Use
Writing as an Alternative to Lecturing
I. A Basic Premise
Students resist writing less
if you ask them to write frequently and informally. Informal writing provides a “script” that can help create
discussions and interaction. Frequent informal
writing helps increase fluency and critical thinking, too. Ask students to write for five minutes and
then share, so they can:
•
Summarize what they got from a reading assignment.
•
Review main points of a previous lecture.
•
Analyze charts, graphs, or indexes.
•
Formulate questions for discussions or exams.
•
Assess & critique sources they’ve gathered for projects.
•
Report what they did/learned in small-group activities.
•
Evaluate or compare/contrast different ideas.
•
Imagine stances or interpretations.
•
Reflect on how they performed on a major assignment.
•
Supplement what they would/should have written on an essay
exam.
•
Apply theoretical perspectives to actual situations.
• Give you feedback on class
II. Give
Students a Voice (and Save Yours)
Here are some sample scenarios:
Multiple Perspectives. Ask students to examine an incident from the
perspective of a woman, man, different ethnicity or nationality, age, economic
status, political or religious ideology, etc.
Have them write in first person.
When finished writing, have several read “What I saw/what it meant to
me.” Have them read aloud and account
for their different eye-witness reports.
Leading Questions. For a few lessons, provide students with a
list of 3-4 questions that address the day’s reading assignment or topic. Students choose one of the questions to
answer. During discussion, they
participate by sharing the answers they’ve written. Then set up a schedule for rotating groups of three who must
continue to provide the class with 3-4 similar leading questions. They justify why they feel their questions
are important, and classmates write responses.
Some of these questions might later be used for essay exams. A variation: assign single questions to
groups of students. They individually
write answers and then consolidate answers to share.
Recaps. 10 minutes before the end of a day’s lesson
(or a week’s), ask students to take 5 minutes to sum up what they think are the
most important points & why. Then
for the 5 remaining minutes, 2 or 3 students can read their replies.
Duets. Ask students to come to class with a
paragraph or two, commenting on a reading assignment. In class, students exchange paragraphs. They read their partner’s work and then reply, explaining why they
commented on different or similar aspects of the reading. Get a few students to share.
Read informal writing quickly. Give it a +, v, or –.
This practice defines participation, identifies student problems, and
helps you customize lectures.
Design a major assignment with
clear criteria—e.g.,
“You select appropriate sources and
integrate them to support your points”; “You identify and analyze factors that
led up to this situation”; “You provide alternatives to the prevailing
interpretation of the account.”
At intervals, ask students to
prepare to give a 2-minute report on a certain criterion. Students who are struggling with the
assignment can hear how other classmates are handling the different parts of
the task.
Comment on how 2-minute reports match up— or can be
revised—to meet assignment requirements.
2-minute reports need not take more than 10-15 minutes of class
time. They can be shared in small
groups, too