Entry #5 * Reflecting on the Card Strategy Lesson

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Reflecting on using the Card Strategy lesson (Kucer & Rhodes, 1986) in class last night, I have to say how insightful of an activity this was. When Dr. Jones first asked me to list 16-20 words regarding my Genre Pieces Project topic, I was sure that wasn't happening. However, as I began to think about my topic more, words just started flying out. Brainstorming a topic, genre, audience, and purpose can be quite overwhelming and often the place I get stuck. I am someone who has often skipped the pre-writing stage and goes directly to drafting just to "get ahead", thinking it would save me time in the long run. I'm seeing now how this way of brainstorming actually made it harder for myself as I moved forward to other stages of the writing process. 

When working with this new strategy, I was forced to think about subtopics (even when I didn't think there could be more). This card strategy allowed me to dig deeper into my topic and uncover topics I never thought I could tie in. My favorite part about this activity was working with my colleague and seeing how she ordered my cards. It was really interesting looking at it from a different perspective and I actually have adapted my original order after thinking about it from her point of view. This activity not only showed me just how vast my topic really is, but also how much I've been missing by skipping an important step of the writing process. 

After this card strategy lesson, there are two strategies I will use as I begin drafting my genre pieces from Tompkins (2012), these are generating and organizing. I've seen just how important it is to brainstorm as many ideas, words, phrases, pictures, etc. to be ready for the next stage. Tompkins (2012) makes clear that during this generating stage, it is important to talk to other people about your ideas (p. 38). I am grateful for our writing groups this semester to be able to ask each other questions through this project. Organizing will also be important for me to keep my ideas from getting mixed up. Graphic organizers really help me to stay on topic. Tompkins (2012) also suggests that this organizing strategy can take place in many of the stages of the writing process which will be a key goal in the development of this project. 

References

Kucer, S.B. & Rhodes, L.K. (1986). Counterpart strategies: Fine tuning language with language. The Reading Teacher, 40(2), 186-193. 


Comments

  1. Dr. JonesMarch 1, 2022 at 3:21 PM

    Yes! You hit on two key elements here (really more than two, but there are two that I want to highlight). #1 -- to be a writer, one needs time to write and to PLAY with ideas. This is why a strategy like the Card Strategy is so helpful. #2. -- to be a great writer, one needs to share their writing and to hear others thinking. All pieces of writing require an audience (even it is just one's self). This is why the writing group time is so important. I am glad you are finding it a valuable experience for you and your own writing process.

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