Designing Writing-to-Learn Ideas
Remember that it is OK for you and your students to have some fun. They don’t have to hate their assignments and you don’t have to hate reading them.
Integrating writing-to-learn assignments into your course is crucial. Otherwise, students are given the message that it is just busy work that doesn’t really matter.
You want these assignments to promote active (and at least sometimes) interactive learning.
Consider how the assignment relates to the goals of your course and to other assignments you will ask students to complete.
Consider the purpose of your assignment. Does your purpose integrate with the goals of your course?
Consider how the assignment engages students in critical thinking, creative, or analytical thought. How might it lead them to more successful formal writing to communicate assignments when the time comes?
Consider what guidelines you will give the students for the assignment. What form or forms should they use (journal, poem, letters, note exchange, project log, etc.)? How long should it be? How long will students have to work on it?
Consider how you will respond to these as mentor or intellectual leader rather than evaluator. This also means considering how you will grade, count, or respond to these writings.
Remember that writing-to-learn activities work best when they are informal (not graded on standards meant for “writing to communicate” assignments).
