Step Up To Writing

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Step Up To Writing

• Student Version
• Basic, Practical and Helpful Instruction About
  Writing

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Step Up To Writing is About

• Showing you the process
• Helping you through the process
• Letting you work through the process on your own

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Step Up To Writing is About Tools

• Colors
• Word Lists
• Informal Outlines
• Examples
• small steps

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Step Up To Writing is About The Writing Process
Prewriting and Planning
Drafting, Revising, and Editing
Creating a Final Copy, Proofreading, and Sharing
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Step Up To Writing is About Promoting the Traits
of Good Writing

• Content
• Organization
• Style

• Vocabulary
• Sentence Structure
• Conventions

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Golf is a great sport to play. Its fun to pound
a golf ball around for nine to eighteen holes.
However, to become good you need lots of practice
and mental toughness. Practice is easy to come
by, but we need toughness too. Personally, I need
a lot of mental toughness. Golf can be really fun
if you are playing well, but if you are playing
badly, it can cause frustration.
Does this seem like a well thought out, organized
paragraph?
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That is called a brain dump!
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What happened?

• This student took all the information he/she knew
  about golf and just regurgitated it
  onto paper!

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The keys to an effective paragraph
Expository paragraphs need

• A title

• A topic sentence

• Transitions

• Good explanations and examples

• A conclusion

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Smokings Health Toll and Price Tag
Fifth Grade
Although smoking may seem cool, it is very
unhealthy and expensive. Many people die from
smoking related problems such as cancer, heart
disease etc. every year. According to World Book
Encyclopedia during the mid-1980s smoking
contributed to 30 percent of all deaths from
cancer and heart disease in the United States of
America. Furthermore, cigarette smoking was
associated with 85 percent of all cases of lung
cancer. Secondly, smoking is very expensive. If
someone smoked one pack of cigarettes every day
that cost 3.00 for 50 years it would cost them
54,750.00 which is enough money to buy an
expensive and luxurious car. On the contrary, if
someone put 3.00 a day into a bank or investment
institution they would be making hundreds of
dollars in only a few years just because of the
interest they are collecting. Clearly smoking is
very unhealthy and expensive too, so dont start
smoking until you have considered all of the
negative effects!
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That was better!

• Why?
• Organization!
• I will show you the process that 5th grade
  student used to get that level of organization.

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The Five Elements of Expository Writing
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Learn Step One
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Informal Outlines
Using a piece of paper lets work on an informal
outline of a paragraph.

• Fold paper over to the red margin line.
• Unfold.
• Fold about 5 lines from the top.
• Fold about 5 lines from the bottom.
• Now draw lines on all the folds as shown.
• It should look like an I

Just One or Two words
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Remember this is all about colors so

• Get out your three colors (red, green, yellow) of
  crayons and make sure you color in the dots by
  the correct box.

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Topic
explain
Reason/fact/detail
explain
Reason/fact/detail
explain
explain
Conclusion
Use your crayons to place your circles and titles
in the correct areas. See teachers example
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Topic
Cats can protect themselves
explain
Reason/fact/detail
run fast
They can get away from enemies
explain
climb trees
explain
Reason/fact/detail
sharp claws
Good fighters
explain
sharp teeth
Conclusion
cats take care, protect
Just One or Two words
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Informal Outlines also need transition words






Topic
Cats can protect themselves
explain
Reason/fact/detail
First
run fast
They can get away from enemies
explain
climb trees
explain
Reason/fact/detail
Next
sharp claws
Good fighters
explain
sharp teeth
Conclusion
cats take care, protect
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Learn Step Two
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Lets build sentences.

• Everyone should have a new paper and the same
  three crayons (yellow, green, red)
• It is time to fold this paper hamburger style
  once, and then twice. Open back up.
• Draw lines on front and back where the folds are.

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Front of Page
Use crayon to make dot on the left side of the
page. Then write the words next to the dots
Topic
Reason/fact/detail
Explain
Explain
See teachers example
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Back of Page
Use crayon to make dot on the left side of the
page. Then write the words next to the dots
Reason/fact/detail
Explain
Explain
Conclusion
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Front of Page
Topic Cats protect themselves in two ways
Reason/fact/detail
Explain
Explain
First, they are able to get away quickly from
their enemies.
Cats are fast runners.
They can climb trees, too.
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Back of Page
Reason/fact/detail
Explain
Explain
Conclusion
Next, cats are good fighters.
Cats sharp claws can inflict pain and discourage
attackers.
They can also use their pointed incisors to bite
their enemies when necessary.
Felines can take care of themselves.
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What is the deal
with the colors!
Go!
Write a topic sentence.
SlowDown
Give a reason, detail or fact. Use a transition
word or phrase.
Stop
Explain. Gave an example.
Go Back
Remind the reader of your topic.
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Using Colors for Organization

• Topic Sentence
• Green means go.
• Green asks the writer to decide What am I
  going to prove?What am I going to
  explain?What information will I share?

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Using Colors for Organization

• Reasons/Details/Facts
• Yellow means slow down.
• Introduce key concepts to support the topic
  sentence.

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Using Colors for Organization

• Explain
• Red means stop and explain.
• Present evidence.
• Provide explanation and examples.

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Using Colors for Organization

• Conclusion
• Green means go back to your topic.
• Restate the topic and the position.
• Do not introduce new information.
• Use synonyms and leave your reader with something
  to remember.

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So now you see
How to put together a well organized paragraph.
But
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Dont get stuck!

• Many students will ask How many sentences do I
  have to write?
• This is the ZME (zone of minimal effort) talking.

• With this process you can expand and shrink your
  paragraphs with ease.
• The rule is you should use as many sentences as
  is needed to explain what you have to say.

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An Option
Accordion Paragraphs
Eight Sentence Paragraph
Topic Sentence
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Reason/Detail/Fact
Explain
Reason/Detail/Fact
Explain
Reason/Detail/Fact
Explain
Conclusion
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Another Option
More Accordion Paragraphs
Eleven Sentence Paragraph
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Topic Sentence
Reason/Detail/Fact
Reason/Detail/Fact
Explain
Reason/Detail/Fact
Explain
Explain
Reason/Detail/Fact
Explain
Explain
Conclusion
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Practice Step One
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This time lets just make it a six sentence
paragraph






Topic
2 fun ways to spend a million dollars
explain
Reason/fact/detail
Reason/fact/detail
explain
Conclusion
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Topic
2 fun ways to spend a million dollars
explain
Reason/fact/detail
Shopping
New car, Odyssey touring
explain
Reason/fact/detail
cruise, Alaska
Traveling
Conclusion
fun, happy, rich
Just One or Two words
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Practice Step Two
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Front of Page
Use crayon to make dot on the left side of the
page. Then write the words next to the dots
Topic
Reason/fact/detail
Explain
See teachers example
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Back of Page
Use crayon to make dot on the left side of the
page. Then write the words next to the dots
Reason/fact/detail
Explain
Conclusion
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Front of Page
Topic If I had a million dollars, I would have a grand time depleting it.
Reason/fact/detail
Explain
First, I would go out and buy the Honda Odyssey
Touring Edition.
This model has the six-DVD player, voice
controlled navigation and enough seats for all my
friends to come hang out with me.
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Back of Page
Reason/fact/detail
Explain
Conclusion
Next, I would book a cruise to Alaska.
I would make sure it was the longest cruise
available and I would take all my friends with me.
Rolling in money would clearly be a boon for not
only myself, but my closet friends.
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If I was Rolling in the Dough!
If I had a million dollars, I would have a grand
time depleting it. First, I would go out and buy
the Honda Odyssey Touring Edition. This model has
the six-DVD player, voice controlled navigation
and enough seats for all my friends to come hang
out with me. Next, I would book a cruise to
Alaska. I would make sure it was the longest
cruise available and I would take all my friends
with me. Rolling in money would clearly be a boon
for not only myself, but my closet friends.
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How About More Than One Paragraph

• You can just add more explain pieces and make
  the reason/detail/fact sentence become the
  topic.

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For example
Paragraph
R/D/F Difficult trip across Atlantic
Paragraph
e Dangerous waters
e One ship turned back
e Poor living conditions
R/D/F Difficult winter
Paragraph
e Arrived in wrong location
e Arrived too late to plant garden
e Arrived too late to build homes
R/D/F Befriended by Indians
Paragraph
e Invited to first Thanksgiving
Paragraph for the conclusion
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Persuasive Essay Format
R/D/F Outlines Reasons Outline
Topic Reasons for Learning to Swim R Safety
reasons e Help yourself e Save others R
Social reasons e Parties e Vacations e
Summertime
Of course, you will NOT limit yourself to only
two reasons or three examples.
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• Independent Practice

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You try

• Get a paper ready like in step one but with 3
  yellows (reason/detail/fact). One reason must be
  the opposing viewpoint and a rebuttals to it.
• Think about the topic you want to write your
  persuasive essay about.
• Fill in using your topic and at least two reds
  (explain) that you can think of to support each
  yellow.
• Remember to only JOT information.

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By tomorrow

• You will need to bring me the step one paper
  you have been working on for my green light on
  your topic.
• Tomorrow we will research any information you
  will need for the examples on your topic.