Outlining: Before or After? - Choice is the answer~

"One method I use to teach organization is outlining the paper after the first draft. I ask students to write an outline of their paper if it is poorly organized and if they don’t see the lack of organization. "

~ Kathleen Sommers - Teaching and Assessing Writing with the Six Traits, Spring 2013

I responded to Kathleen's post:

Your method of outlining after the first draft makes a great deal of sense. My Eureka Moment is that I (as a student) never experienced this approach. Instead I was always required to write the outline before my first draft.  This never worked for me and permanently put me off outlining. Consequently I never really required/or taught outlining as a teacher. I was a bubbling brainstorming kind of writer and that's what I taught (although I told my kids that if they preferred to outline or list go right ahead.)

Your simple and common sense approach honors the writing process and amplifies the traits approach.

I'm amazed that after all these years this method didn't occur to me. I think had too much scar tissue because of the early demands for outlines before I'd properly generated my ideas and drafted a first splash at the topic.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

This post triggered a cascade of agreement from other writing teachers who struggled with outlining. The simple fix of using an outline after the first draft suddenly seemed self-evident.

Kathleen added a great concluding insight to the conversation:

"I do think it depends on the writer. There are many writers that need to start with the outline first. These writers would be very frustrated if told to write and then outline. It appears the more I learn about writing, the more I am aware there are as many ways to approach writing as there are writers."

I came back with an extension of the idea that wrapped up a very solid discussion.

Kathleen, You make a good point about the need for choice.  Offer your students the opportunity to outline before or after the first draft. Let each writer develop their own process.  The writing process shouldn't be a lock step formula, it's more of a path to help us find our words.

This same approach could be used with any graphic organizer: give the writer a choice, before or after. Building in this bit of organization during the drafting stage is what we are all after.  These ideas make the abstract concrete!

Dennis

*Images courtesy of the WriteatHome blog.

Mode + Audience + Voice = Organization

The problem with rote memorization of a writing organizational formula is that it has no context.  The kids don't understand why they are using the form.  They just memorize the basics and stumble on. This usually means they know they need five paragraphs: 1 intro 3 body 1 concluding.  Hardly a universal formula for organizing writing. But that's what is usually taught (and often nothing else.) 

Organization is dictated to a large degree by the mode of writing we are pursuing.  Letters, Poetry, narrative, research, persuasive... all of these modes have forms of organization that we should recognize. 

More importantly, the mode is determined by the audience for the writing.  A reporter isn't going to write a poem about a traffic accident. A research paper isn't going to follow the 5 paragraph format.  

Also, keep in mind that the audience and mode also predict the kind of voice a writer will use.

IF our students understand the concepts of voice, audience, and mode, they will have context for the kinds of organization they need to bring to their writing.  This takes a conceptual understanding of writing, rather than rote memorization of an organizational form. 

Can we teach this? You bet!  We are right now!

Does it make sense? ~ Dennis

Academic Writing

Watterson, B. (1994). Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat. Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel.

 

OWLs Online Writing Labs

College and high school writing teachers might want to Online Writing Labs: bookmark these sources! 

owl.english.purdue.edu   Purdue's online writing lab is one of the best.

http://www.uccs.edu/writingcenter/revisedowl.html Colorado Springs 

http://academic.reed.edu/writing/student_resources.html  Reed College

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/toc.shtml Dartmouth

These writing resources carry some extra clout with students since the come from main line colleges. 

Dennis

6-Traits and the Common Core

How the Traits relate to Common Core Language.

page 26

Creating Writers 6th Edition, Creating Writers

Clearly students who are taught to assess their own writing using the 6-traits approach will be be doing the kind of thinking, reading and writing promoted by the Common Core Writing Standards.

Turning Criticisms to 'I" Comments

I am using Spandel's Creating Writers 6 Traits, Process, Workshop, and Literature 6th Edition in my upcoming online class: Teaching and Assessing Writing with the 6th Traits.  This is a graduate course offered by the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Part of our time is spent assessing sample papers and writing feedback. I'll use this chart to emphasize the need to convert criticism to "I" comments.

InstaGrok Mindmap on the Six Traits

Learn about "6-traits writing" on instaGrok.com