patth@dasys1.UUCP (Patt Haring) (08/03/87)
COW
Al Rogers
San Diego TEC Center
The San Diego County (Region 15) TEC Center has been
experimenting with an interesting method of writing
instruction using the computer. The technique is simple and
easily adaptable to several different computer systems and
word processing programs. It consists of prompted writing
activities which can be used effectively in grades 3-6 and in
all areas of the curriculum. It does not require any special
hardware or software (except one of the suitable word
processing programs described below), and lends itself to
effective teacher-developed activities which are appropriate
to the curriculum. The technique was discovered and developed
by Bruce Fleury, an exemplary computer-using educator from El
Cajon, California. He is seeking a descriptive name for this
technique, but for now is calling it "Computer Organized
Writing", or "COW" for short.
Computer Organized Writing (COW) activities require the use of
a word processing program which uses embedded formatting
commands to control the appearance of the printed text. Such
word processors as Applewriter IIe and PIE Writer (on the
Apple Computer), and Wordstar, Perfect Writer, and others on
CPM and MS-DOS, use embedded formatting commands. Briefly,
embedded formatting commands (also called dot-commands because
they begin with a period) are used to tell the word processor
where to place the left margin, how many letters to print
across the page, how many spaces to indent paragraphs, whether
to single, double or triple space, to center a line, and so
on. A typical formatting sequence would look like this:
.LM10
.RM75
.PM5
In Applewriter IIe, this sequence sets the Left Margin at
column 10 on the paper, the Right Margin at column 75 (giving
the printed text a 65-character width), and sets the Paragraph
Margin (or paragraph indent) to 5 spaces. The command
sequence demands that the first character on the line be a
period, followed by a 2-letter code followed by the
appropriate argument. It is important to note that these
commands are not ever printed. When the document is printed
on the printer, these commands disappear and the text is the
only thing which appears, in the format specified by these
embedded formatting commands. (One interesting feature of
this kind of word processors is that the printed text is often
dramatically different than what you see on the video screen.
This can sometimes be confusing to beginners, but you quickly
learn to handle this.)
In the event the period at the beginning of the line is
followed by an unknown sequence, the word processor ignores,
and does not print, the remainder of the line. In effect, the
"dotted line" is treated as a remark which disappears when the
text is printed.
I had experienced this phenomenon several times. For whatever
reason, I had a period as the first character of my line...
perhaps an ellipsis. To me, it was nothing more than a
mysterious frustration to have a line of text disappear from
my document. Bruce Fleury, however, made one of those
serendipitous leaps of transference and realized he could use
this phenomenon to compose prompts to which his students could
write. Then, when the story was printed out, these "dotted
prompts" would disappear, and the child's writing would
magically coalesce into one coherent, well-structured
composition.
Bruce began experimenting with this brainstorm, and began
writing a series of interactive, prompted writing activities
for his students to use. He discovered that the technique
works effectively, especially in the early stages of writing
instruction. He introduced COW to the teachers at the TEC
Center's summer Trainer of Trainers computer classes, where it
was enthusiastically received. Teachers at all levels and in
all subjects perceived its broad-based utility. Each teacher
developed at least 1 original prompted writing activity using
Applewriter IIe.
By the end of the summer, we expect to have 35-50 prompted
writing activities edited and compiled. We will publish the
technique, an annotated table of contents, and the templates,
along with a disk with the templates themselves suitable for
use with Applewriter IIe. (With slight modification they
should be usable with the other word processors mentioned.) We
will be making these templates and disks available to TECC's
at the meeting prior to the CUE Conference in October in San
Jose. Bruce Fleury and I will be making a formal presentation
of the process at the CUE Conference itself, along with the
materials we assemble. The templates and disks will be
available to schools in TECC Region 15 free of charge. Others
may be able to order them this fall for a nominal fee which
will cover the cost of their duplication and postage.
I am also using this technique to develop a prompted template
for the DISC Model (Documentation and Integration of Software
into the Classroom) of software documentation which I will
also share at the October meeting.
As part of this description I have included a complete sample
template (using Applewriter IIe) to give you an idea of what a
prompted writing template looks like. When using Applewriter
IIe, the instructions are:
1. Use arrow keys to move cursor to blank line just
underneath the prompt box.
2. Write a complete sentence to answer the prompt.
3. DO NOT PRESS THE RETURN KEY (in the classroom a piece
of tape on the return key serves as a reminder of this
rule).
When this composition is printed, each prompt constitutes a
new paragraph. Each paragraph is indented, so very short
paragraphs will lend an unusual appearance to the final
product. This can be compensated for by altering the ".PM"
(Paragraph Margin) command in the body of the text.
If you have a word processor which uses embedded formatting
commands, download this template and try it out. In order to
print and format this file for transmission it was necessary
to print the "dot commands" below with one space preceding the
period. You may have to do a global search and replace to
replace the " .**" with ".**" (thereby eliminating the leading
space and moving the period to the first position on the
line). I will be interested to find out what other word
processors will work with this idea.
As we develop our collection of teacher-constructed templates,
we will be interested in your pertinent suggestions and
observations which will improve our final product. You can
make your contributions here in TELE or at the address below.
Our concern is to make available a useful technique to
encourage the teaching of the writing process so we can
continue to move towards the "Post Pac-Man Classroom."
Permission to disseminate this article is granted to schools,
districts, CUE affiliates, and other non-profit concerns for
the free edification and use of teachers.
Al Rogers, Computer Specialist
TECC Region 15
San Diego County Office of Education
6401 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
(619) 292-3639 (voice)
(619) 292-3803 (modem-TECC PMS)
--
Patt Haring UUCP: ..cmcl2!phri!dasys1!patth
Big Electric Cat Compu$erve: 76566,2510
New York, NY, USA MCI Mail: 306-1255; GEnie: PHaringpatth@dasys1.UUCP (Patt Haring) (08/03/87)
WRITING: PROMPTED LANGUAGE ARTS WORD PROCESSING
A template that can be used with a word processor to aid in
devloping writing skills.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** ORGANIZING CHART **.
.** FOR REPORTING **.
.** ABOUT A PERSON **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.LM10 (These are Applewriter II
.RM50 formatting commands, setting
.PM5 left/right margins & indent
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WRITE A GOOD SENTENCE **.
.** ABOUT THE NAME **.
.** OF YOUR PERSON **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WRITE ABOUT THE **.
.** AGE OF YOUR PERSON **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** HOW YOU KNOW THE PERSON **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** HOW HE OR SHE LOOKS **.
.** SIZE, FACE, EYES, CHEEKS **.
.** CHIN, NOSE, MOUTH, SKIN **.
.** HAIR, EXPRESSION **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT KIND OF CLOTHING **.
.** HE OR SHE USUALLY WEARS **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HE OR SHE DOES **.
.** WHEN THEY ARE HAPPY **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HE OR SHE DOES **.
.** WHEN THEY ARE NOT HAPPY **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HE OR SHE DOES **.
.** WHEN THEY ARE HUNGRY **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HE OR SHE LIKES **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HE OR SHE **.
.** DOES NOT LIKE **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HE OR SHE **.
.** DOES AT SCHOOL **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HE OR SHE **.
.** WISHES FOR **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HIS OR HER **.
.** FAMILY IS LIKE **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** HOW AND WHERE **.
.** HE OR SHE LIVES **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** HOW HE OR SHE FEELS **.
.** ABOUT HIMSELF OR HERSELF **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHO HIS OR HER **.
.** FRIENDS ARE **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HE OR SHE **.
.** DOES FOR FUN **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** WHAT HIS OR HER HOBBIES **.
.** AND INTERESTS ARE **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
.***********************************.
.** **.
.** HOW DO YOU REALLY **.
.** FEEL ABOUT HIM OR HER **.
.** **.
.***********************************.
--
Patt Haring UUCP: ..cmcl2!phri!dasys1!patth
Big Electric Cat Compu$erve: 76566,2510
New York, NY, USA MCI Mail: 306-1255; GEnie: PHaring