Free Writing

Free Writing is an easy no-prep activity that may appear to be unproductive, but in fact, it’s a great way to get students comfortable putting pen to paper or even fingers to keyboard without the stress of producing grammatically correct sentences and properly spelled words. Free writing helps students brainstorm on a topic broadly while at the same time using key words that strike them to branch off in their writing.

Preparation

As mentioned above, there really isn’t any preparation for this activity, but the first time it’s done with students it should be clear that students should write anything related to the topic at hand — what they know about it, their opinion about it, or a story related to it — and take the writing from there. They should be encouraged to keep pen to paper and keep writing for the whole time limit even if they get stuck and aren’t sure what to write.

Procedure When to Use It

• To give students practice in writing • To help students brainstorm on a topic • To promote consolidation of ideas • To set the schema of students if used as an introductory activity

Level

Skills

Practice

Materials

Paper, pen/pencil

Preparation Time

5 minutes

1. Be sure students have writing materials. 2. Give them the topic (or if it’s prewriting for an individual writing Activity Time or project, they can use their own topic). 10+ minutes 3. Instruct students that they are going to freewrite on the topic for five minutes (or three, seven, ten). They are not expected to write an essay, but jot down any ideas, opinions, stories, and information about the topic at hand. 4. Explain that they will not be graded on the writing, so grammar, spelling, and transitions need not be the focus. 5. When the time is up, have students stop writing and reread their writing, looking for ideas that they might be able to develop into longer pieces of writing or incorporate into their projects.

Variations

1. Free writing can be used in the middle of a topic to have students focus on the content and let related ideas flow. It can help consolidate the ideas to their own experiences and bring questions up to the surface. 2. This can also be used as the “K” and “N” of the KNEFL chart (on page 104), where students write what they know and need to learn about a topic. 3. The focus can be on a statement or questions instead of just a one-word topic.