Getting organized

As part of our study of the Six Traits of Writing, my students and I have been working on organization. This trait, which focuses on the structure of writing, is actually made up of several smaller sub-skills:

* Writing strong introductions, hooks, and leads
* Balancing creativity with formula
* Pacing & sequencing
* Use of thoughtful, interesting transitions
* Writing satisfying conclusions
* Creating strong & satisfying titles

As always, The Writing Fix has some great online resources. If you're looking for a strong intro sentence, try this prompt generator. At the click of a button, the site generates lines like these:

* He tried to remember who had talked him into this.
* I cared what she thought, so when she dared me I knew I was in trouble.
* She had been warned, but now it was too late.

To teach this trait, I've mostly been sticking with Vicki Spandel's series on the Six Traits, but I've also found this list of transitional words and phrases quite helpful.

What Would J.K. Rowling Do?

Yesterday my students and I discussed why some writing is so compelling to read. Since they're in grades four to six, there are lots of Harry Potter fans, and they tried to articulate just what makes a Harry Potter book so hard to put down. One student put it this way: "When I'm reading it, I feel like I'm right there in it. And even though I know it's not true, I ask myself, 'How is this not true? How is this just fantasy?'"

We considered things like how the books were organized, the voice the author had developed, the research that must have gone into each book in the series, and how easily the language flowed.

Then we talked about how the author, J.K. Rowling, might have moved through the various stages of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and finally publishing. How did she narrow down the topic? What helped her figure out what to say first and how the events should be sequenced and paced? How did she determine which types of revisions to make? And how much of the editing had she ultimately done herself?

This exercise helped to reinforce that whenever we're in the middle of a piece of writing, there is so much to sort, sift through, develop and change -- which is why we must all take things step by step. Even J.K. Rowling.