Writing as Process

"Process writing is learning how to write by writing," notes Stone (1995, p. 232). This current emphasis in writing instruction focuses on the process of creating writing rather than the end product (Tompkins, 1990). The basic premise of process writing is that all children, regardless of age, can write. The initial focus is on creating quality content and learning the genres of writing.

Pre-writing strategies
Once you have thesis statement just start writing! Don't feel constrained by format issues. Don't worry about spelling, grammar, or writing in complete sentences. Brainstorm and write down everything you can think of that might relate to the thesis and then reread and evaluate the ideas you generated. It's easier to cut out bad ideas than to only think of good ones. Once you have a handful of useful ways to approach thesis you can use a basic outline structure to begin to think about organization. Remember to be flexible; this is just a way to get you writing. If better ideas occur to you as you're writing, don't be afraid to refine your original ideas.
Starting the Writing Process :
The quality of your writing will reflect the time and forethought you put into the assignment. Plan ahead for the assignment by doing pre-writing: this will allow you to be more productive and organized when you sit down to write. Also, schedule several blocks of time to devote to your writing; then, you can walk away from it for a while and come back later to make changes and revisions with a fresh mind.

Brainstorming
What do you do before you write?
You brainstorm about the idea or topic you are writing about. Everybody brainstorms before writing about something, even famous authors like J.K. Rowling, Beverly Cleary, and Judy Blume. Brainstorming is a way to think up ideas for a story or a book. Write down everything that comes to mind.
Any crazy thought might become a good story that you write. Brainstorming can help you write about something serious, or just a story that you write for fun. To get ideas, look around you, or read lots of books you like and you could write the next book of a series that you like, or you could ask friends or family for strange or funny ideas.
Use the rhetorical elements as a guide to think through your writing
Thinking about your assignment in terms of the rhetorical situation can help guide you in the beginning of the writing process. Topic, audience, genre, style, opportunity, research, the writer, and purpose are just a few elements that make up the rhetorical situation.
Topic and audience are often very intertwined and work to inform each other. Start with a broad view of your topic such as skateboarding, pollution, or the novel Jane Eyre and then try to focus or refine your topic into a concise thesis statement by thinking about your audience. Here are some questions you can ask yourself about audience:
* Who is the audience for your writing?
* Do you think your audience is interested in the topic? Why or why not?
* Why should your audience be interested in this topic?
* What does your audience already know about this topic?
* What does your audience need to know about this topic?
* What experiences has your audience had that would influence them on this topic?
* What do you hope the audience will gain from your text?
For example, imagine that your broad topic is dorm food. Who is your audience? You could be writing to current students, prospective students, parents of students, university administrators, or nutrition experts among others. Each of these groups would have different experiences with and interests in the topic of dorm food. While students might be more concerned with the taste of the food or the hours food is available parents might be more concerned with the price.
You can also think about opportunity as a way to refine or focus your topic by asking yourself what current events make your topic relevant at this moment. For example, you could connect the nutritional value of dorm food to the current debate about the obesity epidemic or you could connect the price value of dorm food to the rising cost of a college education overall.

When writing, students work through the stages of the writing process. The creation of writing occurs in basically five stages: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Prewriting is the planning and idea-gathering stage. Drafting refers to time spent composing a rough draft. Revising is the process of improving the draft. Students reread their work and share it with a partner or small group; they then make changes in the writing based on the feedback from their peers. Editing is the process of correcting mechanical errors. Publishing, or sharing, is accomplished in a wide variety of ways when the work is in final form. Student of all ages move back and forth among these stages while writing; the stages are not lockstep or sequential (Gardner & Johnson, 1997; Tompkins, 1990).

Cooperative Learning ?

Cooperative Learning is one of the best researched of all teaching strategies.Learning can be structured competitively, so that students work against each other; individually, so that students work alone; or cooperatively, so that students work together to accomplish shared learning goals. David W. and Roger R. Johnson, professors, and co-directors of the Cooperative Learning Center at the University of Minnesota, recommend that, while all three structures should be used, cooperation should play the dominant role in any classroom.
Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it.
Collaborative learning is a method of teaching and learning in which students team together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project. A group of students discussing a lecture or students from different schools working together over the Internet on a shared assignment are both examples of collaborative learning.

Why use Cooperative Learning?

Research has shown that cooperative learning techniques:
* promote student learning and academic achievement
* increase student retention
* enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience
* help students develop skills in oral communication
* develop students' social skills
* promote student self-esteem
* help to promote positive race relations

In order for cooperative activities to be successful, teachers need to give attention to the following key elements:
A. Group Size/Composition -- Johnson and Johnson report the highest levels of success occur when groups are kept small. In fact, they favor groups of two (dyads) for many cooperative tasks, with the number of group members increasing in proportion to the complexity of the task. Teachers introducing cooperative learning for the first time might let students select their own groups. But once comfort is established, the greatest potential for benefit occurs in heterogeneous groupings, with the teacher assuring a balanced mix of ethnic groups, females/males, handicapped with non-handicapped students, and students of low-to-high ability and productivity.
B. Group Functions -- Students may work in groups on any of the assignments they would ordinarily do alone. They may meet to collaborate on solving a problem, to discuss an issue without direct leading by the teacher, to brainstorm for new ideas or summarize what they have learned about ideas previously presented, to formulate concepts out of information and facts they have been given. Particularly valuable is the potential of a group to share the parts of a complex project or jointly produce an assigned product. Goals for the group might range from practice in group communication processes to preparation for a presentation to the whole class group.
C. Group Norms -- Teachers need to proceed slowly and with patience to introduce students to cooperative learning. It is not enough to rearrange the seating. A "culture" of group work needs to be developed that includes expectations regarding noise level, an atmosphere of trust, absence of "put-downs," equal participation, and willingness to help one another. The use of group grades is controversial, but Johnson and Johnson report good results from encouraging "we sink or swim together" mindsets. It is important that students learn to coach and teach each other. Brighter students' learning is enhanced by their efforts to teach the others; less-capable students benefit from increased one-to-one attention.
D. Group Skills -- Students need to be taught procedures and given practice opportunities for rearranging the classroom space, moving quietly into groups, responding to teachers' signals for attention, etc. So, too, it is important for them to receive explicit instruction and regular practice in the interpersonal skills that this method, as well as life in a democratic society, requires. These include:
1. Teamwork
2. Support, and acceptance of differences
3. Active/reflective listening
4. Positive feedback
5. Reaching consensus
6. Coaching and tutoring others
E. Group Goals and Roles -- Clear instructions, goals, and time lines for group activities are essential to successful cooperative learning. It is also important that each member have a specific function within the group: recorder, reporter, monitor, observer, facilitator.