RHE 398T: Teaching First-Year Writing, Theory and Practice

There are many ways to use short writing assignments to support and reinforce course content. Here are a few suggestions.

Admit Ticket - Require students to drop off a paragraph - a summary of a chapter or previous lecture, two questions drawn from recent reading, etc. - to gain admittance into the classroom or lecture hall. Or place an "Exit Box" by the doors where students must drop closure statements or brief comments or queries about lecture material as they leave the class. This keeps students alert during the class, planning what they will write. (From the Manoa Writing Program, University of Hawaii)

In-Class Summary - Have students stop at the mid-point of a class and write a short summary of what has been covered so far, or three questions they have about the material. The remainder of the class can be geared toward exploring and developing the ideas uppermost on their minds at that point.

Sample offered by Joan Mullin