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Get Started Writing by "Interviewing" Yourself

Tags

ELA: Writing K-8 Strategy

Skills

Flexible Thinking Organization Verbal Reasoning

Get Started Writing by "Interviewing" Yourself

If your student has plenty of ideas but has difficulty prioritizing or eliminating

How To Apply It!

  1. Have students ask themselves interview-type questions to identify which are the most important ideas to include in an essay.
  2. With a topic in mind, have students begin the writing process by interviewing themselves.
  3. Provide five or six interview-type questions. Require students to have informal written responses to at least three.
  4. Questions could be specific to the assignment. General questions could include: What do you want your audience to learn? Why is this topic important to you? Why is this interesting? Why will your audience care? What evidence do you have?
  5. Students use their answers to structure an outline for their paper.
  6. Over time, encourage students to formulate their own interview questions when they need to write.

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

Going through a question and answer process is a form of brainstorming but provides more structure for a student than simply getting all their ideas out. This approach can be particularly helpful for students who need support with organization, flexible thinking or reasoning skills.