Sept. 5 San Jose/ Sept. 10 Cupertino
This week I introduced Writing Journals to the class. Every week when the students come in, they will grab their journal and begin writing for the first 15-20 minutes of class. At first, it is tough for them, but in a month or so, they will be asking me for more time! They are allowed to write just about anything – even random thoughts that come to mind – plus, I have a whole table spread with story starters and other things to use for inspiration if they need it.
This week’s lesson was on Brainstorming (also called Mind Mapping or using Graphic Organizers). We made an example for the topic “How do you play Baseball?” and talked about how this could help you think of ideas, organize ideas, and even narrow down your topic to what you really wanted to talk about. For example, maybe pitching is really your area of interest and you could focus just on that.
Brainstorming is often part of “Prewriting” – the first step in the writing process. After students are familiar with all the steps, I’ll be asking them to look back in their journals for something they would like to work on some more. They will take this piece through the writing process until it is a finished product, edited and ready to present to others by the end of the semester.
Here is a simple description of the writing process if this term is unfamiliar:
