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How do you plan a systematic writing program?

Megan Nelson A systematic writing program addresses all of the skills and abilities needed for good writing. Writing instruction should address basic sentence formation, grammar, and conventions, content aspects which convey meaning, and higher level processes such as planning and revision. Teaching correct letter formation, capitalization of proper nouns, and descriptive words are all very important and students must be given plenty of opportunities to practice and apply the skills learned in writing. After students have been effectively expressing their thoughts in writing and enjoying writing, they can be taught the writing process, which includes pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

Elyce Rickerl

Developing a systematic writing program involves exposing students to the necessary skills that must be developed in order to create a coherent and successful piece of writing. Instruction in writing needs to focus on the small parts that make up the whole. Students must be instructed in sentence formation, grammar, and conventions. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and word choice should also be instructed at beginning levels. Aspects of the writing process such as planning and revision must be taught as well, but these involve more higher-order thinking processes. All elements of the processes described here must be worked into writing instruction and all stages to provide adequate practice for mastery. Teaching the writing process can be difficult for students who haven't mastered the basic components of writing. Students should be instructed as to how all of the "basics" of writing described above fit into the stages of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing that make up the standard process for any piece of good writing.

-Elyce Rickerl