TRY THIS TOMORROW: QUICKWRITES TO REFLECT ON IDENTITY
Part of a Series on Using Quickwrites in Grades 6–12 Literacy Classrooms
Quickwrites are not just a tool for skill-building, they can be used to help students better understand themselves. When used to reflect on identity, quickwrites create space for students to explore who they are, what matters to them, and how they see themselves in the world. These moments of reflection help students build voice, develop agency, and connect more deeply to both reading and writing.
The importance of reflection:
In The Confidence to Write: A Guide for Overcoming Fear and Developing Identity as a Writer by Liz Prather, she talks about looking at writing identity as a way to build reflection and increase confidence in writing. She calls these metawrites. You can read more about this resource here and follow her substack here.
In Leading Literate Lives, Stephanie Affinito talks about reflection being the essential step to reconnect with ourselves as learners which gives insight to who we are as educators and the learners in front of us. Read our other posts about her work here and here.
As Amanda Austin reminds us in Reflective Writing in the ELA Classroom, reflection is one of the most human practices in the writing classroom. It encourages agency, empathy, and authentic growth. More than a pause between pieces, it’s how students begin to make sense of who they are as writers and who they’re becoming.
In Practice:
*reminder: if the files won’t open, try a different browser. Edge works.
Reflecting on reading identity: Reading Identity Quickwrite
Reflecting on writing identity: Writing Identity Quickwrite
Example of a metawrite from Liz Prather: Writing Process Quickwrite – metawrites
Your Turn:
Offer time in your classroom to reflect with these quickwrites or ones that you create. With reflection, watch your community strengthen and deepen the conversations with the learners in your room.