Power Writing Guide

What is it?

"Power Writing" is a method of organizing a person's thoughts to improve the person's written work. Power Writing classifies ideas into several levels that are related to one another. By correctly classifying the ideas and then following simple patterns as a person writes, the paragraph (or longer written work) is automatically organized for better understandability. Advanced writers add connecting words (conjunctive adverbs) to improve the "flow" of their writing when moving from one sentence to another, or from one paragraph to another paragraph.

Power Writing may be used with any type of writing. It is most useful for nonfiction writing. Power Writing helps students when they write reports, compose letters, create persuasive articles, and explain processes. It may also be used for descriptive and creative writing, although the formal structure may be relaxed a bit, especially if dialogue is included within the written work.

What are the terms and what do they mean?

Power Writing uses three basic levels of ideas, called "powers".

Power 1 (P1) ideas are the topic (or topics) that the writing is about.

Power 2 (P2) ideas are the main ideas about the topic (or topics).

Power 3 (P3) ideas are details about the main idea to which they are linked.

Power 4 (P4) ideas are even more specific details that relate to a Power 3 detail. Power 4 details are rarely used by fifth grade students.

Terminator (T) refers to the final idea of the writing. A Terminator's purpose is to draw the writing to a close. Usually, Terminators either give the writer's emotional reaction or opinion about the topic, or restate or summarize the main idea(s) of the writing. Terminators are single sentences when the writing is a single paragraph. For longer written works, the Terminator may be an entire paragraph that concludes the writing.

How does Power Writing fit with the Writing Process?

Power Writing integrates with the Writing Process at all levels.

When brainstorming, the student organizes the ideas into a web, tree diagram, or series of lists. These graphic organizers show the relationships and hierarchy of the ideas. Once the brainstorming is complete, the student labels each idea with its corresponding "Power", usually by writing P1, P2, P3, or T next to the appropriate part of the brainstorming organizer.

When rough drafting, the student uses the Power levels to order their writing. Generally, the each individual brainstormed idea becomes one complete sentence. The sentences are written following this general pattern: P1-P2-P3-P2-P3-P2-P3-T. Additional P3 sentences are written after their corresponding P2 sentences, and there may be more or less P2 sentences, depending on the amount of information that the student has chosen to include in the paragraph. If P4 sentences are included, they are written after their corresponding P3 sentence. The P1 sentence is the paragraph's introductory sentence, and the T sentence is the conclusion sentence. Longer works would have this same basic structure within each paragraph; additionally, the first paragraph of the entire writing assignment would be the introductory paragraph, and the last paragraph of the assignment would be the conclusion paragraph.

When revising and editing, the student first checks to see that all of the sentences' ideas are correctly organized. Any sentences that do not relate to the topic or main ideas are either deleted or moved to a more appropriate place within the writing. Advanced writers add conjunctive adverbs (However, Therefore, Similarly, First, Next, Then, Finally, In conclusion, etc.) to improve the flow of their writing and show the specific relationships between ideas. Then the student follows the general revising and editing steps for improving a rough draft.

A final copy is produced, and then read by the student to catch any errors that may have occurred during the copying process.

How is Power Writing used at Sacred Heart School?

Students as young as kindergarten begin using Power Writing terms as they label pictures they have drawn or orally describe their ideas. First and second grade writers begin writing simple paragraphs using the Power Writing organization. Third grade writers add more details to paragraphs, and generally write up to three-paragraph essays. Fourth and fifth grade writers improve the complexity of their sentences and paragraphs, use Power Writing to organize essays of five to eight paragraphs, and begin using more sophisticated conjunctive adverbs. Middle School students expand their conjunctive adverb vocabulary, write longer pieces, and write more persuasive works.

Power Writing is a simple organizational tool that can help students be better writers and communicate more effectively in high school, college, and as adults. It helps students feel more "in control" of their writing, and more confident that they know "what to do" when given a writing assignment.