Teach English Writing and Arguments

Teaching ESL students how to write logical arguments supported by warrants is a slow but worthwhile exercise. Once ESL students learn how to write these arguments, their text becomes clear and persuasive.

This mini lesson writing lesson incorporates several skills into one activity. The lesson centres on a murder scene.

Learn English Writing with Videos

Short video clips are great writing prompts. They stimulate imagination, provide context for new vocabulary and nudge students to try and explain complex ideas.

Over the years I have collected a few links to great ideas. Here are five of those videos. I often use these clips in the writing class. They also work well in a conversation class, especially in pair work activities.

Video Clips for the ESL class

1. The Black Hole (2:22)

There’s no dialogue but the moral of the story is easy to understand. Great ending.

THE BLACK HOLE from Philip Sansom on Vimeo.

2. The Gift (4:35)

This artful and unusual sci-fi story will probably leave you wanting a better ending, but that could be the starting point for students to inject their own imagination. Some Russian dialogue with English subtitles.

The Gift from BLR_VFX on Vimeo.

3. Alma (4:54)

There are lots of dolls in this wonderful animation so you know something creepy will happen. Great video with a simple story.

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

4. Electropolis (4:30)

No dialogue. Nice animation with a simple story so it is a good choice for low level students. The video seems a little long. Stop the clip at 4:30.

Electropolis from Kevin McCullough on Vimeo.

5. The Moment (2:08)

A very short video with an impressive story. Best suited for advanced students because the dialogue is the story driver.

The Moment from Karis Oh on Vimeo.

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Learn English Writing

Last week there were many holidays and missed classes because of the university festival. This week, the 11th of the semester, we will continue with our ESL writing exercises.

The three writing assignments we are working on (two old ones plus a new one this week) give students a chance to practice a simple but important framework to find and analyze arguments and warrants.

Sophomore ESL Writing, Week 12