Teaching the Writing Process

A Hands-on Classroom Actvity for High School English Students

Oct 24, 2008

Use jigsaw puzzles in a creative lesson plan that teaches the writing process. High schoolers learn that writing essays and putting together puzzles follow the same steps

Finding a creative, engaging way to emphasize the writing process to apathetic high school English students is challenging for any instructor. And remember, following the steps of the writing process is key to improving the writing of any student, at any level. So if the process is important but a hard sell in the classroom, how can it be taught? By emphasizing another process in its stead. Enter the lowly jigsaw puzzle.

Put the Puzzles Together

A hands-on classroom activity that is invaluable before embarking on any writing project, the idea is to divide the class into groups (unevenly distributed groups of 2-5 members at that), giving each group the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in a plastic baggie, not in the box. The puzzles should be fairly simple pictures of 50 or so pieces, but a few pieces of each puzzle should be mixed in with the pieces of another. Every group should unknowingly have missing and extra puzzle pieces in the baggies.

When students receive the puzzles, writing is the last thing on their minds and they may look at the instructor suspiciously. The only instruction for the activity is “to put the puzzles together.” That’s it. Suspicion goes away and the fun begins. The activity should take about 20 minutes; any lagging group can be spurred into action with the mention of a time limit. Students will notice the extra pieces almost immediately. Eventually they figure out “to put the puzzles together” means to go in search for their group’s missing pieces.

As faster groups finish, the members should be encouraged to spread out and share their talents with other groups in order “to put the puzzles together.” Whether all groups are finished or not, the class should be stopped at the time limit and given a chance to see what the other groups have done before returning to their puzzles, breaking them apart, and putting all the pieces back into the baggie. Even students who haven’t completed a puzzle since 1998 are blissed out on the idea that they have fallen into Puzzles 101 instead of an English class.

Analyze the Steps

However, every step in putting a puzzle together correlates to the steps of putting an essay together. And, the groups all followed a similar process to put their puzzles together. Every group started with a baggie of puzzle pieces. Before the groups began, they had to choose where to work (pushed together desks, the floor, tables). They opened the baggie, dumped out the pieces, and flipped them right side up. They began sorting the pieces by color and pattern.

They weeded out the odd pieces, and then tried to fit pieces here and there, this way and that way. They all discovered pieces were missing and had to find them. Some finished early and helped others; others struggled and needed help. Those who finished their puzzles wanted praise and those who ran out of time were upset they didn’t finish. All participants wished they would have had the box.

Establish the Analogy

By thoroughly analyzing the steps in putting together a jigsaw puzzle, students have learned the steps needed to write a successful essay.

The basic similarities are easy to grasp, but students should be encouraged to take the analogy even further. For example, some puzzles might have been easier than others, just as some writing projects will be easier than others. The more pieces/ideas exist, the more time-consuming the project will be. No one has to follow the steps in a particular order, but doing so can make the job much easier. Some need a deadline to in order to get to work.

Puzzles and essays are easier to complete if they are consistently practiced. The baggie of pieces is technically a puzzle but not a successful one just as sentences randomly written might look like an essay albeit not a successful one.

The Lesson

Every sport, every language, every musical instrument is learned through practicing a process, and writing is no different. Using puzzles emphasizes how following the process can be beneficial, to writers and non-writers alike.

The copyright of the article Teaching the Writing Process in Lesson Plans & Materials is owned by Emlyn Storrs. Permission to republish Teaching the Writing Process in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.