English Writing Class: Week 2

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This is a short week. Just one hour of class time because of the long holiday. So let’s get busy and learn how to write English well.

Today’s lesson plan and activities

1. Review answers from text book. Your holiday homework was to read chapter 1 and answer the questions. You will be self checking your work. Download this file with suggested answers.

2. Last week, you wrote a short story after watching the video Howl.  I will give you with feedback today. Please rewrite that story and give it back to me next week.

3. We will have a short introduction to the Six Writing Traits. Then we will start the next writing assignment.  I guess you will start that today and finish it next week in class.

SIX WRITING TRAITS

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.

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

  • IDEA: a clear message, the content. Good writing shows, it does not tell. Stimulating, interesting.
  • ORGANISATION: The structure. There is a beginning and an end.
  • VOICE: We sense there is a person writing to us, not a robot. There is feeling, humor, personality.
  • WORD CHOICE: Use a rich, descriptive vocabulary. Great words paint a picture.
  • 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.
  • CONVENTIONS: The mechanics of writing, which includes  spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and paragraphing.

WRITING ACTIVITY 1- Voice

FEATURES OF GOOD VOICE IN WRITING

The writer speaks directly to the reader in a way that is individual, compelling, and engaging.

  1. The writer connects with the audience through the focus of the topic, selection of details, and the use of natural language.
  2. The purpose of the writing is in the writer’s choice of individual content, and the arrangement of ideas.
  3. The writer takes a risk by the inclusion of personal details that reveal the person behind the words.
  4. Expository or persuasive writing reflects a commitment to the topic by the careful selection of ideas that show why the reader needs to know this.
  5. Narrative writing is personal and engaging, and makes you think about the author’s ideas or point of view.

Here is a lesson (from the Six Writing Traits website) that helps students develop voice.

1  Read the following passage.

I was really excited about going. It would be the best day of the summer. We were going to go rafting. My mother, father, brother, and sister got to go. They were excited, too. My dad knew a lot of stuff about rafting. This would be neat. When we got to the river, it looked big. The water was moving fast. I got scared. It turned out to be fun. We ate sandwiches and drank pop. I wore a life jacket and got wet.

It was the best thing I did all summer.

2. How would you describe this short story?

3. Rewrite the story with your voice.

WRITING ACTIVITY 2

Write a descriptive story that matches the pictures in this picture prompt. Keep in mind the Six writing traits and be sure to add some voice and focus on word choice.

Are you the boy or the dog?

WRITING ACTIVITY 3

The task is to write a one or two paragraph story which is filled with emotion. But, and this is the hard part, you cannot say what the emotion is. I found this writing project on a website by a writing teacher. I have changed some parts to make it a little easier for ESL students.

Here is the project.

A mother (or father) is sitting in a coffee shop. She was talking on the phone. Someone told her that her husband had just died in a car crash. Pretend you are that person. Describe what you see, what you hear, what you feel. How are the smells, the sounds? What does the coffee taste like?

Your job is describe how the person sees the world now that she has heard some very bad news. Basically, how emotion changes the way a person sees the world.