What is a quickwrite?
A quickwrite is a first draft response to a short piece of writing or to some other stimulus (usually no more than one page). The process helps writers generate ideas and get words on paper. During quickwrites, we write as quickly as we can, capturing all that comes to mind.
The main purpose of a quickwrite is simply to get words on the paper. Quickwrites stimulate your thinking so that you can find the words to express what you want to say.
Once we have the words on paper we can go back to them and develop them into effective, compelling pieces of writing.
What are the benefits of quickwrites?
~short, quick, non-threatening, and directed toward a specific task.
~bring out the writer, giving us ideas and frames for our writing so that we are not working in a void.
~focus our attention and stimulate our thinking at the beginning of the class.
~provide and capture the seeds of ideas for more expanded pieces of writing.
~encourage writing about important ideas, chosen to make us think and feel as we learn.
~help students focus on one subject in great detail by giving them examples filled with sensory details.
~introduce students to a variety of stylistic devices and craft lessons they might try in their writing.
~build confidence when we are surprised that we knew more than we realized.
~make writing accessible to all students, even those who struggle the most with words and ideas.
~develop fluency by keeping students writing several times a week.
~keep students writing beyond the quickwrite when they find themselves committed to the topic, something that really matters to them.
~teach students to become better readers as they hear, see, and craft language.
~teach students critical reading as they choose lines, then draft and reconsider their ideas in the clearest ways.
~introduce students to a variety of writers, poets, essayists, and fiction and non-fiction writers.
~help us grow as reader and writers.
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