Learn English Writing
Review
Last week, we did this:
- reviewed basic rules about articles
- completed a few practice questions
- wrote a short story with a puzzle about a man with a goat, wolf and cabbage with a focus on correct article usage and verb variety
- started to hand back older stories with feedback
- had a nice long holiday
Written Work Recap
So far, the students have completed three writing exercises that have focused on different parts of the Six Writing Traits:
1 creative story based on a picture prompt (idea, voice, organisation, first sentence)
2 mini saga (idea, voice, organisation, word choice)
3 a man with a boat (sentence fluency, conventions, word choice)
Specific Writing Skills
To improve specific writing skills, we have learned a few techniques:
– better sentences with noun modifiers (good to think about when editing your work, not when writing the first draft)
– definite and indefinite articles to improve understanding
– create good first sentences that make the reader want to read more
– learn to write faster with fluency activities and a recording sheet
– improve understanding of sentence with punctuation exercises or this one
This Week’s Activity Plan
The plan for this week is simple: a) practice a sentence pattern; and b) rewrite.
New Lesson
This week students will complete a first draft for writing assignment #4. It’s a story about a boy who meets an alien space ship. The purpose of this assignment is to practice and improve good writing skills like idea, organisation, the first sentence, word choice, and conventions.
In particular, please pay attention to articles and verb tenses.
The exercise has a second purpose. I want students to learn and practice writing complex sentences.
Here is the picture prompt for this exercise.
Rewriting
Most students now have three different pieces of writing, and have just started the fourth. Most of them are a first draft. This week, we will focus on rewriting those stories to create a second and third draft.
Finish Early?
If time permits, here are two extra activities to do in class.
Add punctuation to a story about Thomas Edison.
Text 1 and 2 from this page of practice questions.