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Organize Writing with Note Cards

Tags

ELA: Writing Study Skills & Tools All Ages Strategy

Skills

Flexible Thinking Organization Verbal Reasoning Abstract Reasoning

Organize Writing with Note Cards

If your student struggles to write in a logical sequence or make connections between ideas

Teach It!

  1. Objective: Students will use sticky notes or notecards as a visual approach to organizing their ideas and sequence for a writing assignment.
  2. Instruction and Practice: Present a simple writing topic and guide students through the process (next slide) of collecting ideas on notecards/sticky notes and grouping ideas together to organize what will then form pieces of the writing. Repeat the activity as needed and support students in trying it on their own with a writing assignment.
  3. Teacher Notes: Depending on student age, each notecard grouping could be a sentence, a paragraph, or a section of a research paper.

*students* Checklist: Plan Your Writing With Notecards

  1. Write down your ideas related to the assignment topic or thesis statement. Use one sticky note or notecard per idea or sentence.
  2. Spread out all the notes on a table, wall, or floor where you can see them all at once.
  3. Move the notes to group related ideas together. If you need help, discuss with a parent or teacher your ideas for possible different groupings and why one might work well or another might be less effective.
  4. Give each grouping a title. It will help you remember why you grouped those items together.
  5. Keep each group together with a paper clip or rubber band until you have time to include them in your writing so you don't mix up your groupings.
  6. Use your groupings to complete your writing in manageable chunks so it doesn't feel like you have to write everything at one time.

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

The act of visually seeing all the different ideas laid out and then physically grouping them together can offer clarity in how related ideas should be grouped together. Students also have the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of different groupings by moving things around and seeing how they look together. For students who have difficulty with organization or grouping, adults can work with them and discuss ideas in pairings which might feel more manageable.