Interest surveys are fairly common in upper elementary and middle school classrooms, especially at the start of a new school year. Teachers want to know their students’ interests, hobbies, and preferences. Discerning teachers use this information not only as a getting-to-know-you activity but also to recommend authors and books to their students.
The Writing Process Survey is designed to help teachers understand their students’ writing processes. Teachers can use the information as a getting-to-know-you activity for the writers in the room and to recommend writing strategies to particular students.
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Writing Process Survey
1. What do you typically do when you have writer’s block? 2. Do you typically do any prewriting on paper? If yes, describe it. If not, why not? 3. Where do you get your ideas for writing? 4. What’s easy for you about writing? What’s hard? 5. How do you feel about the revision process? Describe how revision typcially looks for you. 6. What kind of writing environment do you prefer? Why?
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The Writing Process Survey is a six-question protocol designed to get to the heart of a complex process. Answering the questions is no simple task, and students will need support as they consider each question. Perhaps you might demonstrate how you would answer some of the questions, or you might encourage students to talk to a writing partner before answering the questions. The survey should be administered after students have had time to learn about the writing process and reflect on their own process.
You will want to read through each completed survey and take note:
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Which students might need strategies for overcoming writer’s block?
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Which students might need prewriting strategies? Which students don’t depend on prewriting much?
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Which students might need guidance in generating ideas for writing? Which students seem to collect ideas everywhere?
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Which students prefer a quiet writing environment? Which students prefer background noise?
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Which students have some revision strategies at the ready?
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Purpose |
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To acknowledge differences among writers and encourage reflection about the writing process |
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Materials |
Time Frame |
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15–30 minutes |
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Using the Tool |
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Notes |
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What’s Your Process?
One way to bring the differences in writing process to the forefront of your writing workshop is to get the differences on paper. Begin by thinking aloud about your own writing process. Here is what I recently said to a group of sixth graders:
I find that a lot of my prewriting actually takes place in my head and isn’t on paper at all. Once I have an idea for a writing project, I spend a long time just envisioning the final product. Sometimes I think about my writing projects in the shower or when I’m driving or when I’m eating lunch. I think about the actual words I will write, how I will start, what the title will be, and what kind of structure I might use. I guess I kind of write the piece in my head. Then, when I have time to do the actual writing, I just open up a blank page on my computer and start typing. This part, the writing part, is actually rather easy for me because I already have a really good idea what I want to say. I feel like I have two different drafting processes: an internal one and an external one.
As far as revision goes, I do a whole bunch of revising while I draft on the computer—I backspace, delete, and add words while I’m typing. This feels like drafting and revising simultaneously. Then after I type the whole piece, I usually walk away from it for a while. I feel like I need some space between the draft and the big revision, like I need to look at it later with fresh eyes. I’ll come back to the piece later that day or the next day and reread it. Here, I’ll make some major revisions and edit, all at one time. I’ll look for grammatical or spelling errors. I’ll correct sentence structure that doesn’t sound right.
I usually read it aloud to myself at this point, and that is when I might take out a sentence or add a few words or sometimes even rewrite whole paragraphs. Depending on the piece, I might have my husband help me edit and revise at this time. Right up until the time I hit Publish, I’ll hop in and out of the document and tweak it until the deadline comes. If I didn’t have a deadline, I think I might live in a constant state of revision. It’s very rare that I ever feel completely done.
Next, I drew a graphic representation of my writing process as I had described it.
Now, this is not always how I write, but it is mostly how I write. The truth is, my process varies every time I sit down to write. It varies according to
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the genre,
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my audience,
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whether I have a deadline looming,
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my mood,
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how much time I have to write, and
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the environment, such as noise level and comfort level.
Give the students a few minutes to think about how they write most of the time. What feels right to them as a writer? Which part of the writing process is hardest? In which part do they spend the most time? Have them turn and talk to a partner to share their thinking. Finally, they can sketch a graphic representation of their writing process:
Shayna has a step between idea and draft where she prefers to talk to another writer. Talk is an integral part of Shayna’s process.
Karina’s process consists of short periods of drafting followed by revision and editing. Karina prefers to write in chunks.
Students can share their graphic representations with a new partner, or you could do a gallery walk of the notebooks by spreading them around the classroom. Students can take three to five minutes to wander around the gallery, noting the different writing processes. They might leave a sticky note with any observations or comments for the writer.
The goal is for students to become more self-aware and to understand the truth that writers have their own writing process. The message I hope to convey through this lesson is that just because you may have to do a lot of prewriting or just because your drafts may need lots and lots of revision, it does not mean you are not a writer. Every writer has a different writing process.
