- The writing task prior to the computer lab:
- Teach the specific writing skill of the day or week.
- Brainstorm ideas and write in the graphic organizer. In subsequent sessions students complete their drafts, revise, and edit them.
- Writing in the Computer Lab
- Write the entire first draft, with the word processing program - students only use phrases on the their graphic organizer.
- Once writing assignments are completed, they are published in a variety of interesting ways (whatever the students develop) and graded holistically.
- The same process is used for each new project.
- Between ten and twelve projects can be completed by each grade level each school year.
- Time Need:
- allow a minimum of 25 minutes for sustained process writing in the computer lab.
- Technology Tasks:
- Students are taught the technology skills they need to do this work in a carefully planned sequence [see example], just as grammar and punctuation's rules are taught.
Note: Word processing is certainly not the only writing activity in a class. Students write in journals for a few minutes every day. Students also complete brief open-ended and timed writing assignments, such as those required on state testing, every week. |
