Teaching Writing in Middle School: Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

225 Pages·1998·14.974 MB·English

by  Beth Means, Lindy Lindner

Teaching
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Writing in
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Tips, Tricks, amid Tcechracqpces
Beth Means
Lindy Lindner
1998
Teacher Ideas Press
A Division of
Libraries Unlimited, Inc.
Englewood, Colorado
Copyright © 1998 Beth Means and Lindy Lindner
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
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ity sheets for classroom use in a single school. Other portions of the
book (up to 15 pages) may be copied for in-service programs or other
educational programs in a single school or library. Standard citation
information should appear on each page copied pursuant to this
permission.
TEACHER IDEAS PRESS
A Division of
Libraries Unlimited, Inc.
P.O. Box 6633
Englewood, CO 80155-6633
1-800-237-6124
www.lu.com/tip
Production Editor: Kevin W. Perizzolo
Copy Editor: Jason Cook
Proofreader: Susie Sigman
Typesetter: Kay Minnis
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Means, Beth, 1949-
Teaching writing in middle school: tips, tricks, and techniques /
Beth Means, Lindy Lindner.
xiv, 209 p. 22x28 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 199) and index.
ISBN 1-56308-562-3
1. English language—Composition and exercises—Study and teaching
(Middle school)-United States. 2. Creative writing (Middle
school)-United States. I. Lindner, Lindy, 1945- . II. Title.
LB1631.M399 1998
808,.04,0712-DC21 97-39412
CIP
To
CASEY and RON
for paying the phone bills
With special thanks to Marcia Olsen, Anne Helmholz, Bob Carey,
Dr. Nancy Pokorny, and Martha Means for patient reading and
testing; to Alice Greiner and Maureen Aumen for "The Paragraph
Puzzle"; to Carolyn Lacey Turner, our long-suffering bird dog on
sources and errors; to our students whose work appears as samples
in the book; especially to our teachers, Henriette Anne Klauser for
freeing the artist within and Betty Hagman for training the crafts
man; and finally, to all the writers from Virgil to Gary Paulsen who
wittingly or unwittingly came along for the ride.
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Contents
INTRODUCTION xi
l^^DECIDING WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT 1
Introduction 3
The Writing Idea Triangle 3
Part 1: Finding Your Own Starting Point 5
Activity 1: Stop, Look, and Listen 5
Activity 2: This Is Your Life 7
Activity 3: Borrowing Lists 9
Part 2: Developing Starting Points into Writing Ideas 10
Activity 4: The Three-Minute Fastwrite 10
Activity 5: Fiction, Nonfiction, or Poetry? 11
Activity 6: The Genre Game 12
Activity 7: Who, What, Why, When, Where, and How 15
Activity 8: People, Places, and Problems 17
Activity 9: Wacko 18
Teacher's Notebook 20
On Keeping a Writing Ideas Notebook 20
On Personal, Practice, and Portfolio Assignments 20
Notes from the Pros 21
On Falling in Love and Burning Out 21
2<^TLANNING 23
Introduction 25
The Writing Idea Triangle Revisited 25
Part 1: Finding a Focus 27
Activity 1: Prewriting Choices for Nonfiction 27
Activity 2: Prewriting Choices for Fiction 33
Part 2: Background Research 38
Activity 3: The Knowledge Chart 38
Activity 4: Research Strategy 39
Activity 5: Finding Expert Sources 44
Activity 6: Giving Your Characters a Background 48
Activity 7: Making a Pictionary 50
Activity 8: Making a Verbiary 51
Activity 9: Making a Word-Finder 53
vii
viii ^^^ Contents
2^-TLANNING (continued)
Part 3: Finding an Order 57
Activity 10: Branching 58
Activity 11: The Design 59
Activity 12: Outlining Alternatives 61
Teacher's Notebook 65
On Writing Groups and Writing Conferences 65
On Writing Terms 65
On Scenes and Sections 67
On Storing Papers 67
Notes from the Pros 68
On Fair Play 68
How Long Will It Take? 68
3^=^GETTING THE WORDS TO FLOW ON PAPER 69
Introduction 71
Avoiding Writing Blocks 71
Part 1: Freeing the Artist 74
Activity 1: Early Morning Freewrite 74
Activity 2: Creative Concentration 75
Activity 3: Braindancing and Downhilling 77
Activity 4: Finding a Writing Place 80
Part 2: Directing the Artist 82
Activity 5: Zoom Lens 82
Activity 6: Hooks and Leaders 86
Activity 7: Warm-Ups for Cold Days 93
Activity 8: Follow the Leader 97
Teacher's Notebook 101
On Remembering Writing 101
On Giving Assignments 102
On Time in Class for Writing 102
Notes from the Pros 103
On Talking About It 103
4<^,NONFICTION WORKSHOP 105
Introduction 107
Two Approaches to Teaching Nonfiction 108
Coping with the Fact Problem 108
Part 1: Writing Paragraphs Ill
Activity 1: Topics and Sluglines Ill
Activity 2: The Paragraph Puzzle 114
Contents ^^^ ix
Part 2: A Catalog of Nonfiction Techniques 116
Teaching the Techniques 116
Anecdotes 116
Comparison and Contrast 117
Conclusions 120
Definition 121
Division and Classification 122
Examples 123
Transitions 125
5<^FICTION WORKSHOP 129
Introduction 131
Part 1: The Scene 132
Activity 1: Weaving Scenes 132
Part 2: A Catalog of Fiction Techniques 136
Teaching the Techniques 136
Action 137
Description 139
Dialogue 140
Flashback 142
Foreshadowing 143
Introspection 146
Narrative 147
Transitions 149
6<^'EDITING WITH ENTHUSIASM 155
Introduction 157
Separating Revision and Polishing 157
Selecting Pieces for Editing 158
Distinguishing Editing from Criticism 158
Establishing an Editing System 159
Part 1: Introducing Editing 160
Activity 1: Editing? What's Editing? 161
Activity 2: The Editor? Who's That? 163
Activity 3: The Revision Loop 166
Part 2: Polishing to Publish 171
Activity 4: Polishing for Style 173
Activity 5: Polishing for Pride 177
Activity 6: Presentation Checklist 184
Activity 7: The Publishing Game 187
Teacher's Notebook 191
On Grading Papers 191
On Writing and Spelling 193
On Simple Ways to Publish 194