Quick Write Strategy
 

What is a quick write? 

It is a strategy that allows your thoughts to flow without interruption. It taps into the free-thinking part of your brain. You use it to get your thoughts flowing about any topic, before you begin to write. It has many forms and is often used by writers to help their minds become un-jumbled by too much information. You write all you can in ten minutes, without stopping, without worrying about punctuation- just write and write and write...

Designing Your Cover

Note to teachers. I get the children to buy a ring notebook and I have them complete the following things before they begin to write.  

Please make sure you bring in at least one picture of yourself to glue on the front cover. Also you may draw pictures and past these on or cut out your dream clothes from a magazine or catalogue.

My Writing Log

Use this sheet as the first page of your notebook. Record what you write everyday.

Procedure

  1. When you have used the above sheets to begin the notebook you are then ready to do the actual writing.
  2. Keep in mind there are many ways to do quick writes.
  3. One way is to have the students write as soon as they get to class. Use some of the suggestions below, "A few to get you started."
  4. Another suggestion is to have the students reflect on what they had learned from the lesson taught. Quick Writes help students self-assess their understanding of information, as well as to monitor it.
  5. Some teachers prefer to use quick writes as explicit teaching and they have the students respond in writing to a question that relates to material that has already been explored like a novel or short story. After the students have written down their answers to the questions posed, ask the students to share their ideas with a partner. Alternatively, these may be written down on the blackboard or overhead.
  6. The teacher can then determine the prior knowledge of the class before necessarily introducing a new unit or to determine their level of understanding of material already taught.
  7. Learner.org also has some great ideas
  8. In addition teachers could use quick writes to help students:
    • think and write from different points of view
    • write poems
    • put together personal narratives
    • turn favorite or poignant letters into essays
    • create fiction
    • Vocabulary Quick Writes
  9. Student examples

 

 

Rubric for Quick Writes