1. Susan Burgoyne Bayview Community School
Ideas
Susan Burgoyne
Bayview Community School

2. Students’ writing would be so much better if only….

3. Six Traits of Writing Ideas Organization Voice Word Choice
Sentence Fluency
Conventions

4. Ideas are…. the heart of any piece of writing. all about information
paint pictures in a reader’s mind
contains beyond-the-obvious bits of information that thoughtful writer’s notice

5. Ideas are… Clear, focused main idea Intriguing, important details
No filler, no generalities
Puts reader “at the scene”

6. Test your original thinking!
The grass is always greener…
We have nothing to fear…
The squeaky wheel gets…
Don’t count your chickens…

7. Where Do We Get Ideas? Write one thing that happened this morning.
Write one thing that happened last month.
Write one thing that happened 2 to 3 years ago.

8. Skinny it down!
Honda
Car
Car
land transportation
Transportation

9. Focusing the Binoculars
Author Barry Lane says the more we focus our mental binoculars, the more vivid images become.

10. Try going from fuzzy to detailed!
The woman looked kind of funny.
Her black felt hat, which was many sizes too large, covered all of her face except her chin. When she spoke, we could only see a small patch of white bobbing up and down under a large black hat.

11. You try fine tuning the binoculars.
His car was a mess.
The food did not look good to me.
That dog was mean.

12. 6 Tips for Success in IDEAS
Be an observer.
Write small.
Pick your own topics.
Get rid fo deadwood.
Don’t try to tell too much.
Don’t generalize.