TTP

ESL lessons and activities to help Korean English teachers learn to communicate better in English.

Teacher Training Writing Class: Week 3

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These English exercises help ESL students learn how to improve writing sentences and paragraphs.

THESIS SENTENCES

A thesis sentence is your main idea. It is the first sentence of a paragraph. It is important to learn how to write this sentence. When you learn how to write this sentence, your writing, speaking and thinking skills will also be better.

Here is an example.

Many Americans buy Japanese cars. (not a thesis sentence)

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Teacher Training Writing Class: Week 2

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That was a long Chuseok holiday. I hope you are ready to being the training program again. This week will learn about Six Writing Traits.

SIX WRITING TRAITS

It’s a framework to help teachers evaluate student writing.

  1. IDEA: a clear message, the content. Good writing shows, it does not tell. Stimulating, interesting, surprising content.
  2. ORGANISATION: The structure. Is it compare and contrast, point by point analysis, chronological? There is a beginning and an end.
  3. VOICE: We sense there is a person writing to us, not a robot. There is feeling, humor, personality.
  4. WORD CHOICE: Does the writer use a rich, descriptive vocabulary? Great words ignite images and a sensory experience in the reader’s mind. Not just a powerful vocabulary but a skill in choosing the right word for each situation.
  5. SENTENCE FLUENCY: Sentences have rhythm just like music. We sense the easy flow with our ears and mind. Playing with long and short sentences is one way to create rhythm.
  6. CONVENTIONS: The mechanics of writing, which includes  spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and paragraphing.

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Teacher Training Writing Class: Week 1

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WRITING CLASS PART 1

In this first class of the week, the trainees:

  • Read a short descriptive paragraph about a subway station. This was used as a model for the pre-writing assignment.
  • Wrote short sentences using a puzzle prompt about a man crossing a river with a boat, goat, wolf and head of cabbage. The purpose of this writing assignment was to use a variety of verbs to describe similar actions and focus on the proper use of articles.

WRITING CLASS PART 2

Section 1

Five things to learn about good writing:

  1. Remove needless words.
  2. Describe complex ideas with simple words.
  3. A paragraph  talks about one idea.
  4. Topic sentences are mini-thesis sentences.
  5. The best writing talks about big ideas with specific details.

Section 2

Here is an ESL video lesson that uses animation to build vocabulary and fluency skills. It’s a four-part ESL activity.

The video is called Howl. It was made by students who graduated from Bezalel academy of Art and Design in Israel.

Howl from Natalie Bettelheim on Vimeo.

1. Key Vocabulary

  • shadow
  • crawl
  • chew
  • growl
  • lamppost
  • moonlight
  • secret passage

2. BRAINSTORM

Brainstorm the word HOWL. What does it mean, What ideas come to your head when you think of howling.

3. WATCH THE VIDEO

Watch the video. Make notes about 2 different kinds of things. One is the activities that are part of daily life. Second, the unusual things you see in the video.

Howl from Natalie Bettelheim on Vimeo.

4. WRITE A SUMMARY

Now, make a summary of the story with your partner.

Write about the plot, the location, the characters, the action, the surprises and the ending.

Does this story have a message? What’s the point?

Section 3

Remember Dr. Seuss.

Section 4

What: Write 3 to 5 paragraphs.

Purpose: Describe clearly your idea/opinion with evidence that uses personal experience.

  1. Look at the popular expressions/proverbs below.
  2. Discuss the meaning of these phrases with your partner.
  3. Be sure to define the key words in each sentence.
  4. Do you think they are true or not true? Explain your answer by talking about your personal experience.
  5. You will probably want to write two paragraphs. In the first paragraph, you might have a thesis sentence (your main idea), explain the expression/proverb and define the important words. The second paragraph might describe your experience and how it makes you agree or disagree with the expression/proverb.

Expressions

  1. Money is the root of all evil.
  2. Two heads are better than one.
  3. Might is right.
  4. Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
  5. Don’t rock the boat.
  6. Patience is a virtue.

High School Class

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Hi welcome to our short English class. I hope you learn a few English words and make time to learn a fe sentences to help your speaking ability.

Learn English: Australia Trivia

 

 

Learn English: Vocabulary Exercises

This worksheet has some vocabulary exercises to help high school students learn English words and phrases, as well as pronunciation.