Prewriting exercises -- Finding or elaborating ideas --
Have students do a blueprint prewriting purple text, page 16, a map of their
neighborhood.
Creative Writing --
Prewriting Techniques:
1) freewriting
2) focused freewriting
3) brainstorming
4) clustering
5) questioning
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
6) keeping a journal
7) observing
8) reading with a focus =
preview, skim, take notes
9) listening with a focus =
seek background info, create list of info needed, take notes
10) imagining
11) gathering
quotes, ideas, etc.
Prewriting Techniques:
1) freewriting
2) focused freewriting friendship, highway, child
3) brainstorming
a place I enjoy or a place
I don’t like
4) clustering
heroes, movies, holidays, dreams
5) questioning sports,
Who? players
-- baseball, basketball, soccer, etc.
fans
What? excitement,
stadium on day of game, tailgate parties, foods, TV, uniforms,
Where? stadiums,
school playing fields, back lots,
When? times
to practice, time to watch, time to arrive for game, game over
Why? social,
emotional, physical outlet
How? getting
to play, getting to see the games
What do I know? What would I like to know? Where can I get more information? What would I like to focus on? What is my point of view? Who is my audience? -- drug addiction
6) keeping a journal self, assigned goals, dreams, steps, problems analyze self, situation, describe people, If I could. . . then. . . , secrets, people you admire or are
supposed to admire
places to visit
considering things you’ve learned news facts (the average young American witnesses 18,000 TV
murders before he or she graduates from high school)
7) observing
8) reading with a focus =
preview, skim, take notes
9) listening with a focus =
seek background info, create list of info needed, take notes
10) imagining What if. . .
11) gathering
quotes, ideas, etc. “Most folks are
as happy as they make up their minds to be.” --Abraham Lincoln
