Quick Writes and Teacher Appreciation
Quick Writes
I find quick writes to be one of the most effective instructional strategies. Not only do they support students becoming more literate, their iterative nature makes learning visible and develops critical thinking. Completed in ten minutes or less, quick writes encourage students to reflect and demonstrate their learning.
Quick Writes are short, informal writing tasks that can be assigned during class or as brief, out-of-class assignments. Quick Writes help students remember, organize, and manage information, and they can be used at any point in a classroom lesson to help them communicate their thoughts, experiences, and reactions to what they are reading and learning. They can also be used as formative assessment to determine how well students have learned conten
Here are some examples of Quick Write tasks:
- admit and exit tickets
- informal notes/scribbles
- margin notes while reading
- list of facts, steps, ideas
- set of instructions or directions
- filling in a graphic organizer or completing a set of notes
- free -writing: write on a topic for a short specified amount of time (also called a “brain dump”)
- one-paragraph summary
- generate a few questions
- KWL Chart (What I know, What I Want to Know, What I Learned)
- write a definition in your own words
- draw, label, or explain pictures/diagrams
- short-answers to questions
- sentence combining
- short communication wit someone else (email, tweet, note, text message)
Using Questions for Quick Writes
When students respond to questions in writing, their ability to process and remember content information improves. Here are some suggestions for general questions that can be used in all content areas:
- At the start of class:
- What was the most important thing you learned from your homework assignment or reading?
- What questions do you have about your homework assignment or reading?
- What are you most interested in discussing or learning in today’s class?
- During learning
- What are the key points that have been learned already?
- What’s missing?
- At the end of class:
- What was the most important thing you learned today?
- What do you want to learn more about?
- What was confusing, or is there something you would like explained better?
Why it works:
- Writing and summarization require a deeper dive into the subject.
- Writing is an important skill.
- It can be used after a lecture, a reading, class presentations, etc.
- It’s formulaic. Yes, this can sometimes be tedious and boring. But, it provides a framework that many students will find helpful. For some students, the framework can be loosened or not used.
- It requires students to reflect on their own learning and builds metacogntion.
- It can be used as an exit activity, and it’s great for formative assessment and providing simple feedback.
A possible structure:
Sentence 1: General summary. “Today we learned...”
Sentence 2: More details. “Specifically...”
Sentence 3: Something understood well. “I really understood...”
Sentence 4: Something not understand well. “I am still confused about...”
Sentence 5: Real-life connection or connection to previously learned material. “This can be related to...”
Tips
- A strength of quick writes is that they don’t require a lot of planning but providing a couple of scaffolds will help students who don’t enjoy writing or have anxiety about writing. Some possible scaffolds: allow students to use a bulleted list and provide them with one example. Some students may benefit from being provided with a verb or word list to use. Others may benefit from a graphic organizer (already completed even) or having structured review of the notes or materials before putting pen to paper--or fingers to keyboard.
- You can also have students write from different perspectives or for different audiences or purposes.
Examples
Math/Algebra
Today we started to learn about slope-intercept form which makes it easier for us to figure out the y intercept and the slope intercept. As x changes so does y because they correspond. I liked and understood how by plotting the points on the graph, you can also check your answers since you only need two points to define a line and if the line isn’t straight, then you’ve done something wrong. I am still a little confused about how to determine M. Someone who works on commission could use this to help figure out their income.
History
Today we learned about the fall of the Roman Empire. There were many causes for the fall including military, political, social, racial, economic and religious reasons. I definitely understand the military reasons for the fall of the empire. But, I am unclear on the various social classes and am getting the reasons for the fall of the republic and the empire confused. Some of the problems for the fall of the Roman Empire are similar to reasons for falls of other civilizations and are problems that are faced by many countries today.
Elementary Announcements
Monday: https://youtu.be/ffYSENzvoQw
Tuesday: https://youtu.be/1fA9m93icmY
Wednesday: https://youtu.be/9gCmUB25ZiI
Thursday: https://youtu.be/q-nGqqYVgW4
Friday: https://youtu.be/fE8CNBIgBZM
Secondary Announcements
Monday: https://youtu.be/G3yCq1mEnYU
Tuesday: https://youtu.be/cQWudKQH_9k
Wednesday: https://youtu.be/oXlR4qNToWE
Thursday: https://youtu.be/WFmqNCpH7z0
Friday: https://youtu.be/_Y9Quup_fNA
Mindful Messages
Secondary Information
SOL Information
Attendance will be confusing but try your best to not mark students ABSENT if they are testing. Please leave it as PRESENT. I think it’s safe to assume students will be in their afternoon classes. I’ve asked the testing coordinators to provide me with information that will enable me to go back in and adjust attendance, but I know they are overwhelmed and this may or may not be possible.
Senior Information: Continue to attend school until May 25. Grades for seniors who are failing will be due by May 27 to ensure we have everything squared away for graduation.
SOL Elementary Calendar Information
May 9-10 Reading
May 16-17 Math
May 23 Science (5)
May 27 VA Studies (5)
Schools with Math/Reading SOLs for 2-days
Teacher Appreciation
Obviously, with many of the traditional teacher appreciation activities not possible because we’re not in person and we don’t have a PTSO or a budget, I tried something different. I don’t know if it worked at all but the message below was sent out 2 times to students and families.
Again, I can’t say how appreciative of you I am.
Next week is Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week. As you have seen firsthand, our teachers are committed to the success of all children. They have worked hard this year to provide the best learning experience for their students and have been difference makers in the lives of your children.
To help us celebrate their outstanding work, each day will have a theme. Of course, please feel free to celebrate our great staff however you wish.
Monday, A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words: Have your child draw or take a picture and share with their teacher(s).
Tuesday, Lovin’ From an Oven: Have your child share a favorite family recipe with their teacher(s).
Wednesday, Wear So Glad You’re Our Teacher: Have your child wear their teacher’s favorite color (see below).
Thursday, Thank You: Write a thank you note and email or post it in Seesaw/Schoology for their teacher.
Friday,
Friday’s Favorite Five: Put together a list of the 5 favorite things they learned this
year.
Other Ideas
- Make a donation to a charitable organization on your child’s teacher’s behalf.
- Plant a tree in honor of your teacher through the Arbor Day Foundation or another organization.
- Make a word cloud for your teacher. Some word cloud makers: Word it Out, Tagxedo, WordWanderer, WordClouds.
- Have your child write a poem about their favorite day of school, their favorite lesson, their teacher, etc.
- A Thank You Printout is available here.
- Interview your child about why they’re thankful for their teacher then send the answers or a recording to the teacher.
- Record a thank you video.
- Create a appreciation card and share it with your child’s teacher.
Comments
Post a Comment