SPAWN Writing
What is SPAWN Writing?
- SPAWN is a Post Reading, Writing and Reading Comprehension Strategy
What does SPAWN stand for?
- Special Powers – Students have the ability to change one aspect of a text or topic, but must explain what they changed, why they made this change, and what the effects of the change are.
- Problem Solving – Students must respond to problems discussed in the books being read or topics being discussed.
- Alternate Viewpoints – Students are to write about a topic from a new, unique perspective.
- What if? – Teacher introduces a change to the text or topic, students respond to teacher’s change (similar to Special Powers).
- Next – Students anticipate what will be discussed next and explain the logic behind their prediction.
Why use SPAWN?
- Measures students’ understanding of the text, topic, or prompt
- Strategy offers an array of ways of thinking
- Forces students to think critically about topics in different ways
- Encourages thinking outside a text or topic, but is based on evidence from text or classroom material
- Gives students the power, authority, and venue to be creative, without limiting their thinking
- Teacher has the ability to choose what type of thinking their students will work on
- Informal writing, and grading/evaluation, doesn’t impede critical thinking or freedom of response
- Can be used daily at beginning or end of lesson
- Prompts can be material for a daily journal or writing log
- Easily integrated into Social Studies classes
- Explore cause and effect relationship in Science classes
- Helps students understand link between concepts in Math
How to use SPAWN
1. Choose what type of thinking you want your students to complete, and then select which of the five types of prompts in SPAWN that is most appropriate.
a. For example, if you want students to look at recent material in new ways, the Alternative Viewpoints category would be appropriate. If you wanted students to illustrate their ability to base conclusions off of evidence from a text, you could select one of Special Powers, What If, or Next.
2. Introduce the strategy and each type of prompt to the class. Discuss what the students’ responsibility is for each of the prompts.
3. Select one prompt to model for the class. Choose a familiar story everyone knows so that the background knowledge is there for all the students. Provide a short summary or any relevant background information if necessary.
a. For example, using the What If prompt, present the students with a prompt where Christopher Columbus’ ships sank before they reached North America.
4. As a class, brainstorm a list of repercussions of this event and how it would have shaped history. Provide one of your own responses to the prompt and explain the thought process that lead you to that response. Ask students for the evidence they based their responses on; ask students to help make connections to the responses of others to see if they are able to understand their thought process.
5. Next, choose a series of events from the brainstorming list that would have happened as a result of the Columbus prompt. You should think aloud as you tie several of the events together, discussing how one event would lead to the next.
6. Create an outline with the class using those events.
7. Have the class write a short response to the original prompt using the outline you created. Allow five to seven minutes for the students to write their responses.
8. Share student responses.
9. Present class a new prompt that is the same type as the modeled prompt, but based upon a text or material from the previous days’ lesson.
a. For example, after completing the Columbus prompt, provide the students with another What If prompt that is based upon a recent lesson or material discussed in class.
10. This process may need to be repeated for the other types of prompts, because they require different thinking skills. You may not need to have to do this lesson five times, though. Special Powers and What If require the student to do the same task, and the skills in Next are closely related, so you may be able to teach those two or three in conjunction. Problem Solving and Alternate Viewpoints need to be taught separately, though.
Content Areas Uses
Social Studies:
- Special Powers and What If can introduce historical fiction
- Alternative Viewpoints can place the students in the minds of enemy forces during war
- Problem Solving can be used to ask students to address conflicts world leaders face
- Next can help students understand timelines and events during a specific period or help students understand the cause and effect relationship
Science:
- Special Powers and What If allows students to view evolution through different paths
- Alternative Viewpoints lets students look at competing theories
- Problem Solving and Next can be used in lab experiments or with the Scientific Method
Math:
- Next helps students link between current and upcoming topics
- Special Powers, What If, and Problem Solving can help students explore new topics
- Alternative Viewpoints can be used to discuss contrasting ideas about math phenomena like 0/0