Let the game begin: nonstop writing

LET THE GAME BEGIN: NONSTOP

WRITING

WHAT IS IT? Nonstop timed writing (three to seven

minutes) Responding to a prompt Focus on presenting ideas not spelling,

punctuation, or conventions Prompts can be content related i.e.,

Describe the cycle of photosynthesis as if you were a blade of grass on a football field.

or more opened i.e., What is your reaction to the film?

IT’S VERY VERSATILE

WHEN TO USE IT AND WHY

Before or throughout the study of any content area Explore ideas about the subject before studying

it Response to reading Trace changes in thinking about the subject

Play by Play

PLAY BY PLAY: THE KICKOFF

Start small until students get the hang of if—a minute or two

Help students avoid “running up against the wall” (can’t think of anything to write).

PLAY BY PLAY: WORKING THE GAME

As students write, teacher needs to watch for one main problem: students who write a couple of sentences then shut down—blocked. To prevent this, before writing begins…

give partners a minute or two to talk and brainstorm about the topic

followed by a quick class brainstorming list written on a overhead

finally let students know how their papers will be used (they will take it more seriously).

PLAY BY PLAY: WORKING THE GAME

Putting thoughts onto paper quickly takes practice The continuous writing of sentences and

paragraphs takes more effort than brainstorming a quick list.

Continuing to write for seven minutes requires the writer to expand on details or move on to new topics when a previous one is exhausted.

Use this strategy frequently, practice will improve quality and depth of learning.

PLAY BY PLAY: THE HIGH-STAKES GAMES

Wording your own prompts similarly to those that students will face on high-stakes tests will give them an advantage when tackling AP, ACT, SAT, and the new End-of-Level exams.

PUTTING THE WRITING TO WORK

Writing is useful to help students remember information also to connect information to personal ideas

Sharing writing with others is a springboard for discussion and further self-evaluation of writing.

OK TEAM, LET’S PRACTICE!

“VAMPIRE BAT DEBATE: TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL

Prompt:Both the cattleman Francisco Oliva and the research zoologist Stefan Klose make valid points, which do you support and why?

WHAT CAN GO WRONG?

Roadblocks previously mentioned

Grading to build proficiency

The final play!

Now we’ll all use our textbooks to locate a lesson that we will be teaching the first of term of this year.

Finally, we will share our ideas with a partner then then some with the whole group.

The real winners are our students!