Writing Roulette

1. Writing Roulette Activator/Summarizer

2. Purpose • This strategy is used to discover what students know/learned about a topic, using continual writing to help students reclaim information and/or share their knowledge with peers.

3. Description • Writing Roulette is a writingstrategy in which students write about a topic non-stop for a designated amount of time. • Students then exchangetheir writing with peers and extend it by adding their own thoughts. • This strategy allows students to quickly gather their thoughts about a topic and inform teachers and peers of the extent of their knowledge about the topic without being limited by having to heed the conventions of grammar and mechanics.

4. Procedure STEP ONE • Students write about a topic for three to five minutes continuously. • Tip: Even if the student gets stuck they should continue writing. They may write “I’m stuck. I have no idea what this topic is about.” Encourage them to write predictions or guesses since there is no right or wrong responses during this exercise. You may need to model how to do this quick write.

5. Procedure STEP TWO • Ask for volunteers to share and discuss responses. • EXCHANGE papers with a peer (pass to the right), read the peer’s response, and addto it by fast writing for another two to three minutes. • Tip: You may want to have each writer put their name by their response, this will help you to identify who wrote each piece.

6. Procedure STEP THREE • Each time you exchange (recommended 4 times) decrease the response time. • If using this as an activator, have students revisittheir writing roulette at the end of the activity to correct, revise, or add to their initial responses.

7. Notice how person #2 commented on the writing style of person #1 in addition to the topic at hand. This is OK we don’t want to limit their writing during this time. Person #3 agreed with person #2 and elaborated on her question. Sample Writing Roulette