Clustering is a visually-oriented approach to prewriting.
Like freewriting and brainstorming, clustering allows your students to think on paper before they start writing.
In clustering, students put the assignment’s key topic in a circle at the center of the page. They then connect new thoughts to the initial topic with other circles and lines. What emerges is a network of ideas.
If I’m assigned the topic of CORRECTIONS for an Introduction to Criminal Justice course, I could start here.
I have asked three basic journalistic questions—Where, Who, and Why—to generate subtopics and help me figure out what I know and don’t know about the topic. Even though I haven’t done any research, I have a clearer idea of what I would like to pursue: the effects of the Department of Corrections on prisoners’ families.
Your students can combine the brainstorming and clustering exercises by brainstorming a list and then visually clustering the list’s items.