Getting to Know Your Student Writers

I like to begin the year by finding out a little about students' writing preferences. I use these statements in a few ways to help me learn more about the writing conditions students like or don't like! I do this a couple of different ways depending on my objective:

• If I need to get the class up and moving with a productive purpose, I use a Google Slides presentation. I post paper "Yes" and "No" signs one on each sign of the room. I show each statement in the slide presentation, and I ask students to walk to the side of the room that indicates their answer choice. Then I invite students to share their thoughts about the statement  and patterns we notice about the class. Grab a copy of the Google Slides I use by clicking here.

• Sometimes I want students to answer the questions individually, so I use a Google Form. The data gathered by the Form can be shown with graphics found on the response page, and the spreadsheet where the data is gathered can be sorted so that I can create groups of students based on how they answered the question. For example, I might want all the students who chose narrative writing as their favorite to work together on a story. Here's a copy of the Form.

  I hope this starts some great conversations with your students!