Writing Class Week 4

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It’s another week to learn and improve English paragraph writing skills. Thank god, if there is one, that is. Some of the writing skills you will learn and practice to help you write with better style include: tighter sentences, fewer words, no running, more descriptions, more sentence variety.

Let’s begin.

Writing Activity 1: Write Less to Say More

This is a reflective writing activity. It’s importance is to help student become conscious of the act of writing. In this case, to develop an awareness of wordy writing. Some sentences have too many words. Your task is to edit sentences so the main idea stays but useless words go out. Example:

  • Wordy:  John was employed and now works for the company Samsung.
  • Better:  John now works for Samsung.
  1. Helen is a smart and intelligent woman.
  2. Our student is a physically ill student today.
  3. I will complete my research paper in a period of a week.
  4. John’s stylish boots, made of crocodile skin, cost him an arm and a leg.
  5. Susan is the teacher who teaches Chemistry at her High School.
  6. The student is writing a writing assignment for his English Composition class.
  7. The book which is located on the table is a Grammar book.
  8. Julius ran with the other runners in the 10,000 meter track event and finished third overall.
  9. Her purse, which was manufactured in Italy, was stolen yesterday.
  10. Steve was given a warning by the police officer. 

Here is Part b.

Paragraphs can be improved by avoiding choppy sentences and, the opposite, run on sentences. Here is a writing worksheet to practice good sentence variety. But, not too choppy and not too runny.

Writing Activity 2: Guided Writing

  1. Rewrite the story by changing spider to spiders. Be sure to change all of the subject verb agreements.
  2. Write one more paragraph to finish the story.

A spider, and his neighbor, a hyena, decided to go to the river together. There they met the King of the river who gave them a gift. It was a bucket of fish. The spider and the hyena made a fire. As the spider cooked the fish, he threw them on the river bank to cool. However, the greedy hyena ate all of the fish by himself. When the spider walked to the river bank to eat some fish, tears of anger filled his eyes. The hyena asked the spider why he was crying. The spider replied that some smoke from the fire was in his eyes. Quietly, though the spider was planning his revenge.

Writing Activity 3: When to use A and THE

PART A Some simple rules.

1.  The noun was already mentioned in a previous sentence.

  • She is a carrying a bag. The bag is yellow.

2.  The clause that comes after the noun restricts the noun’s identity.

  • Please pass me the book on the TV.

3.  A superlative

  • This restaurant serves the best pork chop in the city.

4.  The noun describes a unique person, place or thing.

  • Did you see the ambulance driving down the street?

5.  The context of the sentence makes the noun identity known to everyone.

  • It’s cold outside. Please close the door when you leave.

PART B Practice

Look at the ESL writing picture prompt in the attached file.

  1. Put the pictures in the correct order.
  2. Write a story to match the pictures.
  3. Use the word THE by following the rules described above. Use each rule at least one time in the story.

Writing Activity 4: Writing with Details

Some students have a hard time writing a paragraph with enough details to give the reader a clear picture of what they are talking about. Adding a few details can really improve your writing.

Here is an example. Read the paragraph. It is a simple description of a man and his actions. You can see the main parts of the story are there. But there are few details.

A man walked into the room and saw that there was a party going on. He glanced across the crowd, and as soon as he saw that she was there, he turned around and walked out. He didn’t even stop to put on his coat on the way to the front door, but walked out into the snow. The next day, he never answered his phone.

Here are a few questions. Use your imagination and answer the questions. Then, rewrite the paragraph by adding some details.

  1. What did the man look like?
  2. What did the room look like?
  3. What was he thinking when he saw her?
  4. How was she dressed?
  5. Why was there a party?
  6. Why didn’t he put his coat on?
  7. Why didn’t he answer his phone?

Use What You Learned

Now, go to the textbook. Look at page 45. Write a paragraph about a man who walked into this room. Use some of the vocabulary from page 45 and 46.

Writing Activity 5: Fix the Parallel Structure

Can you edit these sentences to create a parallel structure?

  1. Mike likes to listen to rock music and reading mystery novels.
  2. While in France, my nephew spent his time studying French, working in a restaurant, and he jogged along the Seine River every morning.
  3. My home-office is filled with student reports, scrap paper and the garbage can is overflowing.
  4. Joan decided to paint her office, to add some new curtains, and that the rug needs dry cleaning.
  5. He wanted three things out of university: to pick up a marketable skill, to make good friends, and understanding the stock market.
  6. My grandfather’s favorite pastime is to eat in trendy restaurants and visiting art galleries.
  7. Julia is in charge of stocking the shelves, writing orders, and to sell computers.