I HAVE A TOPIC; NOW WHAT?

Once you have a topic, you have to decide what to do with it.

STEP ONE: Write down everything you can think of related to your topic. Don't worry about spelling, capitalization, complete sentences, etc. JUST WRITE!

STEP TWO: Write some more. Make sure you have answered the following questions about you topic.

	Who?
	What?
	Where?
	When?
	Why?
	How?

STEP THREE: Narrow you topic. Make sure you have enough information, but not too much. Use the following questions to help narrow your topic.

	What or who is affected by the topic? How?
	Is the topic influenced by other things? How?
	Why is the topic important?
	What is the purpose of the topic?
	Why am I interested in this topic?
	Who will my audience be?
	What do I want to tell my audience?
	What is my purpose for writing about this topic?

STEP FOUR: Tie the similar ideas together. (They'll probably end up in the same paragraph in the paper.) Use a graphic organizer, or create your own.

STEP FIVE: Write the rough draft. Don't worry too much about conventions at this point. Get your ideas into writing first.

Resource: kimskorner4teachertalk.com

IDEAS AND CONTENT is what the writer has to say, a message. The ideas should be fresh and original. The ideas should also come from the writer's experience. The paper should be interesting and hold the reader's attention all the way through. The paper should contain supporting details that enrich the main idea. The main ideas should stand out from the supporting details. The writer should show how people respond to life and to each other.

A writer should do the following:

v Narrow the topic to something specific

v Use fresh and original ideas

v Write from experience

v Show insight in the writing

v Make the main idea stand out

v Use lots of supporting details

v Stay in control of the topic

v Develop the topic in an entertaining way

v Anticipate and answer the reader’s questions

v Use lots of “showing” (specific) information rather than “telling” (generalities)

v Quality of details matter more than quantity – accuracy counts

v

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Resource: kimskorner4teachertalk.com

IDEAS AND CONTENT RUBRIC

There are only specific guidelines for scores of 5, 3, and 1. A paper can still earn a rating of a 4 or 2. If a paper is not quite a 5, but better than a 3, it is a 4. If a paper is not quite a 3, but better than a 1, it is a 2.

Rating of 5 (Strong): The paper is clear, focused, and interesting. It holds the reader's attention. It is jam-packed with details.

v The writer writes from experience and seems to know a lot about the topic.

v The writing has balance; some ideas are more important than others.

v The topic has been narrowed to something specific.

v The writer stays on topic, and it is easy to tell what the point or main idea of the paper is.

v Supporting details "show" what happens instead of "telling" what happens.

Rating of 3 (Developing): The paper is somewhat clear and focused. It holds the reader's attention most of the time. It contains some details to support the main idea. The main idea may not be clear. There are only general, not specific details. The topic is a little too big to handle.

v The writer has an everyday understanding of the topic, but doesn't add anything new.

v The writer seems to be writing from experience and the ideas are reasonably clear, but they aren't detailed or specific.

v The main idea may not be clear or may not be original.

v The writer has begun to define the topic, but hasn't narrowed it enough to be specific.

v Not enough information is provided, leaving the reader with unanswered questions.

Rating of 1 (Beginning): The paper has no clear sense of purpose or main idea. There is no real message. The author just couldn’t figure out what to say. There are only a couple of details or no details.

v There is not very much information or it is not clear.

v The writer repeats the same information or seems to have written a list of thoughts.

v The writer is still in search of a narrowed topic.

v Everything is as important as everything else; there is no clear main idea.