For more about either of these, see the separate pages Freewriting or Teaching with Journals .
Informal writing can stand alone or it can be used to accompany other, more formal assignments.
In the latter case, informal writing may be used throughout the process of completing a project, from the moment the assignment is handed out, to any point in-progress, to prior to submission, to after returning the assignment with instructor comments. Too often, teachers hand out an assignment, read it aloud once, ask if there are any questions, then assume that students understand the assignment. But many don't understand and won't discover this fact until they are at home attempting it. On the day an assignment is handed out, ask students to turn the assignment sheet over and write a three or four sentence paraphrase of it on the back. Several students can read them aloud, and then the class can discuss the degree to which these paraphrases accurately reflect the work they've been asked to perform.