After viewing the video presentation on the different purposes for writing it cemented the view that usually students do not know why they are writing. Thus, it is the teacher's responsibility to assist learners in finding their purposes for writing. The purpose of one's writing is often tied to the audience that the writer has in mind. Consequently, this will determine the form of the piece. For example, if the writer's purpose is to persuade his audience of a particular view, then he will use a persuasive piece to relate his views. Similarly, in poetry if the poet seeks to present an argument then he will do so in the form of a sonnet. Therefore, it is vital that we teach students the purpose of writing. By teaching our students skills for each purpose of writing, we equip them with for life outside of the school environment. Thus, the transition will be easier for them when they need to produce pieces of writing.
Additionally, we need to expose our students to different genres. The exposure to different genres will highlight to students the purpose for each genre. It is essential also, that we show the relevance of their writing to their everyday life in order to make the writing more meaningful.
I really enjoyed the Art lesson used in the video to help students write their compositions. I found it was creative and appealed to each type of learner in its own unique way. Students were given the instructions to create their own monsters, while writing down instructions so that another student can attempt to draw the monster. After the students were drawn, it was obvious that their writings lacked clarity in expression and that they needed to be more specific so that others could understand. Also, the teacher was able to show provide students with occupations where they would need to use this kind of technical writing.
Moreover, the video also highlighted that students need to be taught to value their ideas through the use of journals, logs or quick writes. The video reinforced the idea of allowing students to write and value what they write. As a result, when I do return to the clasroom, I intend to use some if not all of the strategies to encourage my students to write, enjoy what they write and see the relevance of their writing. I enjoyed the video and found it very useful in my understanding of making the writing classes meaningful to students.
Hall and Strangman (2002) define Graphic Organizers as a visual and graphic display which depicts the relationship between facts, terms and or ideas within a learning task.
Graphic Organizers are useful tools for teaching students to
-classify ideas
-communicate more effectively
-structure their writing
Graphic organizers have proven to be useful in and out of the language classrooms. Willerman & Mac Harg, (1991) posit that graphic organizers are useful in developing the comprehension ability of students, as well as their vocabulary. However, it is imperative that students are taught how to use the graphic organizers foir them to be useful. When students are equipped with the necessary skills for using graphic organizers they are able to take ownership of their work and become independent learners by extension.
There is a wide variety of graphic organizers, each one suited to organize different types of information. These are only a few examples of these organizers:
Fish Bone or Herring bone: A graphic organizer strategy that helps students identify and organize relationships between causes and effects. The key event (or the effect) is the "head" of the fishbone, and the causes of the event make up the "bones" or categories.
Story Board and Chain of Events
These organizers can be used to place main events in order of occurrence and can help students to organize information according to various steps or stages.
Venn Diagram and Compare and Contrast
These organizers can assist students to compare conceots based on their similarities and differences.
Cycle Map: is useful for organizing information that is circular or cyclical, with no absolute beginning or ending.
Cluster: this graohic organizer is useful for the organization of concepts, ideas, and as a pre-reading activity.
KWL: An instructional strategy to find out what the students know, what they want to know, and ultimately what they have learned as a result of their study.
FIVE W's and H:
The five 'W's (what, when, where, why, who) plus an 'H' (how) provide a strategy that is often used in news reporting in order to provide the audience with a quick overview of an event. It generally involves the following:
What: What happened?
When: When did it happen?
Where: Where did it happen?
Why: Why did it happen?
Who: Who was involved?
How: How did it happen?
Additional Reading
There are many other graphic organizers which can be sourced at these websites:
Brainstorming also referred to as List Making is a process of generating a great deal of information within a short time by building on the association of previous terms mentioned.
As a teacher, I believe that it is of paramount importance that we encourage our students to engage in brainstorming. Brainstorming allows our students to explore their ideas as well as listen and encourage that of their peers. As a result, creating a sense of team effort among our students. In an effort for us to effectively teach and encourage brainstorming, there are several techniques which we can teach our students. A few of which are:
Free Writing
Listing or Bulleting
Perspectives
Cubing
Clustering/Mapping/Webbing
Journalistic Questions
Thinking outside the box
This techniques along with others can be used to help students generate their ideas. If one technique does not work another can be employed to achieve the same results. It should also be noted that when we teach our students Brainstorming techniques, we are encouraging them to become independent self- regulated learners while they explore their creativity.
Here are Steps to Better Brainstorming
Sloane (2010) suggests that these steps will help teach students how to brainstorm. In her article she puts forward that teachers should
Provide students with opportunities for practice
Be enthusiastic and motivating
Choose topics carefully
Encourage different ideas (divergent thinking)
Categorize big lists
Count ideas presented by students
Reread ideas often to students
Keep a record of ideas discussed
Encourage students to consider purpose and audience
Encourage the use of dictionaries, thesauruses and encyclopedias
Thus, if these techniques are used correctly, students should be on their way to better brainstorming.
The following video is aimed at providing you with a better understanding of Brainstorming. Take a look>>
In the earlier posts of these blogs, I made mention of the Product vs Process Approaches to writing. We delved into the importance of both stages and I concluded that personally, I prefer to use the process approach both as a teacher and as a learner. In using the process apporach, writers generally make use of The Writing Process. The first stage of the Writing Process is known Pre- Writing.
Prewriting is the first stage of the writing process. It is at this stage that we explore our ideas about a subject. Prewriting helps to put ideas in a written form which may not be organised but help with out drafts. It is of paramount importance that as teachers and writers we engage our students and ourselves in the pre-writing process to help generate our ideas. There are a variety of ways to help with generating those ideas, known as pre-writing strategies. Everyone may not employ the same strategy but here are a few which can be very useful when engaging in the first stage of the writing process.
Pre-writing is geared towards getting students to form a topic. This can be done through:
getting one to respond to literature or music
listing
brainstorming
PRE- WRITING STRATEGIES
Some useful pre- writing strategies are:
Freewriting: one uses this strategy to write all the ideas he possesses on the subject. The focus is not on the sentence structure, grammar or the mechanics of the English Language. Free- writing is usually done in five to ten minutes and the aim is to gather all the ideas one has on a topic ranging from the least important to the most important.
Brainstorming: Similarly,to free writing brainstorming involves putting all the ideas one has on paper. Usually, free writing takes the format of a paragraph while brainstorming appears as a list.
However, the aim of both strategies is to write all that you know on the subject.
Clustering: this strategy usually begins with a circle in the middle containing the main idea. Smaller circles then branch off from the main circle with ideas which the writer possesses in relation to the topic. It is advisable that similar ideas are grouped together.
These are only a few strategies which can be used in the pre- writing stage. The following link wil; provide you with many other strategies which you can use.
The following video is aimed at supplementing the above reading. Enjoy!
After using the above strategies, it is advisable that you use a graphic organise to represent your ideas. Graphic organisers will be explored in s subsequent post.
The purpose of the writer in the descriptive piece "Lou's place" is to provide the audience with a vivid image of the restaurant. The writer seeks to present his audience with not only a visual of the place but by extension - an experience through the constant use of adjectives. Readers are able to experience Lou's restaurant as the writer recalls because of the intricate details which the writer presents. Readers are feel like they are presently at the restaurant in the middle of town of Sunbright, Tennessee.
Readers feel a sense of belonging as the writer describes
"the hardened veneer on some of the tables is missing a notch here and there.The paint on the walls has cracks and there is a perennial smell of hamburgers permeating the air. The casual observer could be forgiven for thinking the place is about to fold financially; instead, what we found that night was a well camouflaged center of social activity and the finest, most accurate, information available..."
The writer's purpose is also achieved as reader's feel like on-lookers as we long to inhale the aromas of the atmosphere. The use of artistic language to appeal to the senses of the audience provides a holistic experience of the restaurant. Additionally, the flashback technique, helps create a sense of reality and consistency as readers are made to believe that tradition prevails in this Sunbright town. The writer's purpose is also achieved because readers are able to form their own conclusions despite what has been presented. Thus, through the effective use of sensory images and the flashback technique readers are able to experience Lou's restaurant.
After reading three different pieces of writing, these are the strategies which I identified that were used by the writers to communicate with their audience:
The following strategies were identified in " The Faceless Teacher"
In an effort to present the argument on the rapid rate of which technology is sipping through the doorways of the classroom, the writer employs the use of figurative language to present his ideas more vividly. For example, he makes use of personification and similes such as "websites can shift and vanish like ghosts." Thus, this comparison highlights the speed aat which the technological advances are constantly changing.
Throughout the piece, the writer uses formal language and appeals to the audience's logic to communicate to his audience. The writer compares the advancements of the computer to the industrialised changes of man from susbsistent farmers to the dependence on machinery. The students being the hunters and the computers the machines. Further comparisons were made in support of the writers view that human teachers were more suitable and efficient in the classroom. The writer emohasized that the human teacher possessed the ability to teach, devise and make calculations while the faceless teacher cannot teach but can only calculate and display. These comparisons help to strength the arguments of the writer while presenting both sides of the argument.
In this descriptive piece, the readers are greeted with a memory of the writer. The memory travels back to the first time the narrator ever stumbled upon Lou's place. Readers are served with an in depth description of the restaurant' s features from its tables, chairs, floor,to the aromas. Readers are then introduced to Lou and immediately we are exposed to some of her values. She values cleanliness as is evident in her words that no matter how poor a man is he can be clean. The writer also uses Lou's speech to sublty provide readers with an insight into Lou's educational background. After a detailed description of the place, the writer exposes readers to the customs of the people, from drinking to gossiping. The use of the flashback technique also highlights that although persons have travelled in and out of the town, the customs of the people have remained the same. The audience feels a sense of belonging while reading this piece since the writer is so intimate with the descriptions which he provides.
3. Narrative- Alina
In this narrative, readers are presented with a visual picture of the main character with the use of adjectives. The story is presented via a first person narrator with the use of figurative language such as simile and personification "sun is struggling". The writer uses artistic language and sensory images to achieve his purpose which is to tell readers what has happened. The use of the proverbs and slang "transports" readers into the event which is occurring and creates a sense of intimacy between the reader and the narrator. Readers experience only what the narrator exposes them to and are "forced" to accept what the narrator presents.
This video is aimed at helping you understand the different ways writers appeal to their audience to achieve their purpose
TYPE
PURPOSE
AUDIENCE
CONTENT
STYLE
VOICE
ORGANIZATION
ARGUMENT
To persuade the audience that the viewpoint being presented should be supported.
Persons interested in the topic of discussion, who may be influential on the matter.
Introduction
Contains a thesis which presents the foundation for the rest of the argument.
Paragraphs
The paragraphs contain supporting details which further substantiates the main argument, providing empirical evidence where possible. Additionally, a good argument will present possible arguments of the opponents to strength their argument.
Conclusion
The conclusion reinforces the main points but does not introduce a new point. It is the final opportunity to persuade the audience that they should support your claims.
The writers usually employ technical arguments to appeal to individuals reasoning but some writers may also play on the audience's emotions through artistic language.
The speaker's voice can range from authoritative on the subject which is also usually very formal.
An argument usually has a thesis/ major claim
This thesis is supported by paragraphs with supporting details and counter arguments
The conclusion reiterates the major arguments mention previously.
DESCRIPTION
The main purpose of a descriptive piece is to present visual images to the audience by appealing to their senses.
The audience will vary depending on the subject being described.
The introduction which provides readers with an insight into the subject being described. The paragraphs which follow will provide intricate details about the subject.
The writers exploit affective factors associated with senses.
There can be use of technical language to present the obvious facts.
The voice may vary depending on the subject which is being described and the impact the writer wants to infringe on the audience.
Description employs spatial organization. It demands a sense of order in an effort to effectively create a visual image or sensory image. For example describing an individual from the physical features from the head down.
Exposition
The aim of expository writing is to inform or explain an idea.
The audience would be the person (s) whom the writer is trying to inform about the idea.
The structure will determine the content of the exposition.
Expositions generally make use of technical language.
Formal
Expositions can be organised in the following ways:
Cause and Effect
Sequencing
Comparison and Contrast
Classifications
Definitions
Narration
The narrator's purpose is to provide the reader with a sense of what has happened.
Readers of the narrative piece
Plot
Characters
Setting
Conflict
Climax
Resolution
Narrators tend to employ artistic language when presenting their stories to provide readers with a vivid image of what is being presented. However, when relating history and giving instructions the language is more technical.
Less formal and more personal
The voice may be sympathetic to one character which the narrator wants to the readers to sympathize with.
Narration can be temporal and chronological in its organization.
A rhetorical mode is a strategy--a way or method of presenting a subject—through writing or speech (Jewell, 2004).
The Four most commonly used modes of discourse are:
■Argument:
The kind of writing that centres on beliefs, attitudes, ideas and conceptions which is akin to exposition in this respect.
■Description:
The kind of writing that is aimed at expressing what a thing looks like, sound like, feels feels like, smells like or taste like. It focuses heavily on how we see the world through our five senses.
■Exposition: This kind of writing is geared at making an idea clear, analysing a situation, defining a term or giving instructions.
■Narration: Any type of discourse that relates events in time.
This site provides further information on Rhetorical Modes. Happy Reading!
Product approach is centred around providing students with a model which they are encouraged to mimic. This approach is heavily directed by the teacher where students are expected to replicate the samples provided. As I reflect on my years as a student , it is alarming that the vast majority of my teachers employed the product approach in their venture to teach us "how to write". It is now apparent that the grades which I cherished as trophies of excellence were reflective of my ability to reproduce what my teachers wanted. Consequently, this stifled my creativity and I have now understood why so many of my peers despised writing.
However, it is my belief that if the process approach was utilized, not only would attitudes improve but also the ability of students to express their creativity and maybe even a passion for expressing themselves. The process approach focuses more on the "journey" towards the product as oppose to "just" the product. This emphasis on the process towards achieving the product is evident in the strategies such as brain- storming, exploration of ideas, peer editing and re- writing geared towards simplifying and assisting when creating the final product. The process approach allows the writer to become self- directed and regulated learners where the individual can witness his/ her personal growth, be able to identify strengths and weaknesses while enjoying what is being produced.
The process approach, I believe despite how tedious it may be and time consuming, I believe it is a more efficient approach to writing as focuses on producing more than just a piece of writing but allows for exploration of a person's mind and creativity.
The following site presents additional information on the comparison of the Process and Product Approaches to writing.
Formal modes use five stages of the Writing Process. The following websites will provide you with a better understanding of the writing process. Enjoy!
Additionally, we need to expose our students to different genres. The exposure to different genres will highlight to students the purpose for each genre. It is essential also, that we show the relevance of their writing to their everyday life in order to make the writing more meaningful.
