1. Practical Writing Activities for
Students & Others
Sandra Sinfield & Tom Burns Education/LDU/LearnHigher
With thanks to Sarah Johnson
Students’ Writing in Transition Symposium
NTU September 15th 2009
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2. Writing is …
Writing is easy – you just stare at a blank piece of paper till
your eyeballs bleed!

3. Writing is …
• Thinking
• Learning
• A struggle
• We ‘write to learn’
• Not learn to write
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4. SWOT: Reflect on your writing
• Strengths: what do you like about your
writing?
• Weaknesses: what do you dislike about your
writing or academic writing in general?
• Opportunities: what’s in it for you ?
• Threats: what threat does academic writing
pose for you?
Write for one minute on each…
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5. Developing writing
Students benefit from being given or
making opportunities to:
• Practise writing
• Practise writing in the discipline
• Free write
• Reflect on their writing - and other aspects of
their learning
• Reflect on feedback from their lecturers
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6. To practise writing in the
discipline
See also http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
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7. Freewriting
• Peter Elbow (1998) argues that free-writing
encourages students to write at length without
fear of censorship. Benefits:
• Freedom to explore a topic
• Builds & demonstrates knowledge
• Encourages understanding
• Spelling & grammar (3 min):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlL5W2qA0EA
• On writing (9min):
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDUn1c4uxUE
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8. Activities
• Try freewriting:
• For 5 minutes on any lecture (class)
• A definition of a concept in 1 minute
• For 5 minutes on previous experiences that will be useful to
you in this module
• The Path exercise follows: write for one minute on each topic
– we can discuss impact of writing in this way…
• Resources:
• Stopwatch:
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch/
• Freewrite:http://www.cumquat.co.uk/freewrite/
• http://www.writethink.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/fwt/Free_Wri
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9. The Path
Path Tree Key
House Water
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10. Academic freewriting
Use for:
• Starting an assignment
• Overcoming a writing block
• Writing at length
• Writing in discipline
• Structuring writing
• Proof-reading
• Editing
• Reflecting on your day/learning
What will you do with this information?
How will it effect you as a student?
Write your answers - one minute…
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11. Overcoming writing blocks:
• Read the title – just respond to it, without a
plan for 10 minutes
• Have a stack of postcards to hand – warm up
your writing juices by picking one at random
and writing…
• If stuck – be rude… and write any way
• Write with two pieces of paper – one for work
& one for what’s stopping you…
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12. To reflect on writing and other
aspects of learning
See also
http://www.arts.ac.uk/cetl/visual-directions/
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13. Reflective learning journal
• Have you used a reflective learning
journal?
• Like the CLiP CETL one?
• Use your journal as a space to reflect
on your progress … &
• Develop aspects of your
thinking/writing.
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14. Suggested entries
• Reflections on study sessions: what, why,
reaction, learned, new goals …
• Notes on readings
• Questions relating to readings
• Freewriting on a topic
• Glossary of terms
• Planning and drafting
• Notes from the press…
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15. Development of the reflective
learning journal
• Supports student reflection on
discipline specific readings
• Promotes critical analysis
• Encourages deep understanding
through questioning
• Can be creative & appealing
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16. Reflecting on THIS session
• What have we done?
• What activities have we undertaken? Why?
• What was your reaction?
• What have you learned – about writing, about
yourself as a writer, about yourself as a
student?
• Will this change your approach? How?
• What will you do next?
• Make notes for yourself – and don’t forget to
let me know: s.sinfield@londonmet.ac.uk
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