Living Life Twice

Every piece of writing begins with some degree of pre-writing. There are many starting points to the writing process. Unconscious rehearsal may precede a writing project. The more we write, the broader the range of pre-writing options we tend to call upon when preparing to launch some writing. This ‘rehearsal becomes a conscious action.  Reading, talking with other writers, listing, webbing, sketching, planning, daydreaming, pondering, decision making- even some preparatory writing, may occur before we actually begin to compose (drafting) in greater detail.  Pre-writing can look different for each writer. Our pre-writing preferences shine through. Sometimes a number of pre-writing actions may be enacted conjointly depending on the needs of the writer at that time. What strategy to use may change with the writer’s choice of topic or genre. We should not adopt a one size fits all when implementing pre-writing strategies. It is valuable to consider your own pre-writing strategi...

An extensive national survey of ‘Writing Practices in Australian Primary Education, Years 1-6 ‘ conducted by Malpique, Valcan, Pasternak & Ledger, and published in May 2022, revealed, among other matters, the following information regarding writing’s links to the home environment and current teacher practices. ‘Results assessing reported teaching practices to extend writing to the home environment showed that the majority of teachers (64.8%) never asked students to write at home with the support of a parent/guardian.  The majority of teachers (77.4%) also reported that they asked parents/guardians to read/share their children’s written work as infrequently as once a year, or never. The majority of teachers (63.9%) reported never, or infrequently encouraged writing, as a home task.  Communicating with parents/guardians to discuss students’ writing performance and needs, was reported as an infrequent practice by the majority of participating teachers (71.9%). ‘ These p...