Writelines- A Recipe for Success, by Chad Donohue
This tool for middle school writers helps them to vary sentence structure and stave off writer's block
Kids need tools that can help them learn to write effectively. I came up with just such a tool to use with my middle school students. I call it a Writeline. Writelines are writing outlines; they guide students through the process of creating meaning by giving them suggestions about how to begin each sentence.
I've found it's best to use Writelines in conjunction with a prompt. This gives students a starting point, an idea. Here's a prompt I've used with my students: Write a seven-sentence descriptive paragraph about your favorite real or imaginary place. Each sentence must add to the reader's understanding of the place being described.
I follow up the prompt with a Writeline that tells the students how each of the seven sentences should begin. For example:
1st sentence, adjective;
2nd, adjective;
3rd, adverb;
4th, phrase;
5th, the word When;
6th, the words The only; and
7th, a word ending in -ing.
When you put the above prompt and the above Writeline together, you might end up with a paragraph like this:
Towering trees surround the sides of my tree fort. Forest sounds sing me to sleep when I stay the night in my favorite place. Occasionally, when the moon is out, I hear the movement of animals in the brush. In a flash I'm awake and sitting up. When the noise ceases, I can sleep again. The only time I can't go back to sleep is when the coyotes laugh at me from the hills behind our property. Laughing coyotes can make any kid's mind play tricks.
Making changes.
No Writeline is ever set in stone. Writers are free to make changes to the Writeline if they feel it's necessary. I stress this whenever we use Writelines in class, and I've found that students feel a sense of accomplishment when they decide to alter a Writeline.
I encourage students to return to the short Writeline passages they've written to add another scene, a few sentences, a segment of dialogue, a new character and so on. I've found Writeline passages to be wonderful springboards for composing entire stories.
Provide lots of captivating adjectives for your students by creating an "Adjective Alley" word wall (top). If you're short on wall space, kids can create their own "writing menus" (lower left) which serve the same purpose. Above, Chad Donohue (top row, center) and some of his students give us a smile.
Adjective Alley.
It helps to post long lists of adjectives, adverbs, verbs, phrases, etc. in the classroom for students to use during writing activities. For example, I have "Adjective Alley," a wall loaded with large-print, multicolored groupings of synonymous adjectives. I arrange the adjectives into groups of three, making certain that at least one of the three words is recognizable to most students. For instance, the cluster cold, frigid, brisk is posted in red, blue and green. Students know the word cold, but they may not know brisk. However, they know from the grouping that cold and brisk are close in meaning and interchangeable in writing. Another section of the wall is titled "Adverb Avenue." Again, words in each cluster are synonymous (i.e., carefully, cautiously, secretly).
If classroom wall space is limited, consider having students create writing menus – "tool kits" (as shown in the above photo) with clear pockets arranged into sections much like the walls. The words – or "tools" – can be placed on 3" x 5" cards in menu pockets, for example. The clear pockets allow new clusters of words to be inserted on top of previous clusters. One pocket can be full of adjectives, another can be full of adverbs, and so on.
Reversing the order.
To enhance the use of Writelines, have students rearrange the sentences in their first drafts and write them again. This gives students a chance to see how the paragraph might be organized more effectively. I sometimes have my students reverse the order of the Writeline sentences, rewrite the paragraph and then compare the two. By the way, if you're going to ask students to do lots of rearranging and rewriting, it's best to keep the initial writing assignment short.
Writelines are easy to create. With a little practice, you can come up with several working Writelines in just a few minutes. As you begin creating your own Writelines, consider requiring your students to begin a sentence with a proper name or a pronoun (Joe stepped up to... He knew this was his...); a double adjective (Tall, angry people stood and whispered about my project.); an infinitive (To find the door, we...) and so on. The possibilities are endless.
At times, I'll use an established text to build my Writelines, jotting down the parts of speech that begin a particularly moving excerpt. I like to keep my Writelines between five and eight sentences in length. Kids are less apt to get discouraged when they have shorter assignments, especially if time is devoted daily to the craft. In addition, Writelines and prompts help fend off writer's block, which can reach near-epidemic proportions with 13-year-olds.
Age limitations.
I don't recommend Writelines and prompts for advanced writers, although they can be fun and will occasionally help to produce a quality piece. Writelines primarily empower the young writer, especially when taught with the idea that any suggested starting tool can be altered by the writer.
The use of prompts, Writelines and other writing tools may take on different looks in different classrooms. The packaging matters less than the approach. I encourage you to try Writelines in conjunction with your teaching expertise. Ihope you'll find that they make language more visible and available, helping students to become better writers.
Topic: Descriptive Writing
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): Tutorials for writing, student writing resources, handouts, writing presentations and MLA Formatting and Style Guide.
Writing with Writers: Online workshops conducted by authors and illustrators. Try the workshop on Descriptive Writing with Virginia Hamilton. Other genres include poetry, biography, myths, fairy tales and folk tales.
ProTeacher Writing Directory: A wealth of writing resources with dozens of links to writing lessons and activities for elementary and middle school students.
Chad Donohue teaches writing and Creative Communication in Monroe, WA. He is a writer, coach and University of Washington graduate student.
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