Subject: English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Authors: Ms. Laila E. Mendoza, Ms. Cristina Cruz and Ms. Sharmaine Mhyre
Editors: Mrs. Crista E. Macale and Mr. Jaycie B. Robles
Reviewers: Mr. Elmar A. Cundangan and Mr. Victor T. Reyes

LESSON 6: THE PRE-WRITING PROCESS

Description of the lesson

In our previous lesson, we discussed the different strategies to become a

critical reader. Today, we will learn how to become an effective writer. Are you
ready for another fun learning session?

Objectives (What I need to know)

At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
1. identify the different stages of pre-writing process.
2. develop creativity on generating ideas through graphic organizer.
3. formulate a well-written character sketch by following the stages of pre-writing process.
Day 1
Pre-assessment (What I know)
Mr. and Ms. ENAPP 2020
Before we proceed to our new lesson, let us have some brain teasers by answering the following questions.
Supposed you are a candidate in a beauty pageant and it is time for the Q and A portion. Pick one question
and answer them as precise and honest as you can.
Q1. What are the qualities you are looking for in a man or woman?
Q2. What are the distinct traits a country’s leader must possess?
Q3. How are you going to describe your favorite teacher?
Q4. What are the traits of a teenager like you must emulate?
Q5. What is the most admirable trait of your mother?

Great! Thank you for freely expressing your thoughts and ideas on our activity. Be ready to deepen
your understanding about writing. You are encouraged to take down some notes while studying.

Lesson content (What’s New?)

Direction: Read the discussion of the lesson below. For deeper understanding of the lesson you are also
encourage to take down notes and/or highlight the important information from the texts.
What is Writing?

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Writing is one of the four macro skills a language learner must acquire. As defined by Merriam Webster,
writing is the act or art of forming visible letters or characters. A writer uses these symbols (letters,
punctuation, characters and spaces) to communicate in a readable form.
You can learn by writing. It helps us to express our own thoughts and ideas on a particular topic and even
discover new ones.
Effective writing does not happen in just one sitting. We have to undergo different stages in order for us
to produce a well-written paper. That is why there is what we call the writing process. In this lesson, we
will focus on one stage of the writing process which is the pre-writing process.
Pre-writing process is the most important and the first stage of the writing process. This stage is also
called the “generating ideas” part where the student first determines the topic and the position or point-of-
view for a target audience.
The pre-writing process includes thinking, taking notes, talking to others, brainstorming and gathering
information.
The following are the most common strategies and methods a student can use in the pre-writing stage:
1. Choosing a topic. Developing a good topic is an essential skill. There are some cases that teachers
assign their students a particular topic but most of the time you are task to select your own topic
of interest.
In choosing a topic, you can use different techniques such as the brainstorming, freewriting, and
clustering. Let us differentiate the three techniques from one another.

a. Brainstorming. This technique aims to generate as many topics as you can in 10-15 minutes
so that the random topics can be made into focused topic later on. A list format is often the
easiest to organize. This can be done individually and then shared it with the class or done as
a group.
In brainstorming, you start with a topic and then add few possible points and supporting details.
Below is an example of brainstorming.

Notice how we add possibe general points (travel,

treat, donate, concerts, invest) from our topic then
specified them through supporting details.

b. Freewriting. It is similar to brainstorming; you just write any idea that comes to your mind
for a specific amount of time. In freewriting, you should not worry about grammar, punctuation
or spelling. Instead, focus on trying to come up with as many ideas as you possibly could to
help you het to the writing process.
The goal of freewriting is to beat writer’s block and tap your creativity by never stop listing
down topics; never stop moving your pen or pencil. Even if you are repeating the same words
over and over.

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 Analyze this example and see how
the writer did not stop writing and
expressing her thoughts regarding
the topic. The ideas may seem
scattered but it will be later on of
use once you revised and omit
some unnecessary words and ideas
and transfer it to your final paper.

c. Clustering. It is a type of pre-writing that allows the writer to provide a graphic representation of
your ideas, allowing you to visualize the connection and/or relationship of your idea.

To begin a cluster, choose a word that is central to the assignment.

For example, you may write a paper about the what you would do if you won a lottery, you might
choose a word “spend” and write that word in the middle of the sheet of paper. Circle the word
“spend” and then write all the words around it: words that occur to you when you think or heard
of “spend”. At first, the words may seem random but you have to write quickly, encircling each
word and group them around a central word. Show the connection of the words through lines or
arrows, and when you feel like you have already exhausted the association in a particular avenue
of words, you should go back to the central idea and begin again.

2. Narrowing down your topic. Narrowing down your topic means working from the outside in where
you start listing possible general and broad ideas and then narrow it down into specific ones or until
you find the idea that interests you.
Here are some steps you could use to narrow down your topic.
a. Think about your topic and proceed to answering the five “W questions”.
-What? (What am I going to do if I won the lottery? Spend it.)
-When? (When will I spend it? The very first moment I got the money.)
-Where? (Where will I spend it? Shopping, Travelling.)
-Why? (Why will I spend it on those things? Because it will make me happy.)
-How? (How will I win a lottery?)
b. Pile items up after one another. From the different strategies mentioned in choosing a topic, you
may now highlight, encircle and/or omit unnecessary ideas leaving the important ones.
c. Use the S.O.C.R.A.P.R. model. By using this model, you can now further narrow down your topic.
S.O.C.R.A.P.R model is an acronym that stands for similarities, opposites, contrast, relationships,
acronyms, personification, and repetition.
3. Knowing your purpose. It is important to define your purpose to know how are you going to
communicate your intended message to your readers. There are different reasons you may be trying to
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accomplish in your writing. You may want to inform, persuade, narrate and explain. You should choose
the one that best suits the paper you’re working on.
i. To inform means to share facts and other information. This purpose is usually found on
reports, and researches that are supported by facts and truthful evidence.
ii. To explain means that you are going to tell the what, how, and why of the topic. An example
of this is a paper that is explaining how to do or make something.
iii. To narrate means telling or describing a story. This van be fictional or non-fictional.
Examples are fictional stories and personal narratives that has beginning, middle, and an
end.
iv. To persuade means having the purpose of convincing your reader to believe or consider
your claims and opinions about a particular topic. You should always remember to support
your arguments with factual information and evidences to get the audience to agree, take
action, or both.
4. Identifying your audience or reader. It is substantial to define and know who your audience or reader
is. Your paper should be “reader-friendly”, which means your reader should not be confused and will
not find it hard to understand the message of your paper. It should also be appropriate to their age, sex,
education, economic status, social position, values, and assumptions.

Once you have determined the categories above, you may now think of your audience’s knowledge of
the topic, their expectations on your paper, and on how you can catch their interests and make them
lost in reading your paper.

Great! We are now done with our discussion! To supplement your learning, you may also watch
the uploaded video of our lesson on our fb classroom.
I hope you learned a lot today! If you have clarifications regarding our lesson, feel free to reach
out.

Day 2
Review
Yesterday, we discussed the pre-writing process and scrutinize every strategy under the said stage
of the writing process. Today, we are going to test your understanding of our lesson. You will surely
enjoy this activity as your mind will be exercised.

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Crossword Puzzle. Below is a puzzle regarding our lesson. Identify the words discussed yesterday and
use the hints and clues given to unveil the hidden words.

Down
2. A person whom you intend to reach out with
your writing.
4. It means to convince the reader to believe or
consider your claims.
6. It is an act of generating ideas by nonstop
writing on a specific period of time.
8. This technique aims to generate as many topics
as you can in 10-15 minutes so that the random
topics can be made into focused topic later on

Across:
1.This model is an acronym that stands for similarities, opposites, contrast, relationships, acronyms,
personification, and repetition.
3.This means that you are going to tell the what, how, and why of the topic.
5. It is the use of graphic persentation of your ideas showing the connection and/or relationship of the
ideas presented.
7. This means to tell or describe a story.
9. It is the subject or focus of your paper.
10. The most important and first stage of the writing process.

Good job! It seems that you really grasp every information about our lesson. Don’t forget to re-
check and review your answers for possible wrong ones. We’ll continue testing your understanding
of our lesson tomorrow!

Day 3
Valuing/Integration (What’s more?)

Yesterday, we test your understanding of the lesson. Today, we are going to have an activity where
you can express your perception towards the topic. Are you ready to share some your feelings and
emotions?

Character web. Choose one person in your family that has admirable traits. Using a graphic organizer,
list and describe five qualities you love the most on the person you chose. You can be specific and share
one incident or scenario that showcases the qualities you listed. Do this on a long bond paper. You can
be creative by adding pictures, colors, etc.

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Day 4
Application (What I can do?)

Yesterday, you express your love and admiration toward your loved one. Today, we will continue
mastering the lesson through explaining your yesterday’s activity in a well-written essay.

Character Sketch. Using the ideas presented on the graphic organizer you created yesterday, create a
well-written essay about your loved one. Make sure to apply the structure of paragraph and essay we
discussed during the past weeks. Do this on a one whole sheet of paper.

Day 5
Post- Assessment (What I Have Learned)

You are one step closer to ending this week! And since this is our last day for this lesson, let us
make the activity easy to accomplish by having a partner. Are you ready for some collaborative
work?

Brainstorm with me. Find a partner and analyze the paragraph below. Brainstorm on the content of the
paragraph through answering the guide questions. Do this on a separate paper. Indicate the name of your
partner on the comment section found on the last page of this learning guide.

As strong as a rock, that is how I might describe my mother in a nutshell. She gave birth and
was able to raise four children while earning for a living. She forgives easily and speaks the truth yet
she cares for people. She is filled with kindness, generosity, compassion, integrity, a willingness to be
vulnerable, and authenticity. Even those who have an axe to grind against her could not help saying
favorable things about her. She handles her fears, problems, and issues bravely. It is all because of the
said reasons that I admire my mother and consider her as a strong woman.

Guide questions:
1. What is the topic sentence in the paragraph?
2. What particular trait of the subject is emphasized?
3. What details are given to support or illustrate this particular trait?
4. Read the concluding statement. What is the importance of the last statement?
5. Define the following idiomatic expressions stated in the above paragraph and use it in a sentence.
a. as strong as a rock
b. an axe to grind
Congratulations! You are done with this week’s learning guide about the pre-writing process. Did you
have fun while learning? What is your favorite part of the lesson and/or activity? Tell me more by filling
in the blanks below.
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____________________________________________________________________________________
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Reminders:
1. Keep this module together with the written outputs in a portfolio.
a.2. Your opinion matters! Give your feedback or message regarding the lesson to your teacher through
text or messenger. You may also ask for clarification and guidance in order to achieve the lesson’s
goal.
3. Enjoy your weekend!

References
Harcourt, Houghton (2013), Common Core Writing Handbook Grade 6. First Edition. (P) ***ISBN-10:
0547865074 / ISBN-13: 9780547865072

Caulfield Jack (2020). A step-by-step guide to the writing process. Retrieved from:
https://www.scribbr.com/academic-writing/writing-process/

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