An example of an exit slip from a math classroom.

Literacy Tips and TricksPractical Strategies for Fostering Literacy Across the Content Areas

Easy ways to combat fear, loathing and content-area writing Writing across the curriculum. There, I said it. Are you cowering under your desk? Across the district, site councils and school staffs are being asked to examine writing scores received on the Oregon state assessment. Most staff members I have talked to agree that our students need to be able to articulate their thoughts in writing, and that a more concerted effort needs to be made to ensure that our students can actually do this. But for some content-area teachers, the words “writing across the curriculum” ignite a fear deep within their beings that rivals the prospect of having a root canal. Yet one of the most effective ways to improve student writing performance, according to the National Writing Project’s book Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in our Schools, is to have students write often and across content areas. And while the word “writing" for many teachers and students conjures up

images essays and endless reports, there are also many easy ways to get students writing and thinking about the content of your class daily. Entrance and exit slips are just one way to get students writing AND have them take responsibility for learning content. They are also a great way to get to know your students, what they are learning, and how you can better help them succeed in your class.

So, what exactly are entrance and exit slips? In simple terms, entrance and exit slips are short pieces of student writing done either at the beginning or end of class. And when I say short, I mean writing that takes no more than five minutes to produce. Entrance and exit slips are a way for teachers to have students write and provide information about what they think about the class, the topic under discussion, or a specific teaching strategy/material being used. Entrance and exit slips easily incorporate writing into content-area classrooms and require students to think critically. Both help ease students into written communication in the subject area, “especially for classes where students do not traditionally perceive writing as part of the curriculum, like mathematics.” (continued on next page)

Entrance slips are done prior to the start of class or during the first few minutes of the class period. They can be a great way to get students engaged and active while teachers are taking attendance and doing other “housekeeping.” These entrance slips can help students activate background knowledge important to the day’s lesson, give them a chance to review learning from the previous class, and afford them the opportunity to ask clarifying questions. Exit slips are very much the same, yet they are done at the close of the lesson. These slips enable students “to provide the teacher with feedback about their teaching, comprehension of materials, etc.” These slips can help students reflect on what they have learned and express what or how they are thinking about the new information. They are a great way to have students practice summarization skills, review or identify main ideas, answer a teacher-created question, make a short list of facts learned, identify a learning goal for the next class period, or explain concepts that are still confusing to them. Students then turn in the exit slips on their way out the door. Some teachers choose to have students use index cards for their entrance or exit slips, while others have them keep the responses in a spiral notebook or composition book as more of a learning log that is collected daily, open to the newest entrance or exit slip. Still others have students use a plain piece of notebook paper to record their responses or a “conversation calendar” to promote dialogue between student and teacher. Whether these slips are ungraded, graded for participation, or graded for effort is entirely up to the teacher and the attitude of the class. According to Fisher and Frey’s book Improving Adolescent Literacy: Strategies at Work, there are three categories of exit slips.

Prompts that document learning, o Write one thing you learned today.o Provide a one-paragraph summary of today's lesson. o Discuss how today's lesson could be used in the real world.o Rate your understanding of today's topic on a scale of 1-10.

What can you do to improve your understanding? o Create a problem/question based on today's lesson that could

be used on a test. Work the problem/answer the question. Prompts that emphasize the process of learning,

o I didn't understand…o Write one question you have about today's lesson.o I would like to learn more about…o Please explain more about…o The thing that surprised me the most today was…

Prompts to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction o Did you enjoy working in small groups today?

Entrance and exit slips give students a chance to think about and communicate in writing about their daily learning, thereby giving the teacher formative data about what they are learning without a heavy paper load.

Entrance and exit slips easily become part of the daily routine of class and emphasize daily accountability for learning. Some teachers have students drop their slips into a container on their way out the door (above), while others collect them at the door (below).

Online Resources:

http://www.adlit.org/pdfs/strategy-library/exitslips.pdf

http://www.centralischool.ca/~bestpractice/exit/index.html