1 - Getting Started ~5 mins
You already chose a topic of personal meaning and a form: poem, song or rap. Today you write the full first draft.
The job is not a finished piece. The job is a complete rough version you can revise next lesson. Permission to be messy is part of the brief.
2 - The Brief ~10 mins
A first draft only has to run start to finish. Techniques from Units 1 and 2 (imagery, repetition, rhythm, a concrete detail) are tools you may use, not boxes to tick.
| Term | What it means for you | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| First draft | You write past the weak lines instead of stopping at them | the night bus / still smells of someone else's chips / and I keep checking my phone… |
| Permission to be rough | Notes in brackets are allowed today | (come back to Mam's kitchen light – that felt true) |
| Composition | Same topic and form you named in Lesson 105 | A poem on the night bus home |
Rough first draft (worked example)
the night bus / still smells of someone else's chips (concrete detail: a smell you can place) / and I keep checking my phone / even though nobody is going to text / because everyone I know is asleep / or still there
I wanted to write something big about home / but all I've got is the window / and the wet marks my bag left on the seat (imagery: a small picture that carries the feeling)
(come back to Mam's kitchen light – that felt true)
It is unfinished on purpose. It has a concrete image, a real feeling, and a note the writer left for later. That is enough for a first draft.
3 - Write the First Draft ~25 mins
Open your Lesson 105 brief. If you do not have one yet, pick a topic and a form (poem, song or rap) now and note them at the top of the template before you write.
Write a full first draft of your poem, song lyric or rap on that topic, in that form. Get to the end. Leave notes in brackets if you need to. One complete pass is the job; if you finish early you may write it through once more from the start.
Copy the saved draft into your Communication Portfolio as m4_l106_first_draft_<your-initials>.
Your first draft
4 - Hold It Up ~12 mins
Read your first draft once. Work down the list: name what is already working and the one priority you will take into next lesson's revision. Keep this honest and short.
Copy your one-line strength and your one priority into your Communication Portfolio as m4_l106_draft_check_<your-initials>, saved beside the draft file. Lesson 107 opens on that priority.
Read your first draft once, then work down this list
5 - Think About It ~3 mins
Talk this through with the person beside you, or sit with it quietly.
Which line in today's draft surprised you by being more honest than you planned? What will you protect in the next lesson so revision does not sand that away?
If you want a longer version kept, add a short note to your Reflective Journal after class. Optional, for you.
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