Teachers' Corner Power Writing Reading Services Center

Current literature and research is filled with information about the correlation of writing and reading. Used in concert by a classroom teacher, one reinforces the other at all grade levels.

Word phrases as well as sentence and paragraph writing skills should be taught to all students. Students should be able to write and punctuate sentences and paragraphs by generating ideas themselves, and from dictation.

J. E. Sparks of the University of Southern California studied every non-fiction writer in the "Great Books" series from Aristotle to contemporary authors. He concluded that all these authors presented a main idea and supported it with appropriate details. From this observation, Dr. Sparks developed the concept of "Power Writing", a method of writing which assigns numerical values to main idea, major and minor details.

One of the components of "Power Writing" is a method of simple paragraph construction called "Powergraph". This method not only includes a formula for writing paragraphs but also aids students in the identification of main idea and supporting details.

The first formula is the 1-2-2 Formula. This formula will construct a basic three-sentence paragraph. The 1-2-2 Formula trains a student to differentiate between general and specific terms. For example:

Two unusual mammals live in Australia. The koala bear lives in the trees. The kangaroo lives in the grasslands.

Each sentence in the paragraph above has a power (number) designation:

POWER 1 = main idea topic sentence Two unusual mammals live in Australia.

POWER 2 = major detail which explains or supports the power 1 sentence. The koala bear lives in the trees.

POWER 2 = major detail which explains or supports the power 1 sentence. The kangaroo lives in the grasslands.

To elicit a 1-2-2 formula response, the teacher may use one of the following approaches:

A. Supply a power 1 (topic) sentence to which the student adds two power 2 (major detail) sentences.

B. Ask a question which, when rephrased, becomes a power 1 (topic) sentence.

Example:
Teacher: What two unusual mammals live in Australia?

C. Present a general topic for which the student formulates a 1-2-2 paragraph. (Note: This method allows for more varied responses.)

Following are examples of first power sentences for 1-2-2 paragraphs.

There are two reasons I want to go on vacation.
Rain causes two problems.
There are two things about adults that bug me.
One must know two things in order to play a musical instrument.
There are two things I am going to do this year.
My two favorite___________(TV shows, flowers, past times, etc.)

The teacher may also use this activity to alert the students to "connectives" which signal 2nd power sentences or major details. For example:

2ND POWER SIGNALS

one	first	to begin with
another	second	moreover
also	besides	futhermore

Once the students have mastered the 1-2-2 formula, the teacher may extend the formula to include power 3 sentences. This formula is the 1-2-3-2-3 formula. A 3rd power sentence tells more about the 2nd power sentence that precedes it as well as relating to the main idea. The components of the formula are as follows:

POWER 1 = main idea or topic sentence.

POWER 2 = major detail, which explains or supports the power 1 sentence.

POWER 3 = minor detail, which explains or supports the power 2 sentence.

Example:

(1) Two unusual mammals live in Australia. (2) The koala bears live in trees. (3) They seldom come down to the ground. (2) The kangaroos live in the grasslands. (3) They live in large groups called mobs.

The transfer of the formula to the reading act can be accomplished several ways:

Students may be given 1st power ideas in the form of questions and appropriate reading selections on the students' reading levels and asked to list the 2nd power idea. Make sure students understand that the question is the 1st power idea.

Given a list of 1st power sentences from current studies, the students will copy one sentence and generate a 1-2-2 or 1-2-3-2-3 formula.

At a more advanced level, students may be asked to read a selection, given a question and asked to write an essay using the 1-2-3-2-3 formula.

Most importantly, the POWERgraph structure can provide a framework for not only explaining the relationship of main idea and supporting details but gives the student a visual framework as well.

Be aware that when using the Power Writing concept as a method of writing instruction, the teacher may want to set definite parameters and guidelines suitable for the age and grade level of the student. When using the method as an aid in reading instruction, guidelines and writing mechanics can be more relaxed.