Friday Free Writing

It's finally Friday! You and your students have worked hard all week! Way to go! Fridays at my school are usually crammed with vocabulary tests, spelling tests, chapter tests for some classes, and quizzes for others. I know why we give all of our assessments at the end of the week, but that is a lot of testing for our students. So, on Fridays, I like to do what I call "Friday Free Writing."

Friday Free Writing incorporates all of the concepts we have learned and have been learning. I post a picture on my SMARTBoard for all of the students to view. It can be a picture of anything, but the pictures I post are mainly ones I have taken over the years. I have used some of the funny quotes that I have found on Pinterest, but all in all, they are mine. They have 25 minutes to write something about the picture. Since this is called Friday Free Writing, the students have the opportunity to write narrative, informational, argumentatvie, or even poetry. When time is called, I ask for three to four volunteers to share. This is something fun and quick that my students thoroughly enjoy.

For today's picture, I am using:

I know, I know...it is still January. It is a little chilly here today, so I want to think of warmer places and spaces. I cannot wait to hear what they will write about today. You can check my Right Down the Middle Blog tomorrow to see what wonderful thoughts they come up with for this picture.

What instructional methods do you incoporate into your Friday routine to keep the students engaged?

Happy Friday Everyone!