EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:
A Review of Effective Writing Information Books
Jessica Peaslee teaches small classes of Head Start parents in an ABE/Family Literacy program in New York City. Ms. Peaslee encourages the learners in her classes to realize that they possess valuable knowledge and skills that others would benefit from learning. She wants them to see that they are teachers as well as learners and not just teachers of their children, but also teachers of each other, her, the teacher, and anyone else who will listen. They have hit upon a fun and satisfying way for the learners to work on the skills they came to class to learn and, at the same time, to share their particular expertise with the public.
The class creates information books on a variety of subjects that are interesting and important to them. Most recently, the group wrote a book about early childhood development. In this case, Ms. Peaslee used the activity as an introduction to further study, but you could also use it as a culminating activity after studying any theme in your class.
The process is always evolving, but what follows is an outline how we created the book. We worked on it periodically over the course of several weeks.
Brainstorm and Transcribe
The learners listed everything they could think of that characterizes children at different age levels. I had four large pieces of newsprint on the wall, because we had divided young children into four age groups: infants; 1-2 years; 3-4 years; and 5-7 years. Every time someone offered some information, such as, "two year olds say 'No' all the time," or "lots of three year olds like to hold a book and pretend they are reading it out loud," I would add it to the list on the appropriate piece of newsprint. The activity led to much discussion about how children can be very different and still be "normal."
Re-read and Discuss
We reviewed the transcription of their collective knowledge, discussing how it all fit together into a picture of a developing child. This step helps learners pull together the disparate pieces of information and usually impresses them with how much they know.
Choose a Focus and Write
Each learner chose an age group and wrote about it independently. I emphasized that they should not try to include all the information in the brainstorm activity, but use it for ideas and then write from their own perspective. Some people focused on personal experiences, while others wrote a more objective description. Some pieces were quite long, while others were only a few sentences, depending on the learner's writing proficiency. I typed up each learner's draft (on the computer for easy revising) exactly as it was written.
Revise and Edit as a Group
Our classes are small, but for larger classes you could break down into small groups for this step. I photocopied each learner's piece of writing for everyone in the group. After everyone had read through a piece silently, the author read it aloud to the group slowly, pausing as the group decided how to revise and edit it. The author has the final say in this process. (This works in a class where people are very comfortable with each other. Otherwise, I would not recommend putting a learner on the spot like this.) We did this with each piece, working on them periodically over a couple of weeks. I typed the revised/edited versions.
Design the Book
With copies of the final drafts in hand, the class decided how to sequence the pieces as chapters in the book. They figured out what else was needed in order to complete the book, such as the title, cover, illustrations, dedication, and table of contents. They looked through lots of books in our classroom library to get ideas. Group decision making can be time-consuming and argumentative, but it is worth it in the end when everyone knows that the final product belongs to them. To write the title and dedication for example, the class brainstormed about 12 possibilities for each and voted.
Production
Because we have no word processing or photocopying facilities at the teaching site, I put the book together at the office, following the learners' instructions. I made multiple copies. The final product, Children and Development, is not only a source of pride for all the learners, but also something they have shared with relatives and other Head Start parents as educational material.
Evaluation
As always, the group reflected on the activity. I wrote on newsprint what they said they had learned through this book-creating project. They said they learned about themselves; about children and how they go through stages; making paragraphs; better punctuation; spelling; getting ideas onto paper; listening; working together; working separately; coming up with a good title; the different parts of a book; and voting on things.
(Adopted from Literacy Update newsletter)
