Contents Lesson Plan Handout 1: Brainstorming Strategies Handout 2: Brainstorming Example Materials Needed Writing pads, pens, large sheets of printer paper, highlighters, sticky notes, colored pens Lesson Plan Part One: Introduction (15 mins) Ask students to imagine how/when/why someone might brainstorm before they get started drafting. As they list out ideas, record their responses on board and use this list to frame today s workshop. Say, brainstorming is an early, essential part of the writing process that can help you to discover what and how you think about a topic and that can help you to deepen your understanding of a topic s potential. Brainstorming can be useful during drafting and revision stages also any time you need new ideas. Frame this work: Writing is not simply a process of recording already-developed thoughts it s a process of figuring out what you think. Research on writing and teaching shows that writers can think more freely and generate stronger arguments when we make time to brainstorm when we give ourselves time to explore and deepen our understanding of our ideas. Whether you are starting with too much information, or not enough, brainstorming can help you identify your next writing steps: to find more sources, to narrow your scope, to determine where to revise, etc. Ask students to take a minute to jot down a list of their brainstorming needs at this moment. What do they need to do before they write their current draft? Do they need to come up with an idea? Organize the ideas that they already have? Deepen their understanding of the assignment s question? Brainstorm new words, plot events, sources of support? After a few minutes have passed, ask students to share out answers. Part Two: Brainstorming (40 mins) Pass out Handout 1: Brainstorming Strategies. Introduce these as strategies that target different brainstorming needs. In a moment, they will read through each strategy, and select one to implement for the remaining part of the hour. Direct students attention to Strategy #4, To Organize Your Ideas, and say they ll look at this one together to get a sense of how a writer might use a brainstorming strategy even after they ve gotten started on their assignment. Ask a student to read the strategy aloud. Next, distribute Handout 2: Brainstorming Example, and introduce this as one writer s response to Strategy #4. Model for students how the writer used this strategy
point out the initial circle obesity in childhood and the different topics this leads to. Have a student read aloud the writer s description of her process. Next, ask students to read through the remaining strategies, select one that best matches their brainstorming needs, and to implement it. Let them know they can write on their phones, on sticky notes, and/or on large pieces of paper anything that helps them to more freely explore their ideas. None of what they write today has to be in the form of full sentences, complete paragraphs, or organized in any formal way. Note to facilitator: Circulate and help students who need help selecting a strategy, and/or help students who want to work with a partner pair up. As students try out strategies, feel free to try out one too. Part Three: Wrap-up (5 mins) With 5 minutes remaining, ask students to find a good stopping point, and then introduce to them the concept of parking on a downhill slope. Say, your writing in any session should ideally not be over until you ve considered what your work is for the following day. Have each student set out a writing task for themselves this will give them an entry point for their next writing session. Go over potential next writing steps, and Writing Center resources available to them. Perhaps they might book a session with a consultant to write a thesis statement or to create an outline, or attend our Drafting Workshop (provide them with workshop date, if possible.) Wrap up.
Brainstorming Strategies 1. To Plan Your Approach to an Assignment Read through your assignment sheet and mark it up. Add questions where you have them, circle or highlight any important parts, and focus on making the following lists: 1. List the action verbs 2. List the questions you know you ll need to answer 3. List points from your readings/notes that you know you ll want to use 4. Make a to-do list: list all of the actions you will need to perform to successfully complete this assignment 2. To Work Through Anxiety about an Assignment Take out a new page or open up a new file, and write about any anxieties you might have about this assignment. Try to produce 1 page of free writing about these fears. Nobody will read what you ve written, and you can write in any language consider this private writing. The goal is simply to get these first thoughts or fears out of mind. When you feel like you ve processed some of your fears, open a clean document or use a fresh sheet of paper to start planning your work. Try recording one or more concrete steps you know you can take next, and write down when you ll do them. You might say: First thing tomorrow, I ll draft a thesis statement, or I ll collect all the quotes I want to analyze by Tuesday. Having an achievable goal will help put those anxieties behind you. 3. To Generate New Ideas 1. Do you always write longhand, or type on your laptop? Try brainstorming in a new space take out your phone or a large sheet of paper, and write down any ideas that come to mind about your assignment. 2. Try talking your ideas about your essay into your phone, or another voice recorder. Later, you can go back and listen to what you said and transcribe the ideas that feel most important. 3. Find a partner, and talk with them about your ideas for your essay. Ask them to take notes. Next, have your partner describe their ideas for their essay as you take notes. Exchange notes. 4. To Generate Ideas through Close Reading a Text Are you writing an essay that requires you to do a close-reading of a text? If so, take out that text and select a passage (1-3 paragraphs long) that interests you. Reread, underlining or circling any parts that seem important. Now take out a sheet of paper and freewrite for ten minutes write down any ideas that come to mind about what you have read. After, answer the following questions: Why do you think you chose this passage over others? What is
significant, or interesting to you about this passage? You are interpreting this passage in a certain way how do you think others might interpret it? If you wanted to explore these ideas more, what other passages would you select? 5. To Organize Your Ideas If you have many details or items, but are feeling overwhelmed by how to organize them, try starting with a blank piece of unlined paper and mapping them out: Ø Write down one important word or phrase in the middle and circle it. Ø How do the other items you need to include connect to this main idea? Would you use straight lines to connect these ideas? Overlapping circles? Give yourself permission to draw your ideas in any form you d like. Ø After, consider what the relationship between your ideas might be. Alternatively, try filling out the Brainstorming Cluster, Flow Chart, or Business Writing Idea Charts on the following pages. 6. Imagine your Audience Imagine your audience. Who are you writing for? What is it they would like to see in this piece of writing? For example, if you are writing a business memo, imagine that you are the CEO who will read this memo, and try answering the following questions: How would I want my employee to address me in this letter? How would I prefer information to be organized? What concerns would I have about this proposal? Similarly, if you are writing a study-abroad or graduate school application, imagine you are on the admissions committee. Ask yourself: What three points would I like to see each candidate make? What would surprise me and make a candidate stand out? Again, note down your answers and use these to plan out what you will write. 7. Brainstorm in a Language other than English Do you speak, read, or write more than one language? Have you ever tried brainstorming in a language other than English? Think about the topic or assignment you are working on. Are there words or concepts that you can only think of in your native language? For example, there may be a concept in Spanish that does not easily translate into English. Write down these concepts as they come to you in your first language. You may think of some ideas in your native language and others in English. Give yourself the freedom to get your ideas out in whatever language they may be in. By the end, you can imagine your sheet of paper being a mix of words, phrases, drawings and/or questions in one or two languages. (You can do this work on a blank sheet of paper or using the Brainstorming Cluster.)
Brainstorming Example The writer of this diagram was brainstorming ideas for an essay on obesity in children. 1 The writer, on her brainstorming process: I started with the topic of obesity in children, which led me to several related topics: diet, genetics, health problems later in life, and exercise. Once I made the connection between childhood obesity, diet, and TV ads for unhealthy foods, it seemed there were a lot of additional connections to be made. This brainstorming session made me see that the relationship between advertising and childhood obesity is a potentially strong one, and would be a really interesting paper topic to pursue. 1 Text adapted from Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. The Bedford Handbook. 8 th ed., Bedford/St. Martin s, 2010, p. 17.
Brainstorming Cluster
Flow Chart
Business Writing Idea Charts Assertion: Example: Example: Example: Process: Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Recommendation: Reason: Reason: Reason: