While listening to Michael Roberts of The Arizona Republic, I was excited to learn of his method for approaching article writing. The simple acronym (I.R.O.D.R) now has special meaning:
*I - idea
*R- reporting
*O- organization
*D- draft
*R- revising
I always knew that a great story derives from a solid idea, but now I feel I have more of a concrete example to explain the writing process to my students. Brainstorming sessions are sure to take on new meaning now that we have an even greater emphasis on the idea. And the reporting process is sure to run much smoother.
Ariawna Talton
Molina High School
Dallas, TX
Posts
Ari, you are so right. What Michael shared was not only pertinent to my teaching journalism; it was pertinent to the story I had to finish that afternoon.
ReplyDeleteHis timing could not have been better for me because my story had about five different ideas; it was not focused.
After listening to Michael, however, I chose one idea and expanded on that, eliminating the others.
Rick Burd
Wickenburg High School
Wickenburg, Ariz.
I notice the need for that organizational moment, too. It's so tempting to just get on with the writing before taking a very deep breath to see what you've gathered from your reporting and if it's in line with your initial story idea.
ReplyDeleteThis is where I think the concept of balance is at play. You need to ask yourself, Am I presenting the basic story idea, but also, Am I providing both sides of the story?
Many of my students just want to fill up paper and get the assignment done. This is what they do in English class for their boring five-paragraph essays.
We need to re-train them to think of their journalistic writing projects as thorough examinations based on their own curiosity about a specific aspect of their lives. They also need to understand that often this means there are no "right" answers, but rather ongoing questions.
Joanne Drapiewski
Frederick Douglass Academy II
New York, N.Y.
The I-R-O-D-R is a different way to help students with stories. It so simple yet so logical, something easy for students to see written down.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try it out, along with the form in our notebook under tab one and a lot more mapping.
As far as writing for TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills), it's one giant introduction, one giant paragraph for each point in the intro followed by a conclusion. Kids start being taught how to pass the TAKS in kindergarden, elementary school teachers tell me.
Mark Webber
Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts
Laredo, Texas
http://my.hsj.org/tx/laredo/vmt
I really like this as well. For students schooled in the five paragraph essay, this is a way for me to "revise-teach" their writing process without competing what the state standardized test requires. This process will help them write anything. Reporting in journalism stands in for brainstorming ideas in persuasive or narrative writing. Both assessment writing and journalistic writing then move to the organizational process.
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