Positive-Negative Graph

BlueprintingIn this prewriting strategy, writers draw the floor plan of a house, apartment, orroom that is important to them. By drawing the floor plan, then labeling therooms and items contained within the rooms, writers are lured into the memoriesof special times in this house, apartment or room.1. Teacher shows examples of floorplans for new homes found innewspapers or real estateadvertisements. Explain that floor plansare a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the rooms insidea house.2. Sketch a floor plan of a house,apartment, or room that is important toyou.3. Students begin a sketch of their ownfloor plans.4. Using your floor plan as a model, show students how to label the rooms. Asyou label the rooms (kitchen, family room, my bedroom, etc.) and a few of thelarger items in a room or two (bed, book shelf, dresser, closet, etc.), tell a few ofthe memories that come to mind.5. Allow time for students to continue drawing and labeling their rooms anditems in their rooms. When most students are close to completing their drawings,stop them to watch and listen as you model the next step.6. Teacher goes to another part of the paper and uses the labels of the rooms ascolumn headings. Under the column headings, list words, phrases, sentences,names, or activities that represent your memories of these special places. You donot need to complete one list before moving on to another. Jump around fromone column to another as memories spark other memories, and jot down yourthoughts as quickly as they present themselves in your mind.(For example, “living room” might produce the phrases: coffee table, trying to kill awasp and falling off the couch, hitting my elbow on the coffee table, the birthdayparty when we moved the furniture away from the center of the room to make adance floor, Dad sleeping and snoring on the couch while watching the news,etc.)7. Allow time for students to add words and phrases to their columns.Page 3