In-Class Writing

Brain Dump Free Write

Set a timer for five to ten minutes. Start the timer and have the students write without stopping. Instruct students to not worry about spelling or grammatical errors, but to write as much as they can about the topic and dump it on paper. They should then follow-up with the editing, researching, and re-writing processes outside of class.

Looped/Focused Freewriting

Set a timer and instruct students to free-write. After the initial writing time, have students review what they have written and identify a compelling topic for the next free-write. Set another timer and have students write as much about the more compelling topic. Repeat as time and energy permits.

Background Knowledge Probe

Prepare a quiz with two or three short answer questions. The questions should cover content students have already learned. The purpose of this exercise is for students to retrieve background knowledge. Once students are done writing, you can share a set of sample answers and have students compare their answers to the sample. Walk around and ask some students to share their writing so you get a sense of whether students are prepared to move on to the next topic. You might collect the writing to review in more detail later or have a few students share what they learned by comparing their answers.

Clear Skies/Muddy Waters

The purpose of this activity is to make an informal assessment of students’ learning in the class. It will help you get a view of what concepts are clear to students and which concepts are muddy. This activity will help you tailor future classes to fit the needs of the students. It might also help students identify what content is muddy for them to help them know what to study in more detail. (See metacognition for more ideas.) 

Provide students an index card or piece of paper. Have students write:

1. the muddiest or most confusing concepts or topics covered in the course or in the class lecture and
2. the clearest point or concept in the course or lecture.

Collect the papers as students leave class. Review the clearest points for accuracy. Then, analyze the muddiest points by grouping them together by theme. During the next class period, start by addressing the two or three most common muddiest points.

Metacognitive Reflections

The purpose of this activity is to get students to set learning goals and periodically consider their progress toward their goals.

At the beginning of the semester, have the students identify in writing the course goals that are most important for their learning progress. (They can use the syllabus, course description, or textbook table of contents.) Then, have them set 1-2 personal learning goals for themselves for the course. In the middle of the semester and at the end, ask the students to write a reflection on their progress toward their goals.

Reading Comprehension: Group Summary

This technique helps your students improve their reading comprehension through writing and collaborating with other students in the class. The purpose is to have students identify the main ideas in a piece of writing, practicing reading and writing about difficult text.

 

Assign an article for students to read before class. During class, have students break up into small groups. Within each group, students will divide the reading up into similarly sized sections and assign one student to each section. Each student will re-read their assigned section of the article and write one or two summarizing points on a slip of paper. Then the group should work together to assemble a summary, determining which pieces of paper to include, exclude, or move around to best summarize the topic or concept.

Silent Socratic Dialogue

The purpose of this activity is to help students prepare to engage in peer discussion on a concept.

 

Give students a reading assignment and questions written on the board or on a worksheet. Give students some time to read and answer the questions. When done, students will trade papers with a peer in class. The peers will then write down a question to help the first student expound on their answers. The papers will then be returned to the original author to write an answer to the peer question.

 

Modifications for Online

These strategies won't be as effective for an online course, but most of them could be used as a reflective writing prompt or discussion board. For timed writings, use a Canvas quiz with a time limit that includes an essay question(s). For peer exchange activities, use the Peer Review feature on a Canvas assignment.