2. The Writing Process A Five Step Process for Publishing Students’ Writing

3. There Are 5 Stages to the Writing Process 1. Prewriting 2. Drafting 3. Revising 4. Editing 5. Publishing

4. Step 1: Prewriting During the prewriting stage students search for ideas and inspirations for their writing. They may read books or their own journal. After settling on an idea, students can then begin to plan their writing using graphic organizers or story boards.

5. Step 2: Drafting  During the drafting stage students write the first copy of their piece.  At this time students focus only on writing “naturally”: they just write without worrying about correctness or conventions.  Students will correct the content and mechanics of their writing at later stages.

6. Step 3: Revising  The purpose of revising is to improve the content of the writing.  Students can revise to make their writing more interesting and to clarify confusing parts.  Students can add, change, or delete words and sentences.

7. Step 4: Editing  During editing students will proofread their writing for correct spelling, punctuation, and other mechanics.  Useful references for editing include dictionaries and our grammar text book.

8. Step 5: Publishing  During the final stage of the writing process students will publish their writing by creating a book or some other form of publication.  An important part of publishing is for students to share their work with each other.

9. Resources for Writing Stone Soup is a magazine that publishes kid’s writing Spaghetti Bookclub is a website featuring children’s writing about books