Writing from Informational Texts

How many times have you given your child a writing assignment, only to have him/her sit, staring at the blank page, wondering how to begin? I have used many different writing programs over the years.  Unfortunately, many of these programs fall short in that they teach writing about a topic but not critical analysis of pieces of writing.  Students need to be able to think critically about both fictional and non-fictional types of text.  After attending a lengthy seminar about teaching students to read and respond to informational types of text, I created an acrostic / mnemonic strategy that students, actually any writer, can use to help organize and present their thoughts logically.  When students take writing assessments such as the ACT or SAT writing tests, this process will help them quickly and easily plan their essay.  This is also very useful in college classes where students have to compare / contrast documents, pieces of literature, poems, etc…. Over the next several blog posts, I am going to address each of the components of the mnemonic separately, but I will give you the entire acrostic / mnemonic below so you can see the overall picture.
Here it is:  
C  - Close read the text.
U – Unravel the prompt.
B – Be organized. Tame the BEAST!

B- Begin Strong 

           E- Evidence and Examples
           A- Analyze and Apply 
           S- Sum it Up 
           T- Transitions and Terms

S – Say more!
Be watching for the remaining posts in this series where I examine each part of the writing process step-by-step.  Part 1, Close read the text, is coming up later this week.