I’ve recently begun to try some quick writes with my students using an activity I learned from Kelly Young called “PQC” (Point, Quote, Connect or Comment). It’s a simple exercise that students can use after reading a text that means:

1) Make a point
2) Quote from the text supporting your point
3) Make a connection to your personal experience, another text, or some other knowledge

Lots of you might already know this acronym, but it was new to me. After briefly modeling it for my students (if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that modeling is absolutely critical — the quality of learning is dramatically improved if I model activities and exercises first), students have really been successful. And they especially like that they’ve learned an easy process and acronym that they can use in their other classes when they’re asked to write something.

I’ve posted in the past about a similar acronym I learned from Kelly — “ABC.” It stands for:

1) Answer the Question
2) Back up your answer with evidence or facts.
3) Comment from a more personal opinion or perspective

If you have any other similarly useful acronyms, please share them in the comments section.