THE WRITE STUFFWriting Activities for Students

(and Teachers)

WHAT DOES WRITING IN THE CLASSROOM LOOK LIKE?

When you arrive at site (maybe)

chair chair chair chair chairdesk desk desk desk deskpencil pencil pencil pencil pencilbackpack backpack backpack backpackerasre erasre erasre erasre erasreboard board board board board

How can we make it better?

(hint: students are human beings)

What do human beings like?And why do they write?

TRIED AND TRUE ACTIVITIES FROM TEFLEROS

Label Race:label EVERYTHING in the class

seriously…everything

“About Me” Posters

Facebook Profiles

Movie Posters / Blurbs

Synopsis / Captions

Cartoons

What are they thinking?

ALL-PURPOSE TIPS

• pre-teach vocabulary

• use students’ names & interests

• create many low-risk writing opportunities

MORE IDEASBEGINNERS

Think about…• When would you use this activity?

• What materials would you need?

• How would you make it relevant to students?

• How can it be adapted to different situations?

• Simple sentences based on models given by the teacher

• Use word cards to create sentences that show proper word order

• Timed lists (e.g. occupations, family). When finished, students exchange lists to look for any corrections and add what’s missing

• Unscramble jumbled words

• Fill in a calendar with days and/or activities

• Teacher writes a “problem sentence;” students find the mistake

MORE IDEASINTERMEDIATE

Think about…• When would you use this activity?

• What materials would you need?

• How would you make it relevant to students?

• How can it be adapted to different situations?

• Dictation of simple sentences that students know from previous activities

• Complete a chart or graph based on information about classmates

• Students are given a short block of text without

punctuation or capitalization and they correct it

• Students write their own quiz questions about a story they read

• Read a series of sentence strips and then put in an order that has a beginning, middle, and end

• Make holiday or greeting cards for special events

MORE IDEASADVANCED

Think about…• When would you use this activity?

• What materials would you need?

• How would you make it relevant to students?

• How can it be adapted to different situations?

• Assemble a jumble of sentence strips by adding logical connectors/transition words where appropriate

• Make predictions about the future (After I graduate, I will / I won’t…)

• Write instructions for something they know how to do

• Write an invitation to a family member for a school event, or to a classmate for a fun class activity.

• Compare two things (two foods, two friends, two objects)

• Write a television commercial script for a product of their choice

A WORD ABOUT WRITING WITH TEACHERS

TOEFL WRITING: THE ESSAY• “Essay structure” is not universal

• Critical thinking has not traditionally been emphasized

• Writing style is cultural

Practicing Essay Structure• BUBBLE MAPS

• Give a block of text with no paragraph breaks: teachers divide into paragraphs

• Provide topic sentences & supports: teachers match most appropriate

(advanced option: discern & discard weak support points)

GIVE EXAMPLES OF WELL-STRUCTURED ESSAYS

Practicing Critical Thinking• Play “Devil’s Advocate” – teachers

work in teams to come up with reasons for / against a proposal

• Teach language for expressing opinions (e.g. ‘I agree that…’ / ‘Although…I prefer…’)

• Evaluate examples of good & bad supporting arguments

Practicing TOEFL writing style

• Teach and practice thesis and topic sentences

• Practice sentence patterns with transition words

• After writing a paragraph, read it out loud. (check punctuation – do you run out of breath?)