The Power of the Write-in

Creating accomplished writers and engaged learners

Imagine a classroom where class begins with ten minutes of silence every day. The only sound is that of pens or pencils traversing the paper. Students, every single one of them, engaged in their own ideas and words, conversing with and exploring their inner thoughts. Students writing to think and writing to learn.

This is the power of the Write-in.

I discovered the Write-in and its attributes this past summer as a fellow of the GMWP. Each session began with a ten minute writing prompt.

• Ten minutes of quiet.
• Ten minutes of sustained writing.
• Ten minutes of putting ideas to paper.
• Ten minutes of exploring thoughts and questions.

The Write-in set the tone for the institute. If we want students to be accomplished writers and engaged learners, as teachers we need to provide time for them to write.

The question was, could I do it? Was it possible for me to afford ten minutes every day for my students to write? What would I have to cut in order to add? Was this rigorous and challenging? Valuable? Would these ten minutes result in student learning?

The Write-in as exploration

“Writing is a tool for students to explore as they try and make meaning of and connect to a new idea or concept.”

In my last post, I shared my TW and how I plan to use writing as a way for students to explore their learning.

I was inspired by the work of Bob Tierney, a retired science teacher and former fellow with the Bay Area Writing Project. After years of teaching, Tierney discovered that his instructional practices did not align with what he valued about his subject. He also realized that there was a lack of student-led inquiry in class. Too much of an emphasis on his students looking to him for the answers, rather than the students seeking out the answers themselves. Sound familiar? These were the issues I discovered in my own class and shared with you in my first post.

In How to Write to Learn Science, Tierney discusses how he incorporated specific writing activities to foster expressive writing in his classroom. Expressive writing helped students grapple with concepts, work through problems, and identify what they did or did not understand. In other words, expressive writing is a tool for students to explore as they try and make meaning of and connect to a new idea or concept.

As I researched my TW, I questioned how I could best incorporate expressive writing in my history classes. I wondered how often and when these expressive writing activities would be appropriate. Tierney stressed that making writing routine and offering activities that prompted creative thought would create a classroom environment where students felt comfortable expressing their voice without being evaluated. His classroom research, coupled with my GMWP experience, directed my thoughts to the daily Write-ins. The Write-in was a means of exploration. A way for the writer to delve and inquire. The Write-in was a way for my students to routinely write expressively and explore.

The History Write-in

In my history classes, I am using the Write-in to support expressive writing. Immediately following the ten minute period, students are invited to the author’s chair to read their work. Through the Write-in, I hope to draw on student interests and engage them in the content. The year began with a question: What is the history of your name? They wondered, questioned, and even researched the meaning of their names as they wrote. The second prompt, “History is …”, gave me insight as to how students view the subject, and their understanding of skills required by historians. These were not meant to be difficult prompts. I did not want students to write to demonstrate, rather I wanted them to write to explore while simultaneously building confidence.

Last week they wrote a letter to a Minion (I teach eighth grade, they love Minions) sharing what they remembered about WWI and any questions they still had. Initially many balked, claiming that they could not recall anything from their history class the previous year. However, after a few minutes of writing the sounds of exasperated huffs diminished as they recorded their thoughts. What I discovered, and the students did as well, was that the time to write provided time for reflection. The initial frustration of “I don’t remember anything” gave way to “Hey, I do remember something” and allowed them to ponder questions they still had. These questions became a segue into our class discussion that day. An added bonus, one student later shared with me that the letter gave her a boost of confidence in her ability to remember content from the previous school year.

Ten minutes of class time allowed the students to explore their thoughts through writing.

The power of the Write-in.

Tierney, Bob, and John Dorroh. How to Write to Learn Science. Arlington, VA: NSTA, 2004.