teaching English

#12 See Multiple Perspectives

by

Teaching Writing – Perspectives

Main Idea

This lesson teaches ESL students a new thinking skill. It shows students how to look at an idea, issue or object from many perspectives. Knowing how to appreciate something from a different angle helps students become better writers and thinkers.

Teach English Writing with Six Thinking Hats

This lesson is based on the Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono. There are six hats. Each hat represents a different way of looking at something:

Read more

Learn English Speaking, 1

by

Learn English speaking

WORK PLAN THIS WEEK

Here is the plan for this week’s English conversation class.

  1. Let’s begin by looking at the Fall 2015 conversation class syllabus (or pdf file)
  2. Look at the textbook.
  3. Simple past tense review exercises.
  4. Which one is different speaking and thinking exercise.
  5. Imagination speaking exercise or new images (new pics in pdf)

Read more

#14 Teaching Writing – Avoid Choppy Sentences

by

Teaching Writing – Avoid Choppy Sentences

Main Idea

ESL students can improve their writing style by learning how to notice and fix choppy sentences with combined clauses that create smooth text with an elegant flow.

Choppy Sentences

Grammatically, there is nothing wrong with choppy sentences. Stylistically, they read poorly. Choppy sentences are commonly written by young children and older students who did not learn how to combine sentences with conjunctions. Here are some examples:

  • Choppy:  I like dogs. Dogs make good pets. Dogs are friendly and loyal.
  • Better:  I like dogs because they are friendly and loyal. That’s why they make good pets.

Read more

#16 Teaching Writing via Paraphrasing with Synonyms

by
paraphrase writing

Teach Writing via Paraphrasing with Synonyms

Main Idea

This English writing lesson teaches ESL students how to improve sentence flow and expand their vocabulary range by paraphrasing key words and phrases with synonyms.

Benefits

With a broader, deeper vocabulary range, ESL students have some of the tools they need to write with greater clarity, variety and productivity. Without a strategy to improve their lexical strength, it is hard for ESL students to improve the quality of their writing.

Example

Find a synonym for the underlined words/phrases. Re-write each sentence using these new words or phrases. For example:

Read more