What can students refer to when they write their in-class essays?
Students should definitely refer to their textbook so that they can incorporate quotes into their essay as support. Throughout the course, they should be encouraged to annotate their texts, so its appropriate for them to refer to such annotations during the in-class essay. However, you should make sure that they havent written out an actual essay in their book. Likewise, if they wont write in their books (despite the bookstore policy that it doesnt make a difference in the price theyll get for it), encourage them to use post it notes. They could refer to such post it notes during the in-class essay, again assuming they dont have entire paragraphs written on them. A dictionary and thesaurus could also be used.