The Timed Writing System: Apples-to-Apples Comparisons and Evaluation
I strongly urge teachers to use the Timed Writing System. You are going to get concrete results with Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay, you are going to be able to build on those results, and you want your students to see these results for themselves. Of course, I’m sure many teachers have their own systems that they use to monitor their students’ writing progress. Having said that, I will say that apple-to-apples comparisons are what make sense to students.
Quick Start: I know that some teachers want to get started on Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay right this minute. That’s fine. But first, take out a timer and have your students do a 5-minute timed prewriting (anyway they can) and then a 20-minute timed writing (about anything they want to write about). Put the papers in a secure spot, and immediately teach Pattern 1. Come back and read this section when you are ready to start “Section 2: Writing a Complete Essay.” Of course, it is much better if you keep on reading!
The Timed Writing System: Background
I created the Timed Writing System long before Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay, and I did so for four reasons:
1. Writing Fluency
Although this is not the main reason I created the system, I have always believed that the Timed Writing System promotes writing fluency. A concrete ticking clock makes it clear that one is either writing or not writing. Students have to be willing to write to improve their writing.
In Teaching Children to Read (2000), the National Reading Panel points out that fluent readers tend to be good readers. Fluency is one of the five critical areas that bring about reading success. That makes sense. In fact, it also makes sense in writing. Fluent writers will likely be good writers. I’ve always used strategies that encourage beginning, struggling, and reluctant writers to write, not discourage them.
2. Writing Assessments
Have you ever taught your students well and then watched them do all sorts of strange things on an important assessment? In short, the Timed Writing System helps me to get in front of writing-assessment problem areas.
3. Getting Their Work Done in the Allowed Time
Students need to get their work done in the time that they have. Although the Timed Writing System doesn’t change everything, it is concrete and objective. Timed writings get students in the habit of taking out a sheet of paper, getting their ideas organized, and getting the assignment done in the allowed time. It’s very effective, and students are self-motivated to do their best on these.
4. Apples-to-Apples Comparisons for Teachers and Students
This is the primary reason I created the Timed Writing System. In reality, all of the other issues and reasons simply highlighted my need for concrete and objective feedback. Early in my teaching career, confused by all of the rhetoric from writing researchers and writing gurus, I wanted to know what really worked. I decided I needed an objective apples-to-apples method for monitoring my students’ writing growth. When I began using the Timed Writing System, my students and I breathed a sigh of relief, as the truth was finally clear—objectively clear.
This Timed Writing System will bring objectivity to your writing instruction. This objectivity will help you discover what works and what does not work in teaching writing, and you will become an even more effective writing teacher. In contrast to traditional portfolios, the Timed Writing System is quick and easy and lets students compare apples to apples. When students and teachers compare apples to apples, the truth lays on the surface. It’s easy to see.
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The Two Versions of the Timed Writing System
With the creation of Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay, I have needed to divide the Timed Writing System into two versions:
Timed Writing System 1: The Real Timed Writing System
Timed Writing System 2: The Practice and Time Management Version
To be clear, the process is the same in both versions. The difference is that the beginning of “Section 2: Writing a Complete Essay” is an awkward stage, so I do the timed writings primarily as practice and to avoid getting stuck in a time-sucking vortex—i.e., for time management.
Timed Writing System 1: The Real Timed Writing System
Here is how I initially implemented the Timed Writing System:
1. I have my students do a 5-minute prewriting and a 20-minute essay.
2. I staple each student’s timed writing to a piece of construction paper, and then, using pushpins, post them on a bulletin board. Pushpins make it easy to remove and update them. In younger grades, I have students illustrate a picture, which goes right next to the writing on the same piece of construction paper.
3. After a certain amount of time, and after a certain amount of instruction, we do another timed writing. I then staple the new piece of writing to the front of the old across the top. At this point, I have students compare their new piece of writing to their older pieces of writing and evaluate their progress. I then return the Timed Writing System to the bulletin board.
Using this system, my bulletin board always showed excellent and objective student progress. It was so successful that my principal once suggested (or requested) that I put it back up when I had taken it down. I was still using the system; it just wasn’t displayed for the entire world to see.
The progress in my students’ writing was always steady and consistent. Over the course of a year, the growth was substantial and admirable. It was a very accurate representation of the gradual, consistent progress that can be achieved with good writing instruction and a lot of hard work!
Timed Writing System 2: The Practice and Time Management Version
We will discuss the “Practice and Time Management Version” in depth in Section 2. For now, let’s get started on our first timed writing!
Your First Timed Writing
It’s time for your first timed writing. Although you will find directions for your students on the third page of the student section, I will also prepare you here in advance. In short, you will tell your students three things:
1. Tell your students to use all of the writing rules and strategies that they know to put forth their very best writing.
2. Tell your students to use whatever prewriting methods they already know.
3. Tell your students in advance that they will be writing a timed essay on a topic of their choice, and that they will want to have a topic ready. Students should choose a topic that they know a lot about or a personal experience.
Timed Writing System: Directions for Teachers
1) You may want to name your timed writing system. I’ve always posted this across the top of the bulletin board: “Every Day and in Every Way, My Writing Gets Better and Better!”
2) 5-Minute Prewriting: The teacher says, “Take out a piece of paper. Now, organize an essay on a topic of your choosing. Use whatever form of prewriting you are comfortable with.”
3) 20-Minute Essay: The teacher says, “Write a complete essay using all of your best writing strategies. This is a timed writing, so when the time is up, put your pencil down. We all know that everyone wants to finish; however, we need to have a fair comparison to monitor our progress.” Teachers may want to give a 10-second advanced warning so that your students can finish their last sentence. Whatever you choose, be consistent.
4) Staple this essay to construction paper, and use it as a display or portfolio. I don’t formally monitor the progress of the prewriting, but it may be worthwhile.
Analysis of Your Students’ First Timed Writing
It’s worth taking a look at your students’ timed writing because they will give you some ideas on how you will approach the program. You will objectively understand how your students view writing. Here are a few possible outcomes:
1. You’re Rather Happy with What You See
If you’re rather happy with what you see, and you have cooperative students, you can blaze through this program, and it will etch in stone the requirements of effective organization in writing. You will transform their writing quickly!
Note: I’ve used the program FAST with competent multi-paragraph writers, and then apologized because we had backed up so far. Many of the students looked confused at my sentiment, and some gratefully responded, “I had no idea what I was doing before.” Does concretely understanding what you are doing have value? Apparently, yes.
2. Your Students are Happy with What They See, But You Are Not
I’ve encountered many middle school students who believe they write correctly, and yet the majority of third-graders discussed prior learned to write better than they did.
Students who are set in their ways can be resistant to change. With the Timed Writing System, these students will objectively evaluate their own writing, and they will be the ones who discover that they can’t read what they were writing before. A light turns on for these students once they learn to see the big picture in what they are writing. They learn to feel the rhythm of beginning, middle, ending—indent in their writing. They like what they see once they get past being stuck in their old ways.
3. The Timed Writing is Difficult for Your Students, AND / OR Organization and Structure are Completely Absent
Don’t worry. Your job will likely be easier than in the above situation. You will get amazing results!
Let’s Get Started On Our First Timed Writing!
If you’re still not sure about the Timed Writing System, I discuss seven more benefits of the Timed Writing System below.
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Do you teach beginning writers or struggling writers? Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay is the fastest, most effective way to teach students organized multi-paragraph writing… Guaranteed!
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Seven More Benefits of the Timed Writing System
In “Section 2: Writing a Complete Essay,” I discuss how to use timed writings as a tool. However, you only get one chance to do a first timed writing, so I will lay out seven more benefits of the system now before you get started with the program. When teachers write to me and say, “We just did our first timed writing,” I know that these teachers are going to make Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay work and get results. And clearly, I believe that these results will show up on their timed writings.
I’ve already outlined some of my reasons for creating the timed writing system:
1. Writing Fluency
2. Writing Assessments
3. Getting Their Work Done in the Allowed Time
4. Apples-to-Apples Comparisons for Teachers and Students
I’ll also point out seven more benefits of the system. Once again, I created the Timed Writing System long before Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay, and I feel it’s a system that every teacher should use with beginning writers and struggling writers. Here are seven more benefits:
1. Works Well With Beginning Writers and Struggling Writers
2. Many Students Prefer the Timed Writing System to the Red Pen and Teacher Talk
3. Students Need to Write More, Including More Low-Stakes Writing
4. The Timed Writing System Concretely Keeps the Focus on Writing
5. Works with Many Kinds of Writing Across the Curriculum
6. Works at All Times of Day and Even with Distracted Students
7. Allows for More Writing Attempts While Avoiding a Time-Sucking Vortex
1. Works Well With Beginning Writers and Struggling Writers
This system works exceptionally well with students who are likely to show significant growth over the course of a year. That certainly describes all beginning writers and struggling writers who are using Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay.
In contrast, with advanced writers, students’ writing progress is less dramatic and more nuanced. In fact, a casual reader may not even notice writing progress in a highly-skilled writer.
2. Many Students Prefer the Timed Writing System to the Red Pen and Teacher Talk
Many students like a timer more than they like a red pen because a timer puts them in competition with themselves. Viewed another way, the Timed Writing System removes the teacher from the equation. The result is that students can validate their own writing success or failure. Not writing well is one thing, but not making writing progress is quite another. There is no reason for students not to make progress in their writing. With objective timed writings, I have had highly resistant, reluctant, and stubborn students finally and silently realize that what they were doing was not working. They decide on their own to get with the writing program!
This realization is all that some students need to drastically improve their writing. They quickly see that the writing rules and concepts that they have learned over the years are valid and important. Put simply, the timer and the comparisons wear them down. It’s embarrassing not to be making progress when everyone else is thrilled with their writing progress.
3. Students Need to Write More, Including More Low-Stakes Writing
All of the research says students need to spend more time writing. Furthermore, the research says that a certain amount of this writing needs to be low-stakes writing. Most students perceive timed writings as high-stakes writing because they are competing with their prior attempts. However, teachers can perceive it as an organized form of low-stakes writing. In short, when teachers assign timed writings strategically, they are never a waste of time.
Students need to write more—plain and simple. This fact is true even with older students. The research suggests that students may actually write less as they get older because as the material gets more advanced, learning information takes center stage.
To some degree, success in an activity is a matter of time. Malcolm Gladwell, in his bestselling book, Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), talks about the 10,000-Hour Rule. Using the Beatles and Bill Gates as examples, Gladwell claims that success in any field is a matter of having practiced the task for 10,000 hours. The 10,000-Hour Rule is quite similar to the Million-Word Rule for writers. Various famous writers have been credited as the source for the writing maxim that writers do not reach competency until they have written one million words with purpose and intent.
In short, students learn to write by 1) Prewriting, 2) Writing, 3) Rewriting, and 4) Publishing and Reflecting. The Timed Writing System is a time-efficient tool that gets students writing.
4. The Timed Writing System Concretely Keeps the Focus on Writing
The fact that we are using a timed writing system lets our students know that we are always focused on writing. Your students will realize this on about their third of fourth timed writing. After that, teachers just need to mention the Timed Writing System to remind students of this fact.
5. Works with Many Kinds of Writing Across the Curriculum
I do timed writings with all types of writing. Of course, I use good judgment and make sure that my students will be able to write about it. Here are a few generic ideas: a field trip, holiday writing, state writing assessment practice, personal experiences, low-stakes writing, reflective journal writing, learning-log writing, retelling a story, science-experiment report, or writing across the curriculum. Note: Across the curriculum, I may do some whole-class brainstorming so that I am sure that all my students have something to write about. The Timed Writing process is just this simple:
✈ Step 1: I want my students to write about this.
✈ Step 2: I think it’s appropriate for a timed writing.
✈ Step 3: Let’s do a timed writing.
6. Works at All Times of Day and Even with Distracted Students
As I’ve said before, I use the timed writing strategically. I do timed writing in a way that fits into what we are already doing in the classroom or even if I just need a break from distracted students. However, if students have been writing all day across the curriculum, I probably won’t have them do a timed writing.
I usually mention the possibility of a timed writing several times before we actually do one. This is an effective way to keep students focused on their writing prior to the timed writing, possibly for a week in advance. (That’s time well spent!) Furthermore, I can announce the timed writing whenever the time is right. Certain activities (e.g., teacher talk) and certain times of day (e.g., after lunch) leave students distracted or antsy. I may use a timed writing to calm students down or to get students focused on working. If everything related to writing and teaching writing is going well, I am less likely to do a timed writing. So yes, I’m very strategic with these.
Of course, you can also create a schedule.
7. Allows for More Writing Attempts While Avoiding a Time-Sucking Vortex
When Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) wrote his book Essais (1580), he forever changed writing. In French, Essais means “attempts.” Montaigne viewed his essays as attempts—attempts at saying something important or worthwhile, attempts at discovering the truth. The reality is that Montaigne knew his limitations, but he was still willing to make an attempt.
The Timed Writing System creates an environment where students are encouraged to make reasonable attempts. Furthermore, these attempts have stakes involved—stakes of pride. We can evaluate, compare, and reflect on these attempts, and we can do it all in a set amount of time. We don’t have to worry that these attempts will turn into a time-sucking vortex.
If you teach beginning writers or struggling writers, I hope you are convinced that this is time well spent!
