1-3-10 Timed Free Write

Here is another timed free write activity which I found on Martina Bex's website, and I absolutely love it. It is another way to get students to write in the target language as a timed write, and it truly lowers their affective filter.

1. Give students a prompt about which they will write (either an actual written prompt or a picture for them to describe or to narrate the action). Doing 15-minutes of One-Word-Picture just prior to this can be very helpful, because since the class is the one who created the picture, the description of the picture should be fresh in their minds.
2. Give them one minute to begin writing - if I have given them a prompt, writing the actual prompt is part of the timed write.
3. After one minute, tell them to stop, to draw a line under what they have written and to count up the number of words which they have written. They are to put that number in a box off to the side of their one-minute timed write.
4. Now tell them that they have three minutes to write but that they are to re-copy what they wrote down for one-minute as part of the three-minute write.
5. After three minutes, tell them to stop, to draw a line under what they have written and to count up the number of words which they have written for three minutes. They are to put that number in a box off to the side of their three-minute write.
6. Now tell them that they have ten minutes to write but that they are to re-copy what they wrote down for three minutes as part of the ten-minute write. NOTE - my students are not quite up to doing a full free-write for ten minutes, so I give them seven minutes. The goal is to build up to a full ten minutes.
7. After ten minutes, tell them to stop and to count up the number of words which they have written for ten minutes. They are to put that number in a box off to the side of their ten-minute write.
8. I have them title the timed write "1-3-10" for future reference. I collect it and put it in their timed write portfolio for their end-of-the-semester self-evaluation.

Observations

• Instead of just jumping into an extended timed write, the one-minute write and then the three minute write served as a warmup for students. They had time to gather their thoughts and to transition to writing in Latin.
• Rewriting what they had already written gave them subconscious repetitions.
• The amount of words written in one-minute compared to three minutes was double for all students, and in some cases, was triple. The amount of words written in three minutes compared to seven minutes was double for all students, and in some cases, was triple and quadruple.