Duration 15–25 minutes
Grouping Individual
Strategy Ideas
Materials
- Paper or notebook
- Timer
Teacher Instructions
- Explain the concept of freewriting: the pen must not stop moving for the entire duration. Spelling, grammar, and structure do not matter.
- Set a timer for 5–10 minutes.
- Give students a prompt or let them write freely on their topic.
- When the timer goes off, students stop and read back through their writing.
- Students highlight or circle any ideas, phrases, or sentences that could be developed further.
Teaching Tips
- If students get stuck, they should write "I'm stuck" until a new idea comes.
- Freewriting is about quantity, not quality – the editing comes later.
- This is a great warm-up activity for any writing lesson.
Student Handout
Set your timer and write continuously. Don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t worry about spelling. Just keep the pen moving.