Private Writing
Private writing is an essential part of developing your students' writing skills. Private writing activities that are not graded or edited. They are for the purpose of practicing and developing writing flow. Furthermore they help students try different types of writing styles. Private writing exercises help students to develop skills that wills serve them in their public writing assignments. Listed below are a few private writings strategies I plan to use in my classroom.
My "Fav Five"
1. Imagine
Provide students with a quick write topic related to the material being covered for the day. There are a limitless amount of prompts you can use for this strategy. Allow students time to formulate their thoughts on their paper and remind them that their is not necessarily a right or wrong answer. Prompts can place students in a particular situation, ask them to define something, respond to a quote, answer a question or write what they believe a picture is depicting. It should set students on the course for the day.
2. Modeled Writing
A teacher chooses a favorite text to read to the class out loud, and then hands the students a paper that asks them to mimc the writing style and form of the passage. Although this may be really difficult for some students, the frames act as a guide to their writing. However, some students may feel more freedom to mimic the passage on their own, so both options should be given. Be sure to point out the grammatical structure of the passage, as this is the reason student's are mimicking the passage in the first place. If students practice like major authors, they are more exposed to variances in writing styles, which helps students hone their own writing style.
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3. Double Entry Journal
In this writing exercise, students select quotes from a text and rewrite the quote on the left side of the paper. The students respond to the quote on the right side of the paper by making connections, asking questions, or agreeing/disagreeing with the quote.
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4. Learning Lifeline
At the start of class, have students respond to a question related to last nights reading or the previous day's class. At the end of each day, have students record something they have learned. It's general in nature, yet it holds students accountable for reading before class and listening during class. It also givens them daily practice in writing down ideas.
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5. Admit/Exit Ticket
![Picture](/uploads/1/0/4/4/10447769/1266088.jpeg?256)
The possibilities with this activity are endless. This technique is a great way to have students reflect on a lesson, homework, project or bring information from other classes to learn a new lesson all together. If this activity is used as an admission to a class it helps students prepare their minds for the coming lesson. If this activity is used for an exit from class, it forces students to make bigger connections or reflect on the lesson to show that they understood the lesson of the day or week.
Public Writing
Essay
![Picture](/uploads/1/0/4/4/10447769/583705.png?347)
I have created a public writing assignment for sophomore world history students. Students will craft a well written essay on the environmental and demographic impacts of the columbian exchange. The writing process includes a day of in class research and group brainstorm, an outline, a rough draft and peer editing and a final draft. Students must compete all stages to receive full credit.
This assignment challenges students to think critically about an event and express the significance of the event.
This assignment challenges students to think critically about an event and express the significance of the event.
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the_columbian_exchange_writing_prompt.docx | |
File Size: | 140 kb |
File Type: | docx |