1. In-Class Exercises to Engage Students in Writing
2017 Celebration for Teaching and Learning
Prof. JoAnne Sweeny
Brandeis School of Law

2. Learning to Write
Writing is an important skill that we should help our students improve
because it is a skill, the only way to improve writing is through practice.
In addition to out-of-class assignments, class time can also be used

3. Using Class Time Effectively
Writing takes time – find a way to maximize time spent in class
Be efficient with the structure of your assignments
Don’t have students just write an essay in class – that takes too long
There must be a reason you’re using class time instead of letting them do it at home – something you can add

4. Tips for Efficiency Make the assignments short
Focus on one aspect of writing at a time
Use groups where appropriate
Maximize feedback in class

5. Keep Assignments Short
Have students do part of the work at home and then work on them again in a specific way in class
For new assignments, keep them to a few paragraphs, maximum

6. Focus on One Part of Writing
An ideal piece of writing is too much to do in class
Decide which common error you want to work on and make assignments that just fix that
The rest of the writing should be good, with only the error you want the students to work on

7. Use groups Collaboration can be very helpful for in-class assignments
Breaks up monotony
Helps students build soft skills
Particularly useful where a student needs to exercise judgment – where there are no clear cut answers
Often multiple ways to write something
Students can then justify their choices to the group, forcing them to articulate their reasoning

8. Maximize Feedback Usually hard to do individual feedback in class
Group feedback can work
Can also take written product and give individual feedback later
Try to have multiple students contribute to the answer
Also good to show real-time results – they can see their work

9. Examples These examples draw from legal writing
I have tried to keep them general enough so that they can be used in other disciplines

10. Writing thorough arguments
An ideal argument in legal writing has the parts – reference to the Rule, facts, and an argument that connects the two.
Each sentence should have all three
Students are given a paragraph that has incomplete arguments where the sentences are missing parts
Students are asked to mark each sentence for each piece so they can see that parts are missing
Or… they can see that they missed that and need to work on it

11. Editing for flow Legal Rules need to be presented in an organized way
Typically, they go from general to specific
Give the students a “mixed up” rule and have them fix it
The individual sentences are fine, they’re just out of order
A student then tells me the correct order (and why) and I fix it on the screen
Other students can chime in if they disagree with the order

12. Proofreading
Cutting words off an already written sample that is too long or wordy
Students enjoy critiquing others’ work
The hard part of writing is done so the assignment doesn’t take much class time
Put the sample on the screen and have a student tell you how to cut it
They can see the results as it’s happening
If you think they’re cutting too much/little/the wrong things, you can pause and ask for others to chime in

13. Try it!
The sample consists of legal rules from cases that the students will later use to analyze a new set of facts to see if there is an invasion of privacy cause of action
Things to look for:
Verbose sentences
Repetitive descriptions of cases/use of citations
Too much focus on what parties argued rather than what the court decided (which is what really matters for legal analysis)
Too much space given to individual facts of cases that don’t help that much
Also note: quoting language from the case itself is generally preferable to paraphrasing

14. Using Games to Learn
Games have consistently been shown to increase external motivation to learn, which can translate into internal motivation.
Students want to “win” the game so will try harder
Learning becomes a happy bi-product
Most games have context that students already understand
Allows them to use existing knowledge to acquire new skills

15. Other benefits of games
Allows you to break up the class and stop lecturing
Fun games = positive energy from students
Most games require teamwork, building collaboration skills
Can reward winners with little prizes
I also bring candy in on game day for all participants

16. Adage Trivia
Game to teach students to use simpler prose to make themselves easier to understand
Important even for legal writing
Adages are particularly useful because students will (hopefully) recognize them when they get them right
Again, tapping in to existing knowledge, something the students are already comfortable with

17. Adage Trivia Game Student split into groups
Show a re-written adage on a PPT slide
give 30 seconds for each team to rewrite it and give a point to each team that got it right
Or have teams race up to the board to try to write it correctly first for points

18. Supremacy is derived from erudition
Knowledge is power

19. Because I am able to conceive of things, I know that I exist.
I think, therefore I am.

20. The fact that something sparkles does not mean that if can be classified as a precious metal.
All that glitters is not gold.

21. Consumers should be cautious about what they consume.
Buyer beware.

22. What’s the point?
In-class exercises do more than talk about a skill, they cause students to perform and practice the skill
Skills need practice – that’s really the only way to improve
Exercises and games are an efficient way to give students practice with little outside work for students or faculty

23. Questions?
me if you want samples of any of the exercises I’ve mentioned