Ever wish you had a clear, authentic window into how your students think, write, and express themselves before the curriculum kicks into full gear? That’s exactly what freewriting offers. Moreover, freewriting fosters classroom community, enhances writing stamina over time, and uncovers the hidden stories your students are carrying. In the early weeks of school, I consider it a must-do.
For ideas on what students can write about during freewriting, grab my free strategy guide “7 Simple Strategies to Solve the ‘I Don’t Know What to Write’ Dilemma.” It’s full of low-prep methods that help students spark ideas in their writer’s notebooks. Use those strategies first, then follow up with a freewrite to see how students naturally move from thought to sentences, from fragments to full paragraphs. It’s a small shift that reveals big insight.
Why Freewriting Stayed With Me After My Hardest Chapter
Before I ever stood at the front of a classroom, I was a student learning how writing could hold my grief, reshape my thinking, and reconnect me with the world. Here’s why freewriting has been an important part of my teaching.
August 10th is seared into my brain. In 1989, I had a biopsy and was subsequently diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, childhood bone cancer. After a year and a half of chemo and radiation, I found myself back in high school. My first English teacher, Ms. Cuff, began with literature. What story? I really don’t remember.
How Freewriting Became a Turning Point
A week later, teacher schedules shuffled, and in came my second English teacher that year, Mrs. Barton. The first thing she did was hand out thick poetry anthologies to look through… the ones that Ms. Cuff had us return to the closet. She told us: find one poem that speaks to you and let me know why. We were given some time to skim through the book and then write about the poem we selected.
I chose “Remember” by Christina Rossetti. It was the first time I had ever read it, and yet those 14 lines said what I couldn’t yet.
“Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand…”
I wrote about Brendan, a three-year-old I’d met at the hospital. He had cancer too. I had known him and his mom for about seven months when he passed away. The first person I knew who died.
And here I was, a year later, back in school, back to familiar faces and routines, but with a heavy heart. The writing just flowed. No worries about grammar, spelling, editing, or censoring. I just wrote my heart out. Grief for Brendan, hope for myself. That freewrite let me say what was hard for me to speak.
Eventually, that free write became the basis for one of Mrs. Barton’s essay assignments: a personal narrative about life’s turning points. The writing I did during that English class helped me break out of the shell I had built around myself and readjust to high school. Of course, there were literature-based prompts and essays throughout the rest of the semester. But those free writes we did have always stayed with me.
I still silently thank Mrs. Barton for that.
That experience shaped how I approach writing instruction. Freewriting isn’t just an instructional tool. It’s a way for students to write their way through what they’ve lived and what they’re still learning to say.
Let’s zoom in on what freewriting actually looks like in an upper elementary classroom and how to make it work in those early back-to-school blocks.
What Is Freewriting?
Let’s start with the basics: what is freewriting in the context of an upper elementary classroom? Freewriting, otherwise known as a freewrite or free write, is a short burst of uninterrupted writing time (about 5 to 30 minutes) where students are given the chance to write without teacher input, revision expectations, or correction. In other words, it’s a stream of consciousness style of writing in its purest form: imperfect, messy, and essential.
Students aren’t graded. They aren’t guided. They aren’t stopped. And that’s the point.
There’s much to learn about your students from these early free writes, these raw writing pieces. Freewriting shows what students can do on their own at that point in time. You’ll get to see how they spell, if they indent, how they structure sentences, if they use paragraph breaks, how they transition between ideas (or not), and how their writing voice naturally emerges.
And there’s something else—you’ll also get a window into what’s on their hearts and minds at that moment.
Freewriting as a Formative Assessment Tool
Used as a first writing piece at the beginning of the school year, freewriting is priceless.
Free writes help you:
- Assess Strengths and Gaps: See who’s confident and who’s relying on pictures and sentence starters
- Understand Students’ Thinking: What do they care about? How do they respond when the topic is wide open for interpretation?
- Notice Writing Habits: Who starts right away? Who pauses? Who powers through? Who gets stuck? Who doodles on the paper edges? All of these give insight as to who needs which strategy, scaffold, or encouragement as the school year kicks into full swing.
- Build Relationships: There’s nothing quite like reading a piece that reveals something personal. Students feel seen when we respond with empathy. We, in turn, get to understand our students a little more.
What Is Freewriting Time Supposed to Look Like?
There’s lots of flexibility here, and I encourage teachers to tailor free write topics to their current units or keep it completely open-ended.
Some ideas:
- “Write about anything you want.” (classic, student-driven)
- “Write about a time you felt proud.” (link to character studies)
- “Write a description of your favorite place.” (great for launching narrative writing)
In my own classroom, I’ve done both open-ended and genre-linked freewrites depending on the unit. When I wanted a clear writing sample before our opinion unit, I guided students toward that format. Other times, I kept the free write topics wide open, and the discoveries were more personal than academic. Both styles have value.
Guiding Freewriting with Flexibility and Care
Start small—5 or 10 minutes at the very beginning of the year. Then gradually stretch the time to 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and so on. By the end of October, most 5th graders can manage a 30-minute session without blinking. Third graders may need breaks or chunking, and that’s okay. The goal isn’t writing to beat the clock; it’s their comfort level with writing stamina, building it up slowly over time. As always, be mindful of students who may require scaffolds or supports provided in their IEPs.
For some students, especially those navigating difficult home situations or trauma, open-ended writing may bring up emotions or uncertainty. Make a whole-class announcement that they get to choose what they disclose. It’s ok to feel big feelings if they choose to write about something personal. Writing makes us laugh and cry, and their classroom is a safe place to do so. Honor that by offering choice, scaffolds, or quiet flexibility in how they participate. If you’re unsure of how to proceed or aware of specific circumstances, offer a guided generic topic or consult with your school counselor or supervisor for support. I’ve modified some lessons when working with specific students dealing with trauma, and the payoff was well worth it in how they felt.
Comparing Free Writes to Running a Marathon?
I liken freewriting stamina to running. Think of a marathon runner. While I cannot run myself, every November I have the New York City Marathon on in the background, whether I’m lesson planning, cleaning the house, or just relaxing.
And I share this with my students—I can imagine just how much training it took for these athletes, some pro, many not, to be able to run that far for that long without stopping.
We talk about all the little things the runners likely had to do, had to accomplish, before they stood at the START line that Sunday morning. The stretching. The exercising. The short runs. The longer runs. Timing themselves. Pacing themselves. Dealing with leg cramps, painful feet, sore leg muscles. What words do you think they tell themselves as they’re running? As they find themselves getting tired? How do you think they push themselves, motivate themselves to keep going?
Then I bring the conversation back to our classroom, back to our writing stamina. What do we, as writers, need to do to accomplish writing for longer periods without stopping? How will we pace ourselves? What should we do if we can’t think of what to write? What can we do if we find ourselves getting tired? How can we push ourselves, motivate ourselves to keep writing?
My General Free Write Format
Before we begin the actual freewriting, I give students the general format I want them to use. It’s usually, “Write your heading at the top of your paper,” or “Write your name and today’s date on the top line, then skip a line to begin.” Usually, the purpose of the free write will dictate the format: formal gets a heading, casual just name and date. For context, the typical two-line heading I’ve used for years is something that I did as a student in the same school district growing up: “School Name” on the top left, “Class Number” underneath; “Student Name” on the top right, and “Today’s Date” underneath.
Using Free Writes Beyond ELA
Freewriting isn’t just for writing time. It works beautifully in other subject areas like science, social studies, and art. I’ve done 5-minute free writes before starting new math and social studies units and afterward to quickly assess student understanding. Similarly, in this format, free writes become a variant form of entrance or exit tickets and K-W-L charts.
Use them as:
- Pre-Assessments: “Write everything you know about animal adaptations.”
- Post-Assessments: “Write what you learned about the Haudenosaunee of New York.”
- Reflection Tools: “Describe a moment in art that made you feel proud.”
Furthermore, these short bursts of writing give teachers real insight into student thinking, without the pressure and length of formal tests or rubrics. In addition, you get to see how students process information, how they organize ideas, and what they remember. That’s powerful data you can use right away.
Ready to bridge the gap between student thinking and actual writing? Download my free guide “7 Simple Strategies to Solve the ‘I Don’t Know What to Write’ Dilemma”—it’s loaded with suggestions and photos from my own Writer’s Notebook that unlock memories, spark creativity, and jumpstart the writing process without overwhelming your routine.
Why Free Writes Matter
The beginning of the school year is full of routines, expectations, and community-building getting-to-know-you games. But free writes offer something deeper: connection, reflection, and authenticity.
Free writes also give you the quick data you need as a starting point for your writer’s block. As teachers, we are told to meet students where they are and guide them to where they need to be. Free writes help you to do this by practicing writing stamina in small increments until students work their way up to longer periods of writing without interruption.
Free writes don’t just fill up time or meet standards—they encourage student voice. They invite students to show up on the page as themselves, even when they’re not sure of what to say. In the early weeks of the school year, when routines are still forming and relationships are still building, free writes speak: your words matter here, your stories are important.
They’re small moments, but they set the tone. When you embed free writes into your writing block from Day One, you’re not just building writing stamina, you’re laying the groundwork for routine, trust, and reflection. Over time, these quick writing tasks become a reliable way to check in, connect, and build students’ confidence as writers. 💙