Power Writing What is it? How do I do it? Why doesn’t my teacher just let me write the way I want?

What is it? Power Writing is a method … To help you organize what you want to write, and To help you write clearly, concisely, and logically

What is it? Power Writing acts as a foundation for your writing At first, your writing may seem plain and boring when you are learning the basics.

…but then you add style, and your plain writing transforms into an interesting and unique piece. Just like a house can have style, so can your writing. No Style With Style

How do I do it? Let’s learn the foundation. Power Writing assigns numbers to each sentence… 1 st Power Sentence –Contains the main idea or topic sentence –May state a number Example: My parents gave me permission to go camping for two reasons.

2 nd Power Sentence –Contains general or broad information –Refers to the 1 st PS (Power Sentence) Example: First, I did all my chores. (This sentence contains broad information because we don’t know what the chores were.)

1 st and 2 nd Power Sentences Together: My parents gave me permission to go camping for two reasons. First, I did all my chores. Secondly, I earned good grades.

1 st Power Sentence (PS) = Topic 2 nd Power Sentences give information that refers to the 1 st Power Sentence 2 nd PS Chores 2 nd PS Good Grades 1 st PS Permission

3 rd PS (Power Sentence) –Contains specific information –Refers to the 2 nd PS directly above it Example: My parents gave me permission to go camping for two reasons. First, I did all my chores. I vacuumed my bedroom, and I cleaned my bathroom. (This 3 rd PS tells something specific about the chores, so it is giving more info about the 2 nd PS right above it.)

Let’s put these sentences together to form a paragraph. We’ll have a paragraph containing five Power Writing sentences: My parents gave me permission to go camping for two reasons. First, I did all my chores. I vacuumed my bedroom, and I cleaned my bathroom. Secondly, I earned good grades. I received an 85 in math because I did my homework every day. Slide 10

Sometimes you will see Power Writing numbers written vertically to show the relationship of the sentences to each other nd Power Sentences contain broad info that refers back to information in the 1 st PS

Sometimes you will see Power Writing numbers written vertically to show the relationship of the sentences to each other rd Power Sentences contain specific info that refers back to information in the 2 nd PS directly above it. 3 rd PS sentences give more information about the 2 nd PS right above it.

So the first 3 rd Power Sentence tells exactly what chores the writer completed. It gives specific info about the 2 nd PS right above it My parents gave me permission to go camping for two reasons. First, I did all my chores. I vacuumed my bedroom, and I cleaned my bathroom. Secondly, I earned good grades. I received an 85 in math because I did my homework every day. The next 3 rd Power Sentence tells exactly what the writer did to get good grades. Therefore, it gives information about the 2 nd PS directly above it.

4 th Power Sentence –Contains very specific information –Refers to the 3 rd PS (Power Sentence) directly above it Example: It took me about two hours to clean only because my bathtub had lots of black mold around the edge.

When we put it together, we have a Power Writing paragraph:

My parents gave me permission to go camping for two reasons. First, I did all my chores. I vacuumed my bedroom and cleaned my bathroom. It took me about two hours to clean only because my bathtub had lots of black mold around the edge. Secondly, I earned good grades. I received an 85 in math because I did my homework every day. Sometimes it was hard to complete my assignments when I had soccer practice on school nights Slide 16

Let’s see how this looks in a web: 1 st PS Permission 2 nd PS Good Grades 2 nd PS Chores 3 rd PS Math 3 rd PS Vacuumed & Cleaned 4 th PS Hard 4 th PS Long time/Mold

Okay, we have a paragraph written in a clear, concise, and logical way but it is boring. However, you can transform a logical but boring piece of writing into something interesting by adding style. Try these simple methods: 1. Vary sentence beginnings 2. Use vivid vocabulary 3. Use figurative language Look at the next slide to see style changes added…

Having a foolproof plan helped me easily win my parents’ permission to go camping. No matter what, I completed my chores when I was told. Vacuuming the house went quickly, but scrubbing my bathroom posed problems. It could take me two hours to complete both jobs because of the intensive effort required to free the black mold blooming along the edges of my tub. Next, I maintained good grades even in my hardest subject. By doing my homework every night, I earned an 85 in math. However, maintaining this nightly homework routine was difficult on evenings I returned home from soccer practice exhausted. Slide 19

As you can see, we maintained the foundation of the paragraph. In other words, though it sounded better because it had style, it was still written in a logical way. So when you write, always have the Power Writing foundation so it is organized, but then add lots of style to make it interesting. Basic Foundation Foundation + Style= Interesting

Why doesn’t my teacher just let me write the way I want? Because your teacher … Wants you to excel. Wants you to grow as a writer, to get better at what you can do. Remember: Words are the outer clothing of our ideas. -Agatha Christie, author

Why doesn’t my teacher just let me write the way I want? Because your teacher … Wants to give you the tools to organize your thoughts, so you can communicate with others. Remember: If people can not write well, they can not think well. And, if they can not think well, others will do the thinking for them. - George Orwell, author

There is more to learn about Power Writing How to write an introduction How to write a conclusion How to write longer pieces But don’t worry… your teacher will help you, step- by-step, until your are writing great things.

Developed by Karen Tindall McCleskey Middle School Marietta, Georgia 2003