The Power of Quick Writes

The prolific writer Stephen King says, “If you want to be a good writer you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” The Common Core Writing Standards also emphasizes writing a lot, requiring students to “write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.” Probably no other activity accommodates this need for students to write routinely and frequently than the timeworn and familiar quick write.

Quick writes come in all shapes and sizes, and ideally, should be an everyday part of any class, regardless of the topic. Quick writes can take the form of warms-ups, end of class reflections, admit/exit tickets, journal entries, summary writing, homework assignments, assessment, pre-assessing knowledge, and opportunities to check for understanding. The key is to make sure they are indeed done quickly, and that some sort of  immediate feedback is given so students can react and learn about the efficacy of their own writing without delay. 

Essaypop is the ideal platform for daily writing and takes the practice to a new level. The lesson library contains hundreds of grab-and-go quick write prompts, and teachers can easily create their own in minutes. The social/collaborative Hive environment allows students to interact and provide one another with substantive feedback in real-time, creating engagement and a sense of community and teamwork. Moreover, essaypop’s proprietary assessment tool makes grading, and, more importantly, data collection quick and seamless.

Quick writes are a wonderful way to establish important statistical baselines and growth data. Short pieces of writing, assessed often, garner lots of data fast. As this scoring input increases, so does the ability to generate actionable and accurate student reports that can be accessed by students, parents, teachers and organizations. And keep in mind that the skills and elements being assessed are the same ones measured in longer and more formal writing tasks, just on a smaller scale. In assessing a quick write, the teacher is still measuring such elements as analysis, use of evidence, organization, and mechanics, and these scores are seamlessly integrated with the scores used to assess longer papers. The idea is to use every writing activity, large or small, to steadily build an accurate, dynamic and ongoing profile of the student as a writer.

The beauty of our tool is that detailed rubrics are already provided and teachers can quickly select which element(s) they will assess on a specific piece of writing. All elements do not have to be selected for individual assignments. On one piece of writing, for example, the teacher might choose to focus on analysis, while on the next she could zero in on the students use of evidence or organization. With this approach, the grading burdon is low-key and relatively painless, and this incentivizes teachers to assess writing frequently, creating the much-sought-after data sets needed to generate accurate reporting. 

Keep in mind also that the essaypop timed-writing feature allows the teacher to to set a timer for any quick write which gets students on-task quickly.

It is not difficult to establish regular quick-writing as a routine, predictable and even anticipated event in any classroom whether it be ELA, social studies, science, art, even math class. And, because it’s simple to set up and grade, it should be a welcome ritual for any teacher.

Listed here are four rubric categories that may be used to assess quick writes.

Each of these rubrics is holistic, meaning they can be applied to the whole piece of writing. Each rubric focuses on a different element of writing: Analysis, Use of Evidence, Organization, and MechanicsOne or all of these categories can be selected. If you want to move quickly, just choose one; the data will come together over time.

Analysis / Commentary / Reflection

4 – Advanced

The analysis, explanation, reflection and/or commentary demonstrates a deep understanding of the topic or source material being discussed and provides unique insight into the subject. A sophisticated, academic, and formal tone is employed.

3 – Proficient

The analysis, explanation, reflection and/or commentary demonstrates a good understanding of the topic or source material being discussed and provides some insight into the subject. A formal tone is employed.

2 – Basic

The analysis, explanation, reflection, and/or commentary demonstrates some understanding of the topic or source material being discussed but provides limited insight into the subject. The tone tends to be informal.

1 – Emerging

The analysis, explanation, and/or commentary demonstrates very little understanding of the topic or source material being discussed and there is an absence of insight into the subject. The tone is quite informal.

0 – No response

No attempt has been made to address the prompt.

Use of Evidence

4 – Advanced

The evidence presented, such as quotations, paraphrasing, and other proof, is relevant, adequate, accurate, and strongly supports the purpose of the response. The evidence is logically contextualized and transitions smoothly into the rest of the response. If necessary, the source of the evidence is properly cited.

3 – Proficient

The evidence presented (quotations, paraphrasing, and other proof) logically supports the purpose of the response. It is contextualized and smoothly transitions into the rest of the response. The source of the evidence is cited.

2 – Basic

Evidence is included but may not be entirely related to the purpose of the paper. The evidence transitions roughly with the rest of the essay and is poorly contextualized. The source of the evidence is not included.

1 – Emerging

The evidence presented seems disconnected from the rest of the paper. No attempt has been made to contextualize the evidence, and citations, if necessary, are non-existent.

0 – No response

No attempt has been made to address the prompt.

Organization / Cohesion

4 – Advanced

The response contains a focused and controlled main idea or claim and this is clearly communicated. The response has a clear and effective organizational structure, the ideas are clearly communicated, and there is a logical progression of ideas from beginning to end

3 – Proficient

The response exhibits a clear main idea or claim. The response has an evident organizational structure, the ideas are adequately communicated, and there is a progression of ideas from beginning to end.

2 – Basic

The response exhibits a main idea or claim, but it is not fully articulated or may be somewhat off-topic. The response has a loose organizational structure, the ideas are somewhat clear, and the progression of ideas from beginning to end may become confused.

1 – Emerging

The main idea or claim being made is unclear or altogether off-topic. There is no discernable organizational structure or progression of ideas from beginning to end.

0 – No response

No attempt has been made to address the prompt.

Conventions and Grammar

4 – Advanced

The response demonstrates a strong command of conventions including: consistent use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, syntax, and spelling.

3 – Proficient

The response demonstrates an adequate command of conventions: adequate use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, syntax, and spelling. 

2 – Basic

The response demonstrates a limited command of conventions. Errors in sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, syntax and spelling sometimes inhibit the appreciation and understanding of the response.

1 – Emerging

The response demonstrates a very limited command of conventions. Frequent errors in sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, syntax and spelling frequently inhibit the appreciation and understanding of the response. 

0 – No response

No attempt has been made to address the prompt.