Writing Process (EDRG 3344 T/R)

What makes a great writer? Author James Michener said, "I'm not a very good writer, but an excellent rewriter." Michener found his niche in rewriting, but have we found ours? As future teachers it is essential that we know the five steps in the writing process to help our future students develop their writing voice:

1. Stage 1- Prewriting- This step, which is overlooked many times, is when brainstorming takes place. A topic may be chosen and maps may be used.
2. Stage 2- Drafting- Here a student may put down ideas and make a rough draft or an outline.
3. Stage 3- Revising- In this stage, the writer may add/delete, share, and reread the rough draft.
4. Stage 4- Editing - This stage is mainly used to check for errors in mechanics such as misspellings, punctuation, etc. and correcting those errors.
   
5. Stage 5- Publishing - At the end of the writing process, the writer makes final copies of the writing and may make a book or share it with an audience.
   
   By making these five stages a part of our regular writing routine, writing will not be a chore for our students but another way to make their voices heard. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas 1975
After giving the hoola hoop a twirl and failing miserably, I knew something

unexpected was about to happen. I was five years old and loved playing outside,
but I knew something was going on. My dad came home from work whistling,
"Jingle Bells." That's it! I followed him inside and started getting anxious when
he went to the attic and pulled out our silver-foiled aluminum tree and all the
red glass balls. Christmas, oh yeah, my favorite time of year. I was got so
excited. My sister heard me run down the hall shouting, "Christmas is coming!"
She ran out of her room and asked me, "What do you want for Christmas?" That
ended it. What do I want for Christmas? I thought in my mind, what, what, what, do I want?
The next few days I was filled with worry. Sure a five year old kid's dream
day next to their birthday is Christmas. But I could not figure out what I wanted.
I loved going to the candy store and buying all the candy I could get for five cents:
bubble gum, sour balls, red licorice. I couldn't make up my mind. Heading to kinder-
garten I thought my life would get easier. The teacher announced we would be
exchanging gifts and all I thought was, "I don't want to pick a boy." Sure enough,
I drew James' name and that was rotten! Good thing my dad bought him a red
fire truck because I didn't want to even touch anything that a boy touched ( I
might have gotten the cooties really bad and probably missed Christmas).
During Christmas break I figured I had to write down what I wanted for
Christmas, but forget it, I couldn't write yet. Well, I just drew a skinny doll and
hoped that my dad knew I wanted a Barbie. Things got worse for me when my
sister broke my record player. We only had one 45 and it was the Jackson Five's
"ABC, 123" song. How I loved jumping and singing to that song! My sister ruined my
Christmas.
When Christmas morning came and I smelled the orange spice that my
mom had put on the stove I felt a little bit better. When we ran to the Christmas tree
in our flannel pajamas and fluffy socks, the world was well. Under that beautiful,
enormous tree was a long skinny wrapped box with my name on it. It was a Barbie!
A shiny bigger box without a name was waiting to be opened and when my mom
said, "That's for you and your sister," I squealed with excitment! It was a brand new
white, record player! Yep, my world was a whole lot better.