ESL Writing STUFF

Helping English instructors teach better, plan faster and work smarter.

Write a Summary

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Summarize a Story

Here is a lesson that teaches students how to write a one paragraph summary. In a previous lesson (click here), I showed you how to write a summary with a template called FACT.

In this lesson, use the same style to write a summary about the story in another video.

FACT Summary Writing

In this lesson, you will write a one paragraph summary with the FACT structure.

  • Focus on the main idea.
  • Analyze by describing the main pieces of the story.
  • Conclude means tell us the ending.
  • Tighten your writing by editing grammar errors, deleting extra words and creating paragraph unity.

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Both Sides Now – A Painting with Words

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This writing exercise looks at the use of words in creating style, descriptions, and voice.

The objective of this lesson is to develop your awareness of how words can communicate complex ideas, moving stories and  persuasive arguments and through that awareness find some inspiration and perhaps courage to extend your writing skills.

Sometimes there is much to learn about writing from the

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ESL Writing and Listening Exercises

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This exercise involves some study of a written passage. Here we are most interested in looking at a writing style that develops progression. The text for this exercise is a story which was written by someone who saw a beautiful woman on the subway but did not have an opportunity to approach her.

Part 1: Jigsaw

The story is divided into eight sections. Each person reads their small numbered section. Take time to understand unknown words. Appreciate what might be happening.

Part 2: Combine

In order, each person reads their section. We put the

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Easy Writing Activities

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Here is a short list of easy ESL writing exercises to help students learn and improve their English writing skills.

Writing Activity #1  Murder Mystery

  1. Review a true story about a man who was killed. The slides are here.
  2. Do a short pair work discussion to review the key facts and undercover missing elements.
  3. Write a persuasive story to describe what happened. Put the facts together. How did the guy die?

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