Learning to write Writing to learn New English

Learning to write Writing to learn New English for Palestine Ramallah 20 th -22 nd August 2013 Debbie Candy

Writing On the piece of paper given write 200 words on the topic of using communicative methods to teach writing. YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES MAXIMUM

That is a lesson in how NOT to teach writing! How did it feel? Chat with your partner and talk about what was good or bad about that exercise. Now let’s share it with the group. Let’s try again in a different way…

What and when we write… In Arabic last week. What did you write? Who did you write it for? How much did you write?

When you teach English each week… • What do you teach? • How much of it do you teach?

Discuss the following with your partner and make notes. • What was the last thing that you wrote in Arabic? • Why did you write it? • Who did you write it for? • How did you prepare to write it? • Did you enjoy writing it? • If you were to write the same thing in English would anything be/feel different? • If I asked your students the same question would the answer be any different?

Write down all of the key words that you feel are important in this topic if you were giving advice about teaching writing to a colleague.

Now find another pair and work with them to think of more details about each of these areas.

Complete the following sentences using the information you discussed. Teaching writing Writing is/should be. . . One important thought when teaching writing is. . . High on my list of considerations is. . . In conclusion. . .

• Hand your sentences over to another group. • Check what the other group have written. Check: spelling punctuation grammar Flow of writing • Hand your sentences back and make any corrections you wish. • Rewrite in your best handwriting.

Lead in to topic and task (APT and text type) Use pictures, a text, a questionnaire etc. to develop interest in the topic. Encourage learners to talk about the topic. Outline and clarify the task by focusing clearly on audience, purpose, text type to be written. Discuss/elicit specific requirements e. g. layout, style. Initial individual/group brainstorming Encourage learners to use mind maps/lists/grids. Learners discuss their ideas. Learners select and reject ideas. Sorting and ordering of ideas Refer to model text to check the structure and ‘what goes where’. Use bits of paper and then sort them into groups. Provide learners with a framework to make notes in. Focus on useful language models (word choice, structures, text features) Refer learners to a model text. Provide or refer learners to a useful language box. Refer learners to examples on the board. Give learners set of guided questions to follow. Refer learners to the language work already done in their books.

Small groups plan text Learners fill in an outline plan Learners discuss who’s going to do what/share the writing out Individuals/groups prepare draft text Learners write their first draft/sections individually or in pairs or groups. Encourage learners to focus on meaning, i. e. getting down the information they decided on in the earlier stages. Individuals/groups read drafts and give feedback Peers focus on meaning first – can they understand? Or give them a question to answer to check the meaning is clear Elicit/provide questions to help learners e. g. are there any paragraphs? Is there a title? etc. depending on text type Is punctuation, spelling correct? Individuals/groups prepare final text Correct spelling and punctuation mistakes, refine word choice, rewrite bits that others couldn’t understand, write it out neatly and legibly. Add design features. Individuals/groups review final text Teacher asks learners to read each others’ texts and review e. g. is interesting and has paragraphs but it isn’t written neatly.

Look at a unit in Book 6. What do you notice about the writing skills in this unit? What do they produce? Which writing sub-skills are practised? COMPLETE A POSTER WITH THE INFORMATION YOU FIND OUT.

Book 6 Initial writing introduction Basic punctuation practice Sentence level scaffolded writing task followed by freer practice Handwriting practice

Spelling practice Dictionary skills Writing practice as a warm up to the integrated skills project work Integrated skills project Group work

New English for Palestine Grade 6 Writing GRADE 6 Book A & B Writing Unit & period U 1 P 8 TBP 17 U 2 P 8 TBP 25 Task Time Write a story about a 30 holiday or an accident on a poster. For display Write a quiz 30 U 3 P 8 TBP 33 Word cloud 30 U 4 P 8 TBP 41 Comic strip 30 U 6 P 8 TBP 53 Poster about healthy eating 30 U 7 TBP 61 U 8 TBP 69 Brochure about olives 30 Poster about signs 30 U 10 TBP 81 Brochure about interesting place or animal 30 Prepare Focus Make a model poster with photos and descriptions about a holiday or accident Spidergram on board of holiday or accident. Use sentences from P 7 Look at models and work from those Make a model quiz Teacher has brought in examples of magazine quizzes at their level. V. Important Make an example word cloud and template Use sentences from P 7 examples Have something ready to hang them onto. Time here to really investigate peer correction. Make a model comic strip Use sentences from P 7 They have brought in examples of comic strips and cartoons Make a model poster about healthy eating They have brought in pictures of food and healthy eating Make a model brochure about olives How about a 3 fold A 4? Collect pictures for them Make a model poster about signs! Use sentences from P 7 Better to base it around school/ classroom rules or rules of somewhere else Make a model brochure of interesting places or Use sentences from P 7 animals

U 10 TBP 8 1 U 11 TBP 8 9 Brochure about 30 interesting place or animal Zigzag book 30 U 12 TBP 9 7 U 13 TBP 1 05 Questionnaire about illness U 15 TBP 1 17 U 16 TBP 1 25 U 17 TBP 1 33 30 Make a model brochure of interesting places or animals Use sentences from P 7 Make a model zigzag book about things you have never done Bring in pictures of interesting things that children would like to do Research graphs or bar charts and prepare one to show Use sentences from P 7 I suggest a list of question words e. g. Have you had. . . Use sentences from P 7 Cartoon strip 30 about the weather and how it happens Information cards 30 about explorers Make a model cartoon strip about the weather Make model info cards Poster about 30 people doing things Poster about good 30 and bad manners

Look at Book 7. What are the differences between this book and book 6? Add this information to your poster.

Book 7 Dictionary work Punctuation Write a sentence using a visual image Writing using a model text

Integrated skills project speaking listening reading writing Presenting the project

New English for Palestine Grade 7 Writing GRADE 7 – Book A writing U 1 P 7 TBP 15 U 1 P 8 TBP 16 Reply to an e-mail U 2 P 7 TBP 23 U 2 P 8 TBP 24 U 3 P 7 TBP 31 U 3 P 8 TBP 32 Reply to an e-mail U 4 P 7 TBP 39 Write an e-mail Write a reply U 4 P 8 TBP 40 U 6 P 7 TBP 51 Make a class message board Write a description of a sport picture 8 Use questions discussed in previous activity as basis for answer. What so you say when you greet someone What do you do when you greet someone Make a poster of this including pictures that are drawn or brought in. Vote on the best poster Questions discussed in previous activity as base for writing Includes research Produce a poster about them Sentence combination Punctuation in questions and sentences (. ) (? ) 7 7 Listening and discussion to prepare for writing Includes research Do quiz for another group Pass around a group e-mail produced Reply on an individual basis 12 Write imaginary messages for a board 10 Write the description based on a model Poster – Welcome to 22 Palestine 10 Make a poster about 20 languages Sentence 4 combination Design a quiz 10 +8 Using a dictionary - Alphabetical order Contracted forms of present continuous Linking words (so) (because) Using a dictionary - Alphabetical order at the top of the page Informal starts and endings for e-mails etc. Using a dictionary – Example sentences Match words with definitions Contracted forms in presents simple and present perfect

U 6 P 7 Write a TBP 5 description of a 1 sport picture U 6 P 8 TBP 5 2 U 7 P 7 TBP 5 9 U 76 P 8 TBP 6 0 U 8 P 7 TBP 6 7 U 8 P 8 TBP 6 8 Write short sports reports 10 Write the description based on a model Using a dictionary – Example sentences Match words with definitions Contracted forms in presents simple and present perfect 15 Write the reports and present them Write a letter to 10 Write a letter after completing a your parents +1 model 0 Complete a 10 Complete a comic strip Draw pictures and write text Using a dictionary – More than one meaning Write a message 7 Revise dictionary skills Poster- Tourist information Complete messages Write own messages 15 Make a poster Display and present

Choose 1 unit from Book 7. NOT UNIT 6 Choose one writing activity from the unit. Plan to deliver this activity to the class. You have a teacher’s book – USE IT!

New English for Palestine Grade 8 Writing. GRADE 8 – Book A writing U 1 P 11 TBP 17 Write a paragraph 20 Write a paragraph using given sentences. Sentence punctuation Paragraph layout, structure and format. Referencing pronouns U 1 P 12 TBP 18 Reply to an e-mail 40 Contacting a new penfriend Reply to an e-mail using info cards U 2 P 12 TBP 27 Write a story about a person you admire 40 Talk to a partner about the special person Make notes / Add to notes Write notes as a paragraph U 3 P 11 TBP 36 Write a diary page 14 Complete a page using given words Peer check U 3 P 12 TBP 37 Write two paragraphs of a diary entry 40 Write 2 paragraphs using the model and given info U 4 P 11 Dictionary entries TBP 46 16 Look at how a dictionary lays out entries Look up verbs and their meanings U 4 P 12 TBP 47 Write a letter 40 U 5 P 11 TBP 56 Dictation Write a paragraph about What somebody did the night before 30 Complete one paragraph and write another using information from a table U 5 P 12 TBP 57 Tell a true story 40 Complete a paragraph Write a story from a discussion U 6 P 11 TBP 66 Write a paragraph 27 Topic sentences / Paragraph structure Complete a paragraph given the topic sentence U 6 P 12 TBP 67 Write a letter 40 Write a letter given a scaffold

Book 8 Beginning to think about the integrated skills project Time to gather ideas and thoughts and to collect resources

Punctuation Dictation Focus on one aspect of writing (paragraphs) Guided writing tasks

Integrated skills project Introduction – speaking & building interest Reading and writing then speaking Planning and layout Writing

Progression through the grades…

Issues with writing • What are theissues? • How do you deal with them?

Writing is a problem - group game 1. A learner feels scared when they start with a blank page. 2. A learner writes a lot but includes little information. 3. A learner copies his text and says it is his own. 4. A learner has no introduction to his paragraph. 5. A learner finds it hard to write alone. 6. A learner has trouble writing enough. 7. A learner doesn’t have enough notes to write an essay. 8. A learner writes only generalisations with few supporting details. 9. A learner writes one long paragraph filled with lots of ideas. 10. A learner doesn’t have enough notes to write an essay. 11. Learners do not see the point of writing English and cannot relate it to life. 12. A learner writes with no punctuation.

Writing is a problem - group game A. Practice note taking while reading or listening. B. Work in groups or pairs to compose writing. C. Do pre-writing brainstorm activities. D. Learners write as much as they can in 5 mins – whatever the content and in no particular order. E. Learners write as much as they can in 5 minutes. The goal is to keep writing all the time without worrying about mistakes. F. Talk to the learners about the situation and ask why they did this. Warn them that it cannot happen again. Ask for a rewrite. G. Pull out the main ideas with the learner and ask them to write a paragraph about each idea. H. Return the writing giving a comment on what is needed an example and ask for a rewrite. I. Read text examples and find details which support generalisation; peers discuss details missing from own writing. K. Do a pre-writing activity to brainstorm ways to start a paragraph. L. Review rules and play games to revise. J. Make writing assignments more personal by doing tasks such as journals or things for others to read.

Responding to writing

Look at the following statements and decide whether you agree. Choose 1 for strongly agree and 4 for strongly disagree. Responding to writing involves… Y N …using a red pen 1 2 3 4 …pointing out strengths 1 2 3 4 …giving a mark for grammatical accuracy 1 2 3 4 …giving the correct answers 1 2 3 4 …correcting every error 1 2 3 4 …getting learners to rewrite the answers once 1 2 3 4 you have corrected them …giving a mark for content only 1 2 3 4

Look at the following statements and decide whether you agree. Choose 1 for strongly agree and 4 for strongly disagree. Responding to writing involves… …keeping writing tasks private for each learner Y 1 N 2 3 4 …asking learners to evaluate their own writing 1 2 3 4 …encouraging learners to experiment with new writing 1 2 3 4 …getting learners to co-operate with each other 1 2 3 4 How would you like me to respond to your writing task?

Some of you would like to have a correction system. What might that include? Symbol Explanation Example S Spelling error Shud (should)

How are you going to respond to the piece of writing as a whole? Margareta • 14 years old • 8 th year of studying English • Intermediate level • 5 classes a week for 40 minutes. Learners had previously had a discussion about what it meant to be successful in life and they had not agreed. They had to write a letter to their Indian penfriend and discuss it with them.

Which is more useful and will help the learner to improve? B Margareta – you have several good ideas here, but too many of them are in the same paragraph. Make sure you only have one main idea for each paragraph and this has enough detail. Your structure is logical and progressive.

Sometimes errors are a result of the learner trying to be creative and trying out new language. I like to publish my learners’ writing whenever possible. Sometimes we do a class newsletter or a school magazine. They take more care when they know other people will read their writing. I find that the learners like a little friendly competition in the classroom so sometimes I give out certificates to encourage them to write well. The certificates are given for the best paragraph or the best layout etc.

Spelling Eye halve a spelling chequer It came with my pea sea It plainly marques four my revue Miss steaks eye kin knot sea Eye have run this poem threw it am shore your pleased two no Its letter perfect awl the weigh My chequer tolled me sew.

I have a spelling checker It came with my PC It highlights for my review Mistakes I cannot sea. I ran this poem through it I'm sure you’re pleased to know It’s letter perfect in its way My checker told me so.

Spelling strategies • Look, cover, say, write, and check • syllibification • Cue articulation • Mnemonics • Morphology • Spelling rules • Spelling books • Dictionary work

Using a dictionary To use a dictionary you need to understand: Alphabetical order Abbreviations Types of words Dictionary punctuation Phonemic script (optional)

What ways do you use to help your students to record vocabulary?

What could you do with this picture from the course book? tent house How do you help your learners to use a dictionary? bushes mountain tree garden car grass glass chair table jug

Punctuation makes a difference!

WOMAN WITHOUT HER MAN IS NOTHING Woman, without her, man is nothing. Woman, without her man, is nothing.

For kids. . . Let’s eat grandpa. Let’s eat, grandpa. The correct punctuation can save a person’s life!

what are the, issues!? Take the floor. . .

Handwriting

You are the model – sort yourself out first! Cursive or print? Legibility Formation Size Slant Spacing Staying on the line TIPS • Be consistent. Decide on your routine and strategy and plan to stick to it • Use guidelines to start with. • Letters always start at the top and move down • Letters should be made using as few strokes as possible. • Saying the letter as you are writing helps.

Copy a verse from this poem in your best handwriting. Good Handwriting If you are wise You will organise You handwriting always To be the right size. The shape is important Round and neat Using your hands Not your feet. Keep the right pace You're not in a race Or your poor little word Will fall on its face. Be careful of your spacing Because like racing, If you don't heed it You won't be able To read it! http: //www. canteach. ca/elementary/songspoems 31. html