1. Writing Essays
Pull Apart the Prompt

3. P
Pull Apart the Prompt!

4. O
Organize Your Notes!

5. W
Write and Say More!

6. National RtI Writing Demonstration Project
What is a Prompt?
a question or an instruction that tells you what you're supposed to write.
For example,
a prompt might instruct you to write about…
a story you have read
your opinion on a topic
something you need to explain
a research topic
National RtI Writing Demonstration Project

7. Deconstructing a Prompt
(constructing means to build) Deconstructing means to take apart
How do I do that?
To deconstruct a prompt:
1. Read it
2. Take it apart
3. Understand what you need to do
4. Determine how to respond to the prompt correctly
National RtI Writing Demonstration Project

8. Identifying Key Parts of a Written Prompt
Does the prompt give you suggestions to get started?
Hints
Pay careful attention to the wording of the prompt.
Look for suggestions in the prompt to get you started
(ideas to think about, verbs that tell you what to do).
Use key words from the prompt to construct
your purpose statement.
National RtI Writing Demonstration Project

9. Identifying Key Parts of a Written Prompt
You can use the word RAFTS to help you remember how to deconstruct a prompt.
What role do you take as the writer? (student, citizen, expert)
Role
Who is your audience? (class, parent, teacher, friend)
Audience
What kind of response are you writing?
(short response, essay, explanatory, opinion, narrative)
Format
What are the verbs in the prompt asking you to do?
(advise your classmate, justify your opinion, explain why…)
Task
What are the key words that you need to include in your response?
Hint: Use these words to construct your purpose statement and your conclusion statement.
Strong key words

10. Example of Deconstructing a Prompt
Child Labor
You have read two text: Gasp! The Benefits of Child Labor in the Developing World and Child Labor: How to Help. After reading the two articles, you felt strongly about the issue and wanted to write a letter to the editor of your school newspaper giving your opinion as to whether or not child labor has a place in our society today.
What role do you take as the writer?
Role
Who is your audience?
Audience
What kind of response are you writing?
Format
What are the verbs in the prompt asking you to do?
Task
What are the key words that you need to include in your response?
Strong key words

11. Practice Writing Prompt
Write a 1-2 paragraph essay explaining the similarities between Yertle the Turtle and The Boys Who Fought Hitler. Provide textual evidence from the texts to support your answer.
Role
Audience
Format
Task
Strong key words

12. Practice Writing Prompt
You have read two excerpts: Where the Red Fern Grows and Hatchet. Write 2-3 paragraphs explaining the differences between Billy and Brian’s appearance.
Role
Audience
Format
Task
Strong key words

13. Practice Writing Prompt
You have read an excerpt from Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Tom tricks his friends to whitewash a fence for him. At the end, Tom has learned that in order to make a person want something, “it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get.”
Write a narrative, set in modern times, that teaches the same lesson Tom learned. Be sure to use the voice of a narrator, as well as dialogue, in your story.
Role
Audience
Format
Task
Strong key words

14. Practice Writing Prompt
You have read excerpts from two novels: Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop and Iqbal by Fransesco D’Adamo. In these excerpts, both of the main characters are willing to take serious personal risks to stop the use of child labor. As you reread the texts, think about which character is taking greater risks, Miss Lesley or Iqbal?
Role
Audience
Format
Task
Strong key words

15. Practice Writing Prompt
Write a 1 – 3 paragraph explanation of how animals use their bodies to sense the world around them. Your explanation must be based on ideas and information that can be found in the “Animals Senses” set.
Role
Audience
Format
Task
Strong key words

16. Practice Writing Prompt
It’s no secret that sometimes great discoveries come as a result of really big mistakes. But are they always worth the problems they cause? Sometimes the mistakes lead to greatness, and sometimes they lead to disaster. Are mistakes key to making discoveries? Write an essay arguing whether or not mistakes are a key part of discoveries. Your essay must be based on ideas, concepts, and information from the “Goofs and Great Inventions” passage set.
Role
Audience
Format
Task
Strong key words

17. The most important prewriting activity is to think about what you are going to write about.
Good writing is about…
Pulling apart the prompt
Organizing your writing
Write and Say More
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