Three Minute Writing Exercises
Encourage creativity while increasing student attentiveness
How It Works
A writing assignment needn’t be long and unwieldy. Short, informal writing is a great teaching tool even without extensive (or any!) written feedback from you.
Three minute writing can take the form of “bellringers” or “writing to learn” activities, and you can find lots of these online, create your own, or adapt my examples to your needs.
Three Minute Writing Exercises
Short, informal exercises to increase student attentiveness and assess their understanding.
Why Three Minute Writing Exercises Work
Increase Attentiveness
Students who know they’ll need to write something about today’s lesson will pay better attention.
Plan Future Lessons
Information from your students’ three minute writings help you gauge students’ interests or challenges.
Recognize Confusion
Low-stakes writing helps you and your students recognize their areas of confusion prior to a unit-ending assessment.
Invite Participation
Brief writing offers another modality beside discussion, so you can get to know all of your students better despite their comfort levels in class.
Lessen Teacher Obligation
Having students write about their learning increases their learning without requiring consistent written responses from you.
Increased Writing Practice
Three minute writing becomes pages of writing over the course of weeks, giving students plenty of writing practice.
Encourage Creativity
Low-stakes writing allows students to take intellectual risks without worrying about grades.
Distribute Responsibilities
Giving students agency in composition encourages them to be active participants in their own learning.
Avoid Big Commitments
You’ll lose almost nothing in experimenting with three minute writing while you potentially have a lot to gain.
