Tag Archives: teacher

Four-Square Activity for Brainstorming

Returning to the Classroom

Classroom writing after any departure from routine is certainly challenging, particularly following winter and summer breaks. Tapping into personal experiences may be the way to re-engage students (and teachers) in the return to routine writing.

This four-square activity can be used for brainstorming details about an event in one’s life. Structuring the paper into four quadrants chunks the writing into manageable quantities. This activity enables writers to recall details to help paint a vivid word-picture of an event that the person has experienced. It is not necessarily intended for an external political or social event (unless that event itself had an immediate effect on the person). brainstorming

The activity script can be something like this:

  • Identify an important event that you have experienced.
  • On a full-sized sheet of paper, draw a vertical and horizontal line to divide the sheet into four equal rectangles.
  • Use each square to brainstorm a list of words and phrases about one of the following aspects of the event:
    • Visuals: place, others who were there, description of the place
    • Emotions: how you felt before, during and after the event
    • Action: the time or timing, plus words and phrases that describe how the event took place
    • Dialogues: quotes, words or phrases from the event
  • Turn and talk with a partner. See if that leads to any additional details.
  • On the reverse of this paper, quick write for 5-7 minutes. Write whatever you are thinking about the event to get as much down as possible. Do not worry about format, punctuation or spelling. Get your thoughts and memories onto the page.
  • Decide what type of writing you would like to do: poem, narrative, letter to a friend, announcement, memoir.
  • Draft the piece OR outline what you plan to do. People can share when ready.

Give the activity a try and post a comment or tweet a link to your draft! Better yet, come show it to us in person at our mini-conference on March 14th! You are welcome to share this post. Consider including hashtags such as #ilwrites, #teachwriting, #writing, as well as your own chat groups.