Write 'N' Pass
Grades K-12
Big Idea
Write ‘n’ Pass is a cooperative learning strategy that allows students to share ideas with a partner through written responses.
Directions
- Students pair up.
- Student #1 writes an answer or response to a given topic, then passes the paper to Student #2.
- Student #2 writes an answer or response, and then passes the paper back to Student #1.
- Continue steps 2 and 3 until the partners are finished sharing ideas or until the time is up.
When To Use
- a get to know you activity or ice breaker
- a brainstorming activity
- a way for students to reflect on learning
- a way to help students prepare for a test
- a quick formative assessment
- a game
- a way to fill those extra five minutes
Strategy Variations
Whole class or small groups: in a synchronized manner, all students write a response, then continue to pass papers to new classmates, adding new ideas or thoughts to each paper.
1. Give students a topic, question, or problem to solve.
2. All students in the class or group respond at the same time.
3. Teacher signals time, or students give a thumbs up when they are done.
4. Students pass papers clockwise or counter-clockwise, read the previous response, and then add to it.
5. Students continue passing papers and adding to what is already on the paper until all kids have contributed or teacher calls time.
Content Examples
Literacy
- List character traits of a book character
- Compare and contrast two characters or two texts
- Discuss themes
- Discuss cause and effect
- Find details in the text that show the theme
- Find examples of words that start with the prefix pre-, mis- re-
Writing
- Each student could have the same prompt or a different prompt
- Prompts could vary and be all from the same genre, or some could be narrative, some informational, and some persuasive
- Prompts could be student-created or teacher-created
- Vocabulary words could be incorporated into writing
Math
- List the multiples/factors of a number
- List the attributes of a parallelogram
- Solve a multi-step word problem and show your work
- Solve an equation
- Write equivalent expressions or equations
Science
- List characteristics of mammals
- Share observations from an experiment
Social Studies
- What does it mean to be a good citizen?
- From whose perspective are these events being told? How might another group of people explain the events differently?
https://youtu.be/X-DdFveQJ6I