Friday Freewrite: Fold a blank page
Fold a blank page in fourths.
Pick four related words to put in each of the quadrants. These can be as solid as concrete objects (daisy, dandelion, rose bush, thistle), or as abstract as character qualities (honor, loyalty, dedication, faith).
You could put four characters from one novel in the quadrants, or four game strategy types, or four events from a period of history.
Each person writes to a timer for 3 minutes for each quadrant (take a short break after two freewrites—drink some water or shake our hands and talk a bit).
Then when finished, ask people to share the most surprising insight that came to them.
Finally, collect the freewrites from the group and then later that day, curate the best “quotes” that came from the freewrites in each category (be sure to include something from everyone). Type the page up and hang it somewhere for all to see.
Discuss! If moved to.
The purpose of the freewriting is to help kids push themselves to differentiate between terms—to define, to tease apart, to see the comparisons and contrasts of the items.
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Image by deeaf / fotolia (text added)
