Paving the Way： Effective Pre—writing Activities Give Birth to Ideas

王惠

【Abstract】The article explains why pre-writing is important and explores various effective pre-writing activities.In these ways，the teacher provides scaffolding to gain writing sources and strategies，motivate studentswriting passion，and increase teaching efficiency.It concludes that pre-writing is the most important stage of writing for Chinese high school students.

【Keywords】pre-writing； activity； writing； strategies

Facing a piece of blank paper，the absentminded boy dazes at the table，with a pen beating his head rhythmically.Students are perplexed how to start and what to write when a topic is given.There is an old saying that，“a good beginning is half done.” If the teacher gives more input on information and structures，students can build their house of composition easily and confidently.By paving the way on mentality and contents，pre-writing is the most important stage of writing for Chinese high school students since it can intrigue students interests，activate their background information and have a clear overview of the passage.

Firstly，topic introduction can stimulate students interest and increase their confidence.

The great Chinese educationalist Confucius once said，“Who likes is better than who knows.Who enjoys is better than who likes.” When mentioning writing，many students think of it as a burden or even a disaster.This kind of mental fearfulness stops their way at the beginning point，to say nothing of a perfect essay.When mental fearfulness is wiped out，students thought wells up like bubbling spring.As interest is the best teacher students，students can be a chatterbox when they talk about what they are interested.The teacher is supposed to use the key of interest to open up the chatterbox of students.In the pre-writing stage，the teacher has a magnifying glass enlarge students shining points and a telescope catch sight of their writing potential.Pre-writing stage can transfer “painful task” into “free thinking pleasure” and give students sense of satisfaction and achievement.

Vivid topics related to topical issues can mobilize students learning enthusiasm and be familiar with the topic relevant to life.Multimedia is a situational，visualized tridimensional way create a relaxing environment.Pleasant songs can also guarantee emotional and mental efficiency of 40-minute class.

Secondly，imputing language can pave the way and decrease writing difficulty.The main idea of scaffolding is the student-centered method.As an organizer，a helper，a promoter and an instructor，the teacher saves enough space for students to think by designing tasks for students to anticipate，cooperate and discuss.

During the brainstorming discussion，the teacher and students can fill in the information gap so that students have opportunities to rebuild incomplete background information and generate ideas continuously.Whats more，discussions have “one plus one is greater than two” effect because others opinions are supplement to former one and make argument all-sided and objective.

Each idea is like a pearl in the whole necklace of discussion and brings ripple effects to the next idea.What firstly comes to people in mind spills out of the creative spring.The pre-writing stage lets students understand，learn through practice，participate，and cooperate together under the new teaching model.

Thirdly，working out the structure can have a clear overview of the passage and cultivate their skills of processing information

Different literacy forms have various structures.Reading for writing can cultivate their skills of processing information.Reading is the most important way for Chinese students to acquire English writing materials，to learn the choice of words and to seek the layout.The teacher can not only design writing tasks but also guide students to extract the relative materials for new topics.Passages in the textbooks have interesting topics，precise structures，normative language and various types.In that way，students are able to take example by the language expression，passage organization，stylistic features in the reading part.

Outline can have an organized and clear structure and guide the author in the following writing process.When building a house，a blue print is needed to guide the workers.When fighting against the enemy，an operation plan is required to guide the officer.When writing a composition，an outline is necessary to guide the writer.Through well-prepared thinking，students are more able to organize ideas with high proficiency.

Comparing the whole passage to a feast，pre-writing is like a delicious appetizer to stimulate desire for writing.Einstein Albert once said that，“if enthusiasm of students is stimulated，tasks at school will be regarded as a gift.” Teaching has its methods，but non-fixed，and no matter what kind of teaching methods，they cannot be divorced from certain principles.The teacher is supposed to encourage students more，give students space to think and gives them more feedbacks.

References：

[1]Wang， Qiang.A Course in English Language Teaching.Beijing： Higher Education Press， 2005.76.Print.