Celebrate Nonfiction

Exploring the Joy of Nonfiction Reading and Writing

In the Classroom: What’s in a Name?

When I visit schools, I ask students to walk me through the steps of their
nonfiction writing process. My goal is to learn the terminology they
use, so I can literally speak their language during my presentation. For
example, do they use “rough draft,” “first draft,” or “sloppy copy”? Do they
say “buddy editing” or “peer critiquing”?

What
I’ve discovered has surprised me. Many groups have a lot trouble describing their
process. And I can see that their teachers are just as surprised as I am.
Sometimes they even whisper answers to students sitting nearby. Clearly, they’re
frustrated.

 

Why is this happening?

Here
are two things I’ve noticed, again and again, as I patiently provide a string of
clues to help students list the various steps.

1.   
Within
the same school, each grade level often uses different terminology. That
can certainly lead to confusion.

2.   
In
some schools, the process itself isn’t consistent from one grade level to the
next. For example, students in grades 3 and 5 do peer critiquing, but
students in grade 4 don’t. That can also lead to confusion.

Researching, writing, and revising nonfiction can be daunting for children. But knowing that it’s a
process composed of distinct steps can make it more manageable. By practicing
those same steps over and over, students will become more confident writers.

That’s
why I recommend that schoolwide or even district-wide terms be adopted
for each step in the process. Here are my suggestions:

Choose
a Topic

Do
Research

Make
a Writing Plan

Write a Rough Draft

Chill Out

Self Critique

Edit/Revise
à Second Draft

Peer
Critique

Chill
Out

Edit/Revise
à Third Draft

Teacher
Critique

Chill
Out

Edit/Revise
à Fourth Draft

Add
Visuals
Proofread

Final
Report

K-2
students won’t do every step, but once a step (such as peer critique) is
introduced, it shouldn’t be omitted at later grade levels. This kind of
continuity will help students take ownership of the process and prepare them to
work more independently in middle school.

One Response

  1. As a middle school teacher and writer myself, I wholeheartedly agree that common language for the writing process is key. In my school, we revamped our nonfiction writing curriculum a few years ago to include common language for key terms and I've seen the difference in student work. by the time the reach me (7th/8th grade) they know how to organize and proceed through the research/writing process. This allows me to work on the fine-tuning skills of word choice, voice, and sentence fluency.

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