Grade by Grade
D. Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts · Writing with Purpose: Research, Essays, Media and Publishing

Generating and Developing Ideas on Complex Topics

D1.2About 65 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can use several strategies (freewriting, looping, cubing, question stems, talking it out) to generate ideas.
  • I can narrow a broad subject into a focused guiding question.
  • I can develop ideas with details, examples and reasons, drawing on my own lived experience and on other resources.
  • I can plan to write about complex topics, including topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion and to other subjects, respectfully and accurately.

Words to know

freewriting
Writing nonstop for a set time without stopping to fix anything, to get ideas out.
looping
Freewriting, then circling the best sentence and freewriting again starting from it.
cubing
Exploring a topic from six angles: describe, compare, associate, analyze, apply, argue.
guiding question
The focused question your text will answer. In research, it is often called an inquiry question.
angle
The particular part of a topic, or the particular way of looking at it, that your text will focus on.
lived experience
Knowledge that comes from your own life. It is real evidence for some purposes, but it is one person's view.
complex topic
A topic with many parts, causes or viewpoints, that people may understand or experience differently.
equity
Fairness that gives people what they need to take part fully; not always the same thing for everyone.

Remember from Grade 8

In Grade 8 you generated ideas about challenging topics, drew on lived experience without speaking for a whole group, and used tools such as perspective maps.

Grade 9 adds more strategies so you are never stuck at a blank page, and it asks you to develop ideas, not just list them: every idea needs details, examples and reasons before it's ready to draft.

The blank page problem

Most writers don't start with a great idea. They start with a messy one and work it until it becomes great. Idea strategies are tools for that work. Here are five that high school writers use often.

  1. Freewriting: set a timer for 5 minutes and write without stopping. If you're stuck, write I'm stuck until a thought comes. Don't fix spelling.
  2. Looping: read your freewrite, circle the most interesting sentence, and freewrite again starting from that sentence. Two or three loops usually find your real idea.
  3. Cubing: look at the topic from six sides (see the diagram below).
  4. Question stems: write questions that start with Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, What if, Who benefits, Who is left out?
  5. Talking it out: explain your topic to someone for two minutes and have them ask you Why? three times. Record or jot what you say.
From a big subject to a question you can actually write aboutSubject: accessibilityTopic: accessibility at our schoolFocus: getting around the buildingAngle: the second-floorlibrary entranceQuestion: How could our school makethe library easy to reach for everyone?
Narrowing in steps: subject, topic, focus, angle, then a guiding question. A narrow question is easier to research and leads to a sharper essay.

Complex topics need care

The curriculum asks you to write about complex topics, such as topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and topics from other subjects (science, geography, history, math, the arts). Examples:

  • Is our school building accessible to people who use wheelchairs?
  • How do Indigenous-led land and water programs in Canada combine traditional knowledge and science? (Geography, Science)
  • Should Ontario require a financial literacy unit in every high school course? (Math)
  • Why do some students feel they don't belong in school clubs?

When a topic involves other people's identities and experiences:

  • Use your lived experience as real evidence of your view, but don't present it as everyone's.
  • Seek out voices from the people most affected, especially in their own words (interviews, speeches, books and articles written by members of that community).
  • Use the names communities use for themselves (for example, the specific First Nation, Métis or Inuit community, when you know it).
  • Avoid stereotypes and avoid writing as if a group were all the same.
Cubing: look at one topic from six sidesTopic:school library accessDescribe itWhat does it look like?Compare itWhat is it like or unlike?Associate itWhat does it remind you of?Analyze itWhat are its parts, causes?Apply itHow can it be used, fixed?Argue itTake a side. Why?
Cubing gives you six ways in. Spend about two minutes writing on each side; the side that produces the most ideas often becomes your angle.
Worked example

Let's develop one idea, not just list it

A student's freewrite on accessibility at our school produced this line: The library is upstairs and the elevator is always broken. Develop it into a well-supported idea.

  1. Check it: always broken is probably an exaggeration. Make it accurate: the elevator was out of service for at least two weeks in October (I saw the sign).
  2. Ask why it matters: Who is affected? Students and staff who use wheelchairs or crutches, people carrying heavy equipment, a parent with a stroller at parent night.
  3. Add a detail from lived experience: When I sprained my ankle in Grade 8, I couldn't get to the library for a week, and I missed a research period.
  4. Mark it as one experience: My week on crutches was temporary. Students with permanent disabilities face this every time the elevator fails.
  5. Note what you still need: the school's maintenance records? an interview with a student who uses a wheelchair, if they choose to share? Ontario accessibility rules?
  6. Turn it into a guiding question: How could our school make sure everyone can reach the library, even when the elevator is down?

A developed idea = an accurate claim + why it matters + specific details + an honest note about its limits + a list of what to find out next.

Feeding your ideas

Ideas grow from input. Before you draft, read, watch or listen to two or three good texts on the topic, talk to someone who knows about it, and look closely at the place or thing you're writing about. Keep a running idea log (a notebook page or phone note) for the whole project.

Hands-on activity

Three-strategy idea hunt

Choose one subject: winter, sports, food, your neighbourhood or music.

  1. Freewrite for 5 minutes (use a timer).
  2. Loop once: circle your best sentence, then freewrite 3 more minutes starting from it.
  3. Cube it: 2 minutes on each of the six sides.
  4. Ask a family member to ask you Why? three times about your best idea.
  5. Write one guiding question you could answer in a 2-page essay, and list three details and two things you'd need to research.

What to look for: the final question is narrow (about one place, group, problem or change), and the details are specific (names, numbers, sensory details, examples).

Just for fun

Riddle: What has an opening, a body and a conclusion, but no arms or legs?

An essay. (It does have a lot of feet, though, if you count footnotes.)

Your turn

1

Describe freewriting and looping in one sentence each.

2

Narrow climate change to a guiding question a Grade 9 student could answer in 800 words.

3

Write three question stems you could use on the topic school dress codes.

4

Why should a writer note the limits of their own lived experience?

5

Which is more developed? (a) Buses are late. (b) Our bus, Route 14, arrived after the bell on 6 of the last 10 school days, so I missed the start of math. Explain.

6

Give one complex topic connected to another school subject, and name the subject.

More practice: warm-up

1

How long is a typical freewriting session in this lesson?

2

What are the six sides of cubing?

3

True or false: you should fix spelling while freewriting.

4

What is an angle?

5

Name one source of ideas besides your own memory.

More practice: on your own

1

A student writes, All newcomers to Canada find winter hard. What is the problem, and how could they fix it?

2

Turn this subject into a guiding question about equity: school sports teams.

3

You are writing about how Indigenous-led programs care for lands and waters in Canada. Name two kinds of sources that would bring in First Nations, Métis or Inuit voices directly.

4

Develop this idea with one detail and one reason: Our park needs more lighting.

5

Which strategy would you choose if you have too many scattered ideas, and why?

Challenge

1

Write a 5-sentence looping sequence: one freewrite sentence on phones, the circled sentence, and three sentences from the second loop that go deeper.

2

Explain why a guiding question is usually better than a topic for planning a research essay.

3

A student wants to write about mental health and plans to use only their own story. Suggest how to develop the idea responsibly.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What is looping?

2.

Which guiding question is best for a 2-page essay?

3.

Which sentence uses lived experience responsibly?

4.

Cubing's argue side asks you to:

5.

A developed idea includes:

6.

When writing about a specific Indigenous community, it is best to:

For parents and teachers

This lesson gives your teen strategies for getting unstuck. If they say I have nothing to write about, try a 5-minute timed freewrite together, or play the Why? Why? Why? game about something they care about.

Common difficulties: choosing topics that are too broad; listing ideas without developing them; using one personal story as proof of what everyone thinks. When the topic touches identity or community (disability, culture, Indigenous rights, gender, income), encourage them to find sources from the people most affected and to use the names communities use for themselves.

If your teen writes about something personal and painful, respect what they choose to share, and remember that school writing is read by teachers.