Rather than writing their 'life story', ask students to write about their experiences learning math, etc. This encourages metacognitive thinking. Word problems in the math classroom are sometimes viewed negatively by students, usually due to the time it takes to 'think the problem through'. A good exercise for students is to construct word problems from regular number problems and exchange with another student to solve. Non-fiction writing is a way to share writing experiences with another class or small groups of students.
Students write and illustrate a 'big book' on the concept being learned.
Creative and motivating strategies are effective for students in regular classrooms, as well as students with special needs and at-risk. In schools where the Profile Approach to Writing has been implemented, students in grades 3-8 increased writing achievement as measured on the profile writing scale and the Texas TAAS test. Results indicate an increase in writing proficiency. Results indicate that students show statistical differences in writing achievement on holistically scored writing samples when compared with a control group. Learning the Write Way.