or she could improve my paper further, I circle
"sort of". And if the author didn't answer the question in the paper, I circle NO!"
The first question asks "Did the author ... tell what was being explained?" Well, this part should come at
the very beginning of my paper. So I look back at the enchilada paper and try to find the part that tells
what is being explained. I'm thinking that the part that "My explanation is on my favorite Mexican food
.... Enchiladas" is the part that tells what is being explained. But I still have a question -- I don't know
whether the author is going to tell me why he likes enchiladas or tell me what are the steps for making an
enchilada. The next sentence sort of helps me when it says, "The way you make it is you ..... " But the
author might make it clearer in the first sentence by saying "My explanation is on how to make my
favorite mexican food;" or in the second sentence the author might have been clearer by writing "There
are several steps to make an enchilada. So I'm going to rate the question about "Did the author tell what
was being explained?" by circling "sort of".
Let's do the next question together. Does the author USE ... "2-3 CATEGORIES?
<CIRCLE ANSWER THAT CLASS AGREES ON. ASK CLASS MEMBERS TO JUSTIFY THEIR
OPINIONS BY USING INFORMATION IN THE PAPER AND ACCEPT REASONABLE
EXPLANATIONS. IF NECESSARY, GUIDE THEM TO BE REASONABLE IN THEIR QUESTIONS
BY ASKING WHO THE AUDIENCE IS -- AND WOULD THE AUDIENCE KNOW THE ANSWER
TO THAT QUESTION ALREADY>
Next I have to decide if the author .... "Names each category?" I'm thinking Let's check the enchilada
paper to see if what the categories are, and whether the categories are clearly identified. Are all the
categories clearly named? Does the author tell us something about "The materials you need .... " or "The
steps you follow are .... ". So what type of rating do you think this paper should get?" <CIRCLE
ANSWER THAT CLASS AGREES ON. ASK CLASS MEMBERS TO JUSTIFY THEIR OPINIONS
AND ACCEPT REASONABLE EXPLANATIONS>
<REPEAT FOR ALL THE REMAINING QUESTIONS. EACH TIME PUT UP THE ORIGINAL
EXPLANATION AND MODEL THE RATINGS (YES, SORT OF, NO). FOR EACH QUESTION, BE
SURE TO HAVE STUDENTS DISCUSS WHY THE PAPER RECEIVED A PARTICULAR RATING.
IF ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ARISE AS YOU DO THIS PART, CONTINUE TO
ADD QUESTION
MARKS OR MAKE NOTES ON THE FIRST DRAFT.>
The last part of the editing sheet has me recommend two parts that might be changed. We should actually
give specific advice if we can. For example, rather than just say, "Change the beginning," we should think
of specific things that the author might do to change the beginning and suggest those. For example, I
might suggest ways that the author can improve the way he or she tells what is being explained in the first
two sentences.
Looking back at our question marks on the Enchilada story and our ratings on the second part, what types
of changes would you suggest? <HAVE STUDENTS TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC PARTS THEY
WOULD CHANGE AND WHAT KINDS OF CHANGES THEY WOULD MAKE. IF IT'S
APPROPRIATE, MAKE NOTES FOR SUGGESTIONS ON THE FIRST DRAFT OR THE EDITOR
FORM>
<NOTE: YOU WANT TO MODEL HOW TO USE THE INFORMATION RECORDED IN THE TWO
PREVIOUS PARTS TO PLAN REVISIONS. SHOW STUDENTS HOW TO INCLUDE PARTS IN
THE REVISION PLAN THAT WERE MARKED AS UNCLEAR, OR ORGANIZATION QUESTIONS
THAT WERE ONLY PARTLY ANSWERED (SORT OF OR NO»
As editors, we also need to give the author feedback on the questions that he or she had on the Edit sheet.
So I look back at the Edit sheet to see what questions the author had for me and answer those in this part.
<SHOW EDIT PAGE AND POINT TO SECTION THAT ASKS THE AUTHOR TO WRITE TWO OR
MORE QUESTIONS FOR THE EDITOR. SINCE THE EDIT PAGE FOR THIS PAPER DOESN'T
EXIST, HAVE THEM TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT THEY WROTE AT THE
BOTTOM OF THE EDIT THINK-SHEET FOR THEIR EDITOR. DISCUSS HOW AN EDITOR
MIGHT HELP THEM ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS.>
Finally, I write on the think-sheet one thing that would help make the paper more interesting. Authors
always want to write a paper that's interesting. Authors do that with little tricks to catch the readers'
attention. So we write in that space anything that might make the paper more interesting to the reader.
Does anyone have any suggestions for the author of this paper to help it be more interesting?
Now that we've finished completing the peer-editing sheet, we can meet with the author. We're going to
share our comments on the think-sheet with the author and the author will actually take this think-sheet
from us and look at it as he or she plans revisions.
Guidelines for Giving Feedback to the Author
Talking to an author about a paper is very important. But we have to talk to authors in a very helpful and
respectful way. A paper is very personal and we have to respect that person when we give feedback.
Successful newspaper editors are people who can give positive and helpful feedback.
If you were the author, how would you like an editor to give you feedback and what kind of feedback
would you like?
<BRING OUT THE FOLLOWING AND DEVELOP EDITOR GUIDELINES FOR PEER-EDITING>
1. Emphasize the positive first -- what we like about the paper.
2. Suggestions are simply that -- the author has the last word in deciding what to change and how to
change it.
3. The goal of the peer-editing session is to help the author improve a paper for publication -- it is not to
be critical or judgmental. To put the best class book into publication, it will take teamwork and
cooperation. Authors and editors have a cooperative role in trying to produce the best book possible.
4. Editors are genuinely interested in the stories written by the authors and ask questions that help the
author think more about the topic and consider what might be of interest to readers.
5. Editors help the author when needed. If the author wants the editor's help in writing a certain part or
wants to know how to say something, the editor can provide that help when it's needed.
6. Editors realize that there is more than one way to do something. An editors' or authors' questions can
be resolved in several ways. Knowing when and how to ask questions is the key to successful writing
and editing.
7. Don't fix what isn't broken. If the paper is good and you can't think of anything that would make it
better, leave part of the think-sheet blank. Nothing is worse for an author than having an editor who
just wants to see it done his or her way -- when the author's way is just as good. A good editor knows
when something needs to be changed, and when something is fine the way it is written.
Rehearse giving feedback to author using think-sheet
<USING THE COMPLETED FORM, HAVE STUDENTS TAKE TURNS AND DISCUSS HOW
THEY MIGHT PRESENT THEIR FEEDBACK TO THE AUTHOR IN A HELPFUL WAY. MODEL A
POSITIVE TONE AND TALK ABOUT THE GOAL OF PRODUCING AN INTERESTING AND
INFORMATIVE PAPER.
Practice completing Editor think-sheet with one other story: Allow students more control of the Editor
process
Before we do peer-edit someone's paper, let's practice being an Editor with one more story. I want you to
pretend this is really someone's paper you are peer- editing. Give as much specific assistance as you can,
and be as positive in your remarks as you can be. Remember we want the best papers from everyone in
class and your goal is to be as helpful as possible.
<REPEAT PROCESS OF RATING A PAPER(S) USING THE EDITOR SHEET. SELECT ONE OF
THE STUDENTS' PAPERS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE SO THAT IT IS MEANINGFUL AND
REALISTIC. IF THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE, CHOOSE ONE OF THE OTHER EXPLANATIONS E.G.,
SCATTERBALL, DODGEBALL, CARDS, SOCCER, ETC. ALLOW STUDENTS TO BE MORE
INDEPENDENT AND REHEARSE THE TYPE OF FEEDBACK THEY WOULD PROVIDE THE
AUTHOR. EMPHASIZE AND REHEARSE HOW STUDENTS CAN GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE
FEEDBACK AND WHY SUCH FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT. IN SOME CLASSROOMS, IT MAY
EVEN BE APPROPRIATE TO HAVE STUDENTS STAND UP AND ASSUME THE ROLE OF
TEACHER OR EDITOR IN GOING THROUGH VARIOUS PARTS OF THE EDITOR THINKSHEET>
Students Complete Editor Think-sheet for First Draft
As you end this lesson, remind students that they will have an opportunity to be an editor for someone's
explanation. To get them ready, review what you have modeled for them:
1. Reread the first draft before starting.
2. Keep referring back to the first draft as you answer the questions.
3. Make notes on the think-sheet and first draft where you have questions (use question marks, and
make notes in the margins).
4. As you edit the paper, think about places where key words and phrases can be included to make the
paper clearer to the reader.
5. As you edit the paper, think about the reader and what information the reader needs to know.
6. As you edit, think about what good explanations have (tells what is being explained, tells steps in
order).
7. After students have completed Editor think-sheet, survey some of their responses so that the class
hears what other people are doing and to monitor their understanding. Ask "why" questions (Why did
you think that part was unclear?)
End of Lesson: Review Editor Step
Call attention to editor step through the following questions asked in a review at the end of the lesson:
(a) Review what one does when they edit someone else's paper
(b) Have someone identify the parts of an edit sheet and what each part focuses on
(c) Review what good explanations have that an editor must look for
(d) Review HOW to provide feedback
Transfer to Reading
When doing expository reading such as in social studies, science, or health lessons, or if reading a nonfiction book to your students (particularly when there is an obvious connection between the structures
they are learning about in writing and those they are seeing in reading), talk about how authors use pattern
guides or maps in writing books for children to read. If explanation maps occur in their content area texts,
have students identify them and the parts of the explanation, perhaps creating a pattern guide, or map, as
they read. Point out that maps can vary according to the purposes of the author. For example,
compare/contrast maps contain different information in them than explanation maps. Furthermore, some
maps simply arrange the grouped ideas from the planning sheet into an order that makes sense (e.g.,
animal story maps talk about what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, what are its unique habits,
etc.). In this way, there are maps other than the explanation map for selecting and ordering ideas. This
latter type of map is often composed of the categories identified on the planning sheet for that topic. Story
maps are yet another example but are based on the same principles e.g., contains elements such as setting
(who, when, where), problem, response (what does the main character do about it), outcome (what
happens), conclusion.
By helping students anticipate the categories of ideas for a given topic, and then helping them identify
how those categories are ordered in a text, then their comprehension is likely to improve. When students
predict categories, of course, they should be asked to confirm those predictions by locating the categories
of information in their text.
Help students complete edit step. Ask what the edit step in reading would be like (e.g., monitor their
understanding, check to see if everything makes sense, ask questions of the author). Ask how they can use
their knowledge in reading.
REVISE
Name
Date
1. What revision do you plan to make? (Put a
you will use.)
next to the suggestions on the Edit and Editor sheet that
2. How will you make your paper more interesting?
3. Go back to your first paper and make your revisions directly on the paper.
Revision Symbols
Type
Symbol
Add Words
^
Example
little
The ^ girl is my sister.
Take words out
---
The woman has tried to give
Change Order
He had go to home
Add Ideas here
The dog is friendly.
Revising Think-Sheet:
Suggestions for Implementing
Purpose of Revision Think-Sheet
Students use the revision think sheet as a guide for (1) considering suggestions made by the peereditor; (2) decision-making about which suggestions to follow; for making their papers better
and more interesting. Thus, this think-sheet helps them pull together ideas from the two edit
think-sheets and helps them plan their revisions.
Using the Revision Think-Sheet
When using the revision think-sheet, students will need to refer to both the edit think-sheet (used
for self-editing) and the editor think-sheet (used during peer-editing). When modeling the use of
this think-sheet, the following steps are helpful:
1.
Put the self-edit think-sheet on the overhead and read though what you thought the
strengths and weaknesses of your paper were (or if using a students’ paper, put their
self-edit sheet up and model how one goes back to this think-sheet to remind oneself
of what was needed in the paper.
2.
Then put the peer-edit think-sheet on the overhead and model the following: (NOTE:
THIS MAY BE AN UNNECESSARY REVIEW FOR YOUR STUDENTS. IF YOU
FEEL THAT THEY ARE CLEAR ON HOW THE REVISIONS GROW OUT OF
THE EDITING THINKSHEETS, OMIT THIS STEP. ONE WAY TO TELL IS IF
THE STUDENTS HAVE COMPLETED THE PEER EDITING THINKSHEETS
AND HAVE DISCUSSED THEIR COMMENTS WITH EACH OTHER, AND
SEEM TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR EDITORS WERE SUGGESTING. IF
YOU DON’T THINK THEY ARE CLEAR, THEN THE FOLLOWING MAY BE
HELPFUL.)
a. Look over the editor think sheet focusing aloud on any notes regarding the
editor’s favorite parts and the editor’s comments about any confusing parts.
Comment aloud on the editor’s remarks, with statements such as, “I’m glad to see
he liked the way I began my paper, and the way I used big letters when I wrote
the word ‘hot fudge,’” “ I wonder what he meant when he wrote that he thinks
my steps aren’t clear?”
b. Go to the next section of the editor think-sheet and focus on the text structure
features. Make comments aloud about the responses the editor made to each of the
questions. These comments include, “Yes I agree that I did tell only sort of make
my steps clear.”
c. Focus finally on the two sections under the planning section. Comment aloud on
the helpfulness of the plan or suggestions of the author and editor. For example,
“Oh, now I see why he marked ‘sort of’ about the steps being clear. He told me to
add how we know when the game is over and how the money is divided in the
beginning of the game. That will be easy to fix.” “Making my paper more
interesting by adding a question? I’ll have to ask him what he means. I don’t
understand.”
3.
Introduce the Revision think-sheet, reminding students that this think sheet will help
them keep track of the changes they might want to make their second draft. Using the
POWER acronym, remind them that they are at the final step of the writing process,
the one that comes just before their papers are published.
a. Think aloud about what your editor (or the class) suggested regarding ways to
make the paper you are working on more clear or more interesting. Mention such
comments as “Let’s see, one suggestion was adding how the players end the
game. A second suggestion was to add information about how the money is
divided out. Oh also, one suggestion was to make it more interesting by asking
my readers, ‘Have you ever played Clue? Have you ever wanted to be a
detective?’” Continue listing suggestions, including some that you may not plan
to implement.
b. Think aloud about which of the suggestions you want to use, and be sure to
include a thought about why they are going to be used. For example, “I guess I
should add about winning the game. It wouldn’t make much sense to tell them
how to play it and leave out how to win!”
c. The section on making a paper more interesting should grow out of suggestions
from the editors. However, initially, students have a great deal of trouble with this
part. You may want to model techniques such as opening up the paper with a
question designed to tease the reader (e.g., Have you ever wanted to solve a major
crime, like Encyclopedia Brown or Nate the Great? Well, you may not have a
chance unless you play Clue!). Another technique is to use different styles of print
–underlining words for emphasis or writing them in all capitals. Sharing personal
experiences is another technique (e.g., if writing about feeding a kitten,
mentioning how important it is to know how to feed kittens and describing your
own kitten’s behavior when it hasn’t been fed.)
d. Helping students use some of the shorthand symbols at the bottom of the think
sheet can help them save time, and get used to using space differently. For
example, rather than erasing and storing over in sections, they can use the lines
and arrows to show where they can inserting new information.
4.
As you model for students on the overhead, frequently make comments such as
“When you work on making your papers better, this is one way you can add new
information without having to erase and copy your draft over again.” “When you
work on your papers, the ideas from your editors can help make your papers more
interesting to read”
5.
As you work with students on their revisions, it is important to stress different types
of revisions that are possible, and do it in a way that keeps the task manageable for
the students. Focusing on specific types of revisions initially is helpful. Some
revisions to consider emphasizing are:
a. Additions—adding words, phrases, or sentences to existing papers to make a
paper more clear, to include information that had been omitted on previous drafts,
to add more interesting beginnings or endings
b. Deletions—taking out words, phrases, or sentences. This is often helpful if
something has been said two times in a paper (e.g. how to win the game is
described twice; materials needed for a project are described in two different
ways); or if something really doesn’t relate to the topic of the paper.
c. Reordering—this is often needed in the section answering the question, What are
the steps?
6.
When students have completed their revisions think-sheet, they should be directed
back ton their first drafts. This can be modeled by reviewing what was written on the
just completed think-sheet, thinking aloud such as, “Well, I think I’m ready to make
my changes. I am going to add…….., take out the part about……, and put the part
about winning in the beginning instead of at the end.” Then, move to the first draft,
and make any actual changes directly onto the draft.
7.
An optional step at this point is for copy-editing to be emphasized – a final check of
spelling, grammar, and punctuation with as much or little direction on the part of the
teacher as you desire.
8.
When all changes have been made, students should rewrite the first draft, with the
changes made, onto the final draft.
9.
Students should then put their thinksheets in order, using POWER as their guide,
placing their final draft on the top and staple it together. They should then be put in a
single stack to be collected by project personnel for typing and eventual binding.
Students will receive “galleys” about two weeks after the papers have been turned in,
and the bound version will be available within the next week for sharing with other
classes.
Figure 6
Classroom Dialogue about Editing and Revising1
T:
Here is a story written by a student. His teacher had asked him to write an explanation in which
he explained how to do something. Let's read it (Read aloud following story displayed on an
overhead transparency.)
How to Play Dodge Ball
One day I was bored, I had nothing to do except walk around.
About one hour later one of my friends came over. He told
me he was bored so that is why he came over. he asked me
what I wanted to do, I said, "How about playing Dodge
Ball." Then he said how do you play Dodge ball. So I had
to show him. It took him a week till he got the hang of
it. The end.
T:
Who can tell me what this paper is mainly about?
s:
(Being bored)
T:
Okay. I'm wondering if this author meant to write an explanation of what you do when you're
bored, or if he mean to write an explanation of how to play dodge ball. I'm confused. What do
you think?
S:
(Yell, it was obvious to me. Cause it says, "How to play dodge ball. I think the author . . . ")
T:
I wondered that, too, because titles are supposed to be what's in the paper. I don't think this is
mainly about dodge ball. 'What could this author do? What does this author need to do to make
this an explanation of how to play dodge ball?
S:
(Tell his friend how to play dodge ball in writing. Add some information at the end of his paper
about how to play.)
T:
How would he tell his friend how to play dodge ball? What's missing?
S:
(He should have said this is how you play it. Then he should have listed some steps.)
T:
You mean down here when the author wrote ... (Record questions on the passage on the overhead,
"How do you play dodge ball?" "What are the steps?")
T:
Perhaps we can give some helpful hints to help the author. What kinds of things should he include
when he explains how to play dodge ball?
S:
(Equipment you need. How to make teams and the rules for playing dodge ball).
1
Source: C. S. Englert, T. E. Raphael, &L. M. Anderson (in progress).
Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing project, East Lansing, HI: Institute for Research on Teaching. Reprinted with
permission.
T:
Okay. I'm going to record some of your ideas in the margin to help the author. I'm going to write
the words, "Equipment?" "Teams?" and "Rules?". When we write explanations about games, we
often include information about equipment, teams, rules, and the steps for playing - what to do
first, second, and third. Those are important ideas that our readers will need to know if they want
to learn how to play the game.
T:
Now, if I'm the author trying to insert this information in my paper, I can use these questions to
improve my paper. I simply see what questions my reader has, and address those questions by
using a caret (^) and arrows to show where the information goes. For example, where the reader
asks, "What are the steps?", I put a caret and arrow, and insert the missing information in the
margins or up above the print. "What are the steps for playing dodge ball?"
S:
(First, you pick, teams. You need at least four people on a team ....You'll need to find a place to
play, too. You have to play outside on a playground or in a gym where there is lots of room to
throw a ball .... Then you need to play the game. One team divides up its players who stand at
opposite sides, while the other team stands in the middle .... )
T:
These are excellent ideas. I'm going to record these ideas next to the arrow like this. I've already
got the first sentences, "First you pick teams. You need at least four people on a team." Who can
help me phrase the next part about where you play the game? (Continue to elicit information and
record information on the "passage until students have answered the question about the steps,
equipment, and rules).
T:
One of the things I really like about this paper is the introduction. It tells me that dodge ball is
something I can do on a day that I don't have something else to do. It's a boring day, but it can be
made fun by playing dodge ball. Are there other parts of the paper that you like?
T:
Are there other parts of the paper that you have questions about or would like to change? (Elicit
ideas from students .. Whenever appropriate, model how to record questions, as well as how to
add, delete, and move information).
T:
I'm thinking that these changes would make a very good explanation. You have some excellent
ideas about editing this paper. What are some things we did when we edited this paper?
S:
(We asked questions ... Thought of things that we liked or didn't like about the paper ... Asked
ourselves whether the paper made sense and what was the paper about.)
T: What are some things we did when we revised this paper? (Discuss editing conventions).