Huffman, Beth Ann Needler

A group of teachers was asked the question  Why do people write?  There was a long pause, and the question was rephrased:  What do you write?  With this, a few tentative responses began with  I write letters,   I make lists for grocery shopping and things to do,  and  I keep a diary.  These triggered further examples: writing thank-you notes, invitations, messages, filling out forms, journals and for pleasure. When asked  Why do you write in your capacity as teachers?,  the response came quickly:  to produce lesson plans,    reports for the principal,   making out tests and experience charts  (Holdzum, Reed and Porter, 1986, p. 3). These writing tasks answered a number of needs or purposes. Some writing tasks are undertaken for pleasure; some to communicate information. Some of the writing activities served as memory-jogs or ways of organizing apparently unrelated information into a coherent whole. There are, indeed, many reasons to write. Writing, the communication of thoughts through the medium of written language, is a skill. In order for students to sharpen this skill, they must have an understanding of the definition of the writing process and the necessary steps that are involved in the process

A writing process handbook for secondary English teachers

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University of Dayton